[EL] Ferguson voting
David A. Holtzman
David at HoltzmanLaw.com
Mon Aug 18 12:22:39 PDT 2014
Not sure if this made Rick's digest,
but the L.A. Times printed a letter yesterday saying this re turnout:
"The best solution would be to have city elections coincide with other
elections in even-numbered years. This would boost voter awareness and
involvement in these city offices and save Los Angeles millions of
dollars, which is greatly needed in this cash-strapped city."
(http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0817-sunday-vote-prize-20140817-story.html,
responding to
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-panel-prizes-voters-20140814-story.html)
FYI, The City of L.A. currently has its regular elections in March and
May of odd-numbered years.
Los Angeles *County* lets itself have its elections at the same time as
federal and state elections, which it runs.
But the county won't let cities newly join the consolidation, because
that might expand the ballot beyond the recording capacity of one
computer card.
The thought is, voters and poll workers would mishandle two, and results
would be unacceptably delayed because the County's old counting system
can only be programed for one card at a time. But L.A. City owns a
nearly identical system that's idle and available every November. You
should have seen how livid the county registrar got when I suggested
using that for a second card! He's looking for an expensive upgrade
instead. (http://www.lavote.net/Voter/VSAP/index.html)
Santa Monica has had elections in even-numbered Novembers going back to
1984. (http://www.smvote.org/Content.aspx?id=26354)
A bunch of other cities and districts in L.A. County also have
even-numbered November elections. See pp. 3-4 here:
http://www.lavote.net/Voter/PDFS/SCHEDULED_ELECTIONS_2014.pdf. (The L.A.
area is atomized like the St. Louis area; so this New York Times Op-Ed
suggesting merger of small cities
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/opinion/in-ferguson-black-town-white-power.html>
there could resonate here.)
- dah
On 8/18/2014 8:36 AM, Rob Richie wrote:
> It is becoming more common, if still relatively uncommon. Among
> California cities holding elections this November are San Francisco,
> Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro (all with ranked choice voting) and
> San Jose, Richmond, and Anaheim. San Diego elects its Mayor at same
> time as presidential elections.
>
> Rob
>
> On Monday, August 18, 2014, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu
> <mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:
>
> If anyone responds to Sean's post, please use this (or another)
> subject heading rather than the generic one.
> Thanks.
>
> On 8/18/14, 8:14 AM, Sean Parnell wrote:
>>
>> The issue of white dominance of the political system of Ferguson,
>> MO is an interesting one. ThinkProgress had an interesting (and I
>> think reasonable) assessment
>> (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/08/18/3472278/this-is-the-most-important-reform-ferguson-can-enact-to-prevent-another-standoff/)
>> that provides a bit more information than Matt Yglesias. It all
>> boils down, apparently, to the fact that Ferguson elects its
>> local government in April of odd-numbered years. Here's what
>> ThinkProgress concludes:
>>
>> /So the solution to the fact that Ferguson's black majority is
>> nearly unrepresented in its government could be as simple as
>> rescheduling its municipal elections so that they are held in
>> November of even-numbered years -- the same time that federal
>> elections are held.///
>>
>> I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other on this,
>> but I am curious if any other municipal government in the country
>> currently holds elections on the same day as federal elections? I
>> know many (most? all?) counties do, but to the best of my
>> recollection I've never lived in an area where municipal
>> elections (or school board) were held on the same day as federal
>> elections. Anybody have any insights on this?
>>
>> Sean Parnell
>>
>> President
>>
>> Impact Policy Management, LLC
>>
>> 6411 Caleb Court
>>
>> Alexandria, VA 22315
>>
>> 571-289-1374 (c)
>>
>> sean at impactpolicymanagement.com
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','sean at impactpolicymanagement.com');>
>>
>> *From:*law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>
>> [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>]
>> *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
>> *Sent:* Monday, August 18, 2014 11:03 AM
>> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election at UCI.edu');>
>> *Subject:* [EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/18/14
>>
>>
>> The Perry Indictment <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64388>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:59 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64388>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> You can read ithere.
>> <http://www.scribd.com/doc/236936143/Rick-Perry-Indictment>
>>
>> Eugene Volokh analyzed count I
>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/16/does-a-governor-have-custody-or-possession-of-funds-the-legislature-wants-to-appropriate-in-a-bill-that-he-vetoes/> and
>> count II
>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/16/is-the-indictment-of-texas-gov-rick-perry-inconsistent-with-a-texas-court-of-appeals-precedent-as-to-the-coercion-count/> separately.
>>
>> I've written to put the indictment into a broader context ofthe
>> criminalization of politics <http://t.co/K5yWcNzt9E>.
>>
>> I am scheduled to be on MSNBC's The Cycle today at 3:20 pm
>> pacific/12:20 pm eastern to talk about this. As always TV
>> appearances on these news shows are always tentative.
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64388&title=The%20Perry%20Indictment&description=>
>>
>> Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>>
>>
>> "How whites have retained political power in Ferguson, and
>> why they'll lose it soon" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64386>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:52 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64386>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Matt Yglesias writes
>> <http://www.vox.com/2014/8/18/6029141/why-ferguson-government-is-so-white?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=ezraklein&utm_content=monday>for
>> Vox.
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64386&title=%E2%80%9CHow%20whites%20have%20retained%20political%20power%20in%20Ferguson%2C%20and%20why%20they%E2%80%99ll%20lose%20it%20soon%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>
>>
>>
>> "Empirically Measuring the Impact of Photo ID Over Time and
>> Its Impact on Women" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64384>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:50 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64384>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Mike Pitts has postedthis draft
>> <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2479500>on
>> SSRN (forthcoming, /Indiana Law Review/). Here is the abstract:
>>
>> /This article is part of a series of studies related to the
>> impact of Indiana's photo identification law during the two
>> presidential election cycles at which it has been implemented
>> -- 2008 and 2012. This article tracks the number of
>> provisional ballots cast and not counted because of a lack of
>> voter identification at Indiana's 2012 general election.
>> Importantly, this article also addresses an argument against
>> photo identification laws that has became more prominent in
>> recent years -- the idea that photo identification laws
>> disparately disfranchise female voters. This article
>> addresses that argument by tracking the gender of those
>> persons who cast provisional ballots due to a lack of valid
>> photo identification -- something that does not seem to have
>> been previously done anywhere in the literature. While the
>> research presented here allows for several conclusions, the
>> most important of those conclusions are as follows. First,
>> Indiana's photo identification law has a relatively small (in
>> relation to the total number of ballots cast) overall actual
>> disfranchising impact on the electorate. Second, Indiana's
>> photo identification law's actual disfranchising impact seems
>> to be headed in a downward direction when one compares data
>> from the 2012 general election to the 2008 general election.
>> Third, Indiana's photo identification law appears to have a
>> disparate impact on women./
>>
>> Mike's work is careful and important. I look forward to reading
>> this!
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64384&title=%E2%80%9CEmpirically%20Measuring%20the%20Impact%20of%20Photo%20ID%20Over%20Time%20and%20Its%20Impact%20on%20Women%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted inelection administration
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter id
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>
>>
>>
>> "Election Spending 2014: Nine Toss-Up Senate Races"
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64382>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:47 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64382>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Brennan Center
>> <http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/election-spending-2014-nine-toss-up-senate-races>:
>>
>> /With control of the Senate at play in the 2014 election,
>> tight races have seen astronomical spending from outside
>> groups. Even with almost three months left until Election
>> Day, an analysis of outside spending in the nine most
>> competitive Senate races found several trends. Like previous
>> Brennan Center analyses
>> <http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/election-spending-2014-13-toss-house-districts>,
>> we observed inadequate transparency and single-candidate
>> spenders providing opportunities to avoid contribution
>> limits. We also discovered two key findings:/
>>
>> /1.//These nine Senate races have seen $72 million worth of
>> independent expenditures thus far. As a point of comparison,
>> in the 2010 midterms, nonparty outside spending reached only
>> $97 million -- and that was for the /whole election in all 37
>> Senate races/. The highest levels of independent expenditures
>> in our sample were seen in North Carolina, with $14 million,
>> and Kentucky, with $12 million./
>>
>> /2.//The competitive Senate races also reveal a potential new
>> trend -- organizations that benefit a single candidate and
>> hide their donors. These single-candidate, dark-money groups
>> make it impossible to know whether candidate contributors are
>> attempting to curry favor by also making large donations to
>> candidate-specific spenders./
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64382&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20Spending%202014%3A%20Nine%20Toss-Up%20Senate%20Races%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>>
>>
>> "Political Activity Limits and Tax Exemption: A Gordian's
>> Knot" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64380>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:44 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64380>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Roger Colinvaux has postedthis draft
>> <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2476435>on
>> SSRN (forthcoming, /Virginia Tax Review/). Here is the abstract:
>>
>> /The article considers the correct tax treatment of political
>> activity by the tax system and discusses the problems that
>> have arisen from political activity depending on whether the
>> organization is a charity, a noncharitable exempt, or a
>> political organization. The article then examines
>> administrative and legislative options to the problems raised
>> by political activity. Quantum-based solutions to the problem
>> of political activity by noncharitable exempts do not provide
>> a clear advantage over present law. Formally quantifying the
>> "primarily" test would result in more certainty, but would
>> also require that the Service be more, not less, involved in
>> the regulation of political activity. If the policy goal is
>> to curb political activity by noncharitable exempts, changing
>> the test from "primarily" to something more restrictive like
>> "substantially" or "exclusively" would be effective, but
>> would create new categories of taxable nonprofits that are
>> treated worse than political organizations for engaging in
>> less political activity, which is irrational. Further, it is
>> not clear, especially after the Citizens United decision, why
>> as a matter of tax exemption the regulations decree that
>> political activity may not further noncharitable exempt
>> purposes. Before Citizens United, the political activity
>> limits were not especially relevant, but at least helped to
>> differentiate organization types. However, Citizens United
>> largely rendered existing tax law limitations obsolete by
>> making a new kind of multi-purpose organization possible. As
>> a result, definitional political activity limits are no
>> longer justified and should be eliminated, but only if the
>> 527(f) tax on investment income remains vital and the
>> differences in the disclosure regimes between political
>> organizations and noncharitable exempts are erased. In
>> addition, Congress should affirm that the gift tax does not
>> apply with respect to political contributions, but also
>> extend the income tax to transfers of appreciated property to
>> noncharitable exempts. Further, Congress should acknowledge
>> that the increase in political speech by noncharitable
>> exempts will lead to abuse of charitable organizations, and
>> take steps to prevent the laundering of independent
>> expenditures through the charitable form. Congress also
>> should recognize that Citizens United has led to a need to
>> develop a new tax baseline for political activity conducted
>> "for profit" or outside of section 527./
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64380&title=%E2%80%9CPolitical%20Activity%20Limits%20and%20Tax%20Exemption%3A%20A%20Gordian%E2%80%99s%20Knot%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted incampaign finance
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,tax law and election law
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
>>
>>
>> "Rob Richie: How Florida can hold elections in fair districts
>> in 2014? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64378>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:42 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64378>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Gainesville Sun oped.
>> <http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140815/OPINION/140819673?Title=Rob-Richie-How-Florida-can-hold-elections-in-fair-districts-in-2014->
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64378&title=%E2%80%9CRob%20Richie%3A%20How%20Florida%20can%20hold%20elections%20in%20fair%20districts%20in%202014%E2%80%B3&description=>
>>
>> Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
>>
>>
>> "Trying to Ensure the Fundamental Right to Vote"
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64376>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 18, 2014 7:41 am
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64376>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> NYT Letters to the
>> editor<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/opinion/trying-to-ensure-the-fundamental-right-to-vote.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>from
>> Rob Ritchie and Barry Feldman.
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64376&title=%E2%80%9CTrying%20to%20Ensure%20the%20Fundamental%20Right%20to%20Vote%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>
>>
>>
>> "Black groups tell Supreme Court Ala. districts biased"
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64374>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 17, 2014 8:44 pm
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64374>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Mary Troyan reports
>> <http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/alabama/2014/08/17/black-groups-tell-supreme-court-ala-districts-biased/14190749/>for
>> Gannett: "The Alabama Legislature will be further racially
>> polarized by new district boundaries that pack more black voters
>> into certain districts than the law requires, state black
>> political groups told the Supreme Court last week."
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64374&title=%E2%80%9CBlack%20groups%20tell%20Supreme%20Court%20Ala.%20districts%20biased%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Voting
>> Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
>>
>>
>> "Arizona Free Enterprise Club violated election law"
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64372>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 17, 2014 7:50 pm
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64372>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> AP reports.
>> <http://www.azfamily.com/news/Arizona-Free-Enterprise-Club-violated-election-law-271540271.html>
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64372&title=%E2%80%9CArizona%20Free%20Enterprise%20Club%20violated%20election%20law%E2%80%9D&description=>
>>
>> Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>>
>>
>> Jill LePore on Campaign Finance Reform, Corruption, Lessig,
>> Teachout, Mutch, and Post <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64369>
>>
>> Posted onAugust 17, 2014 7:46 pm
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64369>by*Rick Hasen*
>> <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>> Here
>> <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:NqFUthMvNBoJ:www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/25/crooked-dead+%22buying+the+vote%22+mutch&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us>,
>> in the New Yorker.
>>
>> Share
>> <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D64369&title=Jill%20LePore%20on%20Campaign%20Finance%20Reform%2C%20Corruption%2C%20Lessig%2C%20Teachout%2C%20Mutch%2C%20and%20Post&description=>
>>
>> Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>>
>> --
>> Rick Hasen
>> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>> UC Irvine School of Law
>> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>> 949.824.3072 - office
>> 949.824.0495 - fax
>> rhasen at law.uci.edu <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rhasen at law.uci.edu');>
>> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>> http://electionlawblog.org
>
> --
> Rick Hasen
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
> UC Irvine School of Law
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
> 949.824.3072 - office
> 949.824.0495 - fax
> rhasen at law.uci.edu <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rhasen at law.uci.edu');>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Rob Richie
> Executive Director, FairVote
> 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
> Takoma Park, MD 20912
> rr at fairvote.org <mailto:rr at fairvote.org> (301) 270-4616
> http://www.fairvote.org
> /*Social Media*/: _FairVote Facebook
> <https://www.facebook.com/FairVoteReform>_ _FairVote Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/fairvote>_ My Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/rob_richie>
> /*First Million Campaign*/ Thank you for considering atax-deductible
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> <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2495/t/10346/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=5643> to
> support FairVote's Reform2020.com <http://Reform2020.com> vision.
> (Combined Federal Campaign number is 10132.)
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
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>
> --
> David A. Holtzman, M.P.H., J.D.
> david at holtzmanlaw.com
>
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