[EL] ELB & Leg News and Commentary 8/22/14

Fri Aug 22 09:22:34 PDT 2014

“Outside Group Mirrors Successful Strategies Of Political Parties”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64545>
Posted on August 22, 2014 9:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64545> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

NPR’s Peter Overby has this report
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2014/08/22/342354175/outside-group-mirrors-successful-strategies-of-political-parties>,
focusing on AFP’s activities in Iowa.
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 Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
CREW Challenges Dismissal of AAN and AJS Complaints
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64543>
Posted on August 22, 2014 8:22 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64543> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Citizens for Reponsibility and Ethics in Washington has brought a new case
<http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/CITIZENS_FOR_RESPONSIBILITY_AND_ETHICS_IN_WASHINGTON_et_al_v_FEDE>
against the FEC, challenging its dismissal of administrative complaints
against American Action Network (AAN) and Americans for Job Security
(AJS).  Reports here
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/display/link_res.adp?lt=email&fname=A0F4Y5A8R5&lf=eml&emc=mpdm:mpdm:109>
($), here
<http://www.coloradoindependent.com/148755/dark-money-election-campaign-finance-fec>
and here <http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/59736/>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
Cal. Legislature Approves Two Campaign Finance Disclosure Bills
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64541>
Posted on August 22, 2014 8:08 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64541> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

California Public Radio has this report
<http://www.capradio.org/articles/2014/08/22/legislature-approves-pair-of-campaign-finance-disclosure-bills/>
.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Waning Influence, Part 2: Does Congressional Gridlock Lock Up K Street?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64539>
Posted on August 22, 2014 7:59 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64539> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

CRP has this analysis
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/08/waning-influence-part-2-does-congressional-gridlock-lock-up-k-street/?utm_source=CRP+Mail+List&utm_campaign=46fd2ecda0-Newsletter_8_22_29148_21_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9df8578d78-46fd2ecda0-206469445>
of
the relationship between lobbying spending and gridlock.  A snippet:
“[T]the notion that lobbying dollars might flow more freely when Congress
is passing many bills, though plausible, is untested. In this report, the
second in our series documenting the decline in lobbying
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/03/waning-influence-part-1-tracking-the-unlobbyist/>,
we looked at whether the data actually supports the explanation that
lobbying increases when Congress is productive. The results are a decidedly
mixed bag.”
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Posted in lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>, political
polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
“The Virginia Bait and Switch” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64537>
Posted on August 22, 2014 7:50 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64537> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Brad Smith offers his thoughts
<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/215622-the-virginia-bait-and-switch>on
the McDonnell trial and campaign finance in The Hill, countering Meredith
McGehee’s column
<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/214853-mcdonnell-case-shows-virginia-is-not-above-corruption#ixzz3AOTAqhMk.>
last week.
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Posted in bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Justice Ginsburg Laments ‘Real Racial Problem’ in U.S.”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64535>
Posted on August 22, 2014 7:43 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64535> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

National Law Journal has excerpts from its interview
<http://m.nationallawjournal.com/module/alm/app/nlj.do#!/article/1701862687>
with
Justice Ginsburg, mentioning *Shelby County *among other things.
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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting Rights
Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“Non-white representation on America’s city councils”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64533>
Posted on August 22, 2014 6:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64533> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Seth Masket has this very interesting analysis
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/21/non-white-representation-on-americas-city-councils/>on
WaPo’s Monkey Cage, finding a higher degree of descriptive representation
for African Americans than for Latinos or Asian Americans:   “Each
additional percent of the population that is African American translates to
about 0.8 additional percent of the city council…. Each additional percent
of the population that is Latino only translates to about an additional
half percent of the city council. Among Asian Americans, each additional
percent in the population only translates to about 0.4 percent on the city
council.”
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Posted in legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>,
Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
Chapin on Cal. Mail Ballots Report <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64531>
Posted on August 22, 2014 6:49 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64531> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Doug Chapin offers his thoughts
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2014/08/missing_the_target_new_califor.php>
on the CVF report <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64428> earlier this week.
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Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>
ElectionlineWeekly profiles Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64529>
Posted on August 22, 2014 6:45 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64529> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

This week’s edition
<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>.
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Posted in election law biz <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>,
Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“GOP Supreme Court candidate banned at fair booth”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64527>
Posted on August 22, 2014 6:41 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64527> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The Star-Tribune reports <http://m.startribune.com/?id=272168081> that
“[Republican] Party officials passed a resolution banning Michelle
MacDonald from the GOP’s booth because of a pending drunken driving case.”
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Posted in judicial elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>, political
parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>
Did Rick Perry Threaten Grand Jurors? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64525>
Posted on August 22, 2014 6:39 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64525> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

One state judge appears to think he may have, according to this report
<http://www.statesman.com/news/news/judge-warns-against-perry-grand-jury-threats/ng6zb/?__federated=1>
:

Judge Julie Kocurek of the 390th District Court, a Democrat, said Perry’s
Saturday statement, issued a day after the indictment, could be construed
as a threat and possible violation of the law. Kocurek, as the
administrative presiding judge of all criminal courts in the county, said
that “no one is above the law,” and the public needs to know that grand
jurors are legally protected from any threat….

The judge said that Perry might have made a veiled threat when he said: “I
am confident we will ultimately prevail, that this farce of a prosecution
will be revealed for what it is, and that those responsible will be held to
account.”

I understand the desire to protect grand jurors but, to my ears, this is
far too vague to be deemed a proscribable threat to them.  Gov. Perry could
have been — and in my view, probably was — referring to the prosecutor
rather than grand jurors.  And I see nothing wrong with his calling for
public officials to be “held to account.”
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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>  | Tagged
criminalization
of politics <http://electionlawblog.org/?tag=criminalization-of-politics>
“Under the Gun in Petition Challenges” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64520>
Posted on August 21, 2014 2:46 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64520> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The Chicago Sun-Times reports
<http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/under-gun-petition-challenges/wed-08202014-801pm>
that armed private investigators visited a signatory to and circulator of
third-party candidate petitions, trying to get them to sign affidavits that
the signatures were fraudulent (h/t BAN
<http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/08/chicago-sun-times-story-says-armed-detectives-rang-doorbells-of-voters-who-signed-the-libertarian-statewide-petition/>
).
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Posted in petition signature gathering <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=39>

“U.S. District Court Declines to Put Green Party Slate on Illinois Ballot,
But Suggests that Two Ballot Access Laws May be Unconstitutional”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64518>
Posted on August 21, 2014 2:10 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64518> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

>From Ballot Access News
<http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/08/u-s-district-court-declines-to-put-green-party-slate-on-illinois-ballot-but-suggests-that-two-ballot-access-laws-may-be-unconstitutional/>
.
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Posted in ballot access <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>
Our Very Own Title of the U.S. Code (from the “Be Careful What You Wish
For” Department) <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64512>
Posted on August 21, 2014 1:51 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64512> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Get ready, election lawyers, Title 52 of the U.S. Code will be coming your
way in a few days.  From Steve Kolbert (quoted with permission):

Covington’s political law blog
<http://www.insidepoliticallaw.com/2014/08/21/surprise-feca-will-be-moving-across-town-to-title-52-on-september-1/>
mentions that federal election-related statutes will be getting their own
title in the U.S. Code — title 52 — starting Sept. 1.

In 2009, Rick wrote about <http://www.electionlawblog.org/?p=12654> a bill
prepared by the House’s Office of Law Revision Counsel to codify into
positive law all the election statutes under title 52.

Congress never acted, but now the Office of Law Revision Counsel is acting
unilaterally
<http://uscode.house.gov/editorialreclassification/t52/index.html>using its
editorial control over the U.S. Code to reclassify all the election
statutes (currently codified in both title 2 and title 42, and probably
some other places) to a new title 52.

Of course, all of this means a whole lot of trouble for those of us
electiongeeks who have — intentionally or not — committed to memory the
codified section numbers of various and sundry provisions of the VRA, NVRA,
HAVA, UOCAVA, VAEHA, and FECA … all of which will soon be changing.  The
Office of Law the Law Revision Counsel has an overview of the new Title 52
<http://uscode.house.gov/editorialreclassification/t52/Overview_of_Title_52.pdf>
and
a table
<http://uscode.house.gov/editorialreclassification/t52/Reclassifications_Title_52.html>
showing the old and new classifications.
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Posted in election law biz <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>
NCSL on Voter Turnout and Recounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64510>
Posted on August 21, 2014 12:13 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64510> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

This month’s issue
<http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/states-and-election-reform-the-canvass-august-2014.aspx?utm_source=Canvass&utm_campaign=471e8164bb-Canvass_April_20134_25_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c27fe8f428-471e8164bb-111830313>
of NCSL’s The Canvass focuses on state efforts to improve turnout through
measures like same-day registration, as well as renewed attention to
recount laws in some states.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
recounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>, voter registration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
Cal. Supreme Court Denies Review in Palmdale Voting Rights Case
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64508>
Posted on August 21, 2014 11:22 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64508> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The LA Times
<http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-sup-court-palmdale-20140820-story.html?track=rss>
and SF Chronicle
<http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/08/20/ruling-backs-district-elections-for-cities/>report
on the case, which successfully challenged at-large council districts under
the California Voting Rights Act.
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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
Ohio County Elections Board Member Challenges Ousting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64506>
Posted on August 21, 2014 9:48 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64506> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The Toledo Blade reports
<http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2014/08/21/Stainbrook-contests-ousting.html>:
”Lucas
County Republican Party Chairman Jon Stainbrook claims he was removed from
the county board of elections by Secretary of State Jon Husted because of
complaints he had filed alleging violations of state election law.”
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> “Outside
Group Mirrors Successful Strategies Of Political Parties”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64545>

Daniel Tokaji
Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Professor of Law
The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law
55 W. 12th Ave. | Columbus, OH 43210
614.292.6566 | tokaji.1 at osu.edu
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