[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/5/14

Daniel Tokaji dtokaji at gmail.com
Fri Dec 5 09:19:40 PST 2014
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“A Pro-Clinton ‘Super PAC,’ Ready for Hillary, Is in Debt”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68841>
Posted on December 5, 2014 8:10 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68841> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

NYT reports
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/12/05/the-super-pac-ready-for-hillary-is-in-debt/>.


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 Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“DNC rolls out midterm task force” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68838>
Posted on December 5, 2014 4:30 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68838> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Politico has this story
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/dnc-midterm-task-force-113332.html?hp=b2_c2>
on the group charged with conducting an autopsy of the 2014 election.  It
includes Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, KY Gov. Steve Beshear, and
Democratic “super-lawyer” Marc Elias, who the report says “will be helpful
to the group as it thinks about campaign finance and ponders the role of
outside money in future elections.”
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, election
law biz <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>
“Warren Buffett Makes His First Donation Ever To An Independent Political
Group” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68836>
Posted on December 5, 2014 4:18 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68836> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Business Insider reports
<http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffet-donates-to-hillary-clinton-political-group-2014-12>
on Buffett’s $25,000 check to “Ready for Hillary,” despite his previously
stated reluctance to give to outside groups because “I don’t want to see
democracy go in that direction.” Bloomberg Politics has this report
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-04/warren-buffett-bets-big-on-hillary-clinton>
.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“After Sweeping Reform, Illinois Making Great Strides to Modernize
Registration System” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68834>
Posted on December 5, 2014 4:07 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68834> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

DeNora Getachew has this post
<http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/after-sweeping-reform-illinois-making-great-strides-modernize-registration-system>
on the Brennan Center’s blog on the state legislature’s adoption of voting
reforms, including electronic registration, same-day registration,
and expanded early voting.
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Posted in voter registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
“Chamber Fights Back Against Pressure to Disclose Political Spending”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68832>
Posted on December 5, 2014 3:57 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68832> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Bloomberg BNA has this story
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/display/link_res.adp?lt=email&fname=A0F9V0F9N3&lf=eml&emc=mpdm:mpdm:109>
($) on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s pushback against efforts to require
greater disclosure of corporate spending of campaigns and lobbying,
reporting that at a conference of its foundation:

Several speakers … raised concerns about efforts to put public pressure on
companies through stockholder proposals to force companies to adopt
internal policies requiring greater transparency for political money. The
Chamber is particularly concerned about the efforts of a nonprofit group
called the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), which tracks
corporate policies on disclosure and has created a ranking system to show
which of the top U.S. corporations are more or less transparent.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
EAC Nominees Make It Out of Committee But…
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68829>
Posted on December 4, 2014 9:22 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68829> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

BNA reports here
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/display/link_res.adp?lt=email&fname=A0F9W1Q2M3&lf=eml&emc=mpdm:mpdm:109>
($):  “Two Republican nominees to long-vacant seats on the U.S. Election
Assistance Commission (EAC) were advanced late Dec. 3 by the Senate Rules
and Administration Committee, but their confirmations in the current term
of Congress were doubtful as the lame-duck Senate session dwindled down to
its final days.” The report also discusses McConnell’s proposal to loosen
restrictions on party spending.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Election
Assistance Commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>
“While No One Noticed, Did Vermont Just Win a Big Case Against the RGA?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68827>
Posted on December 4, 2014 9:03 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68827> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy blogs
<http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/while-no-one-noticed-did-vermont-just-win-big-case-against-rga>
.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
Ohio House Passes Bipartisan Redistricting Reform Bill
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68822>
Posted on December 4, 2014 8:48 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68822> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

I have the good fortune to start my week of guest blogging for Rick on the
night of a significant redistricting development in my state, where
election law wonders never cease.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this
report
<http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/12/redistricting_reform_passes_oh.html>
and the Columbus Dispatch this one
<http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/12/04/republicans-democrats-reach-redistricting-agreement.html>
on
the proposed constitutional amendment (Sub HJR 12), which passed by an 80-4
vote (with three Republicans and one Democrat voting no).  The text of the
resolution is here
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/SubHJR12-5.pdf>.  It would
make major changes to Ohio’s process for drawing state legislative
districts.

The proposal would slightly modify the bipartisan commission that exists
for drawing state legislative districts, adding two members.  The
seven-member commission would consist of the Governor, Secretary of State,
Auditor, and two appointees from each major party’s leadership in the state
legislature (rather just one appointee from each party’s legislative
leadership).  Four votes including two from minority party commissioners,
would be required to enact a plan that would remain in place for ten
years.  If there’s a stalemate, a plan could be adopted on a simple
majority vote without support from minority party members — but that plan
would remain in place for only four years before lines would be redrawn.
Given that another election for statewide offices will by that time have
taken place, it’s possible that the other major party would control the
redistricting commission by then.  This adds an element of uncertainty
that, at least in theory, would give both parties’
commissioners an incentive to draw lines reasonably in the first place.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would also modify the
geographic criteria that exist under current law, requiring the
preservation of whole counties, municipalities, and townships, as well as
compact and contiguous districts.  In addition, it includes the following
language on representational fairness for parties:

The Ohio redistricting commission shall attempt to draw a general assembly
district plan that meets both of the following standards:

(A) No district plan shall be drawn primarily to favor or disfavor a
political party.

(B) The statewide proportion of districts whose voters, based on recent
statewide state and federal election results, favor each political party
shall correspond closely to the statewide preferences of the voters of Ohio.

Exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to plans would remain with the Ohio
Supreme Court.  If a plan “significantly violates” certain
specified requirements, including the geographic criteria, “in a manner
that materially affects the ability of the plan to contain districts whose
voters favor political parties in an overall proportion that corresponds
closely to the statewide political party preferences of the voters of
Ohio,” the commission must be ordered to draw a new plan.

It remains to be seen whether the state senate, which has been considering
its own quite different redistricting reform proposal, will go along with
the state house resolution.  If it does, the proposal would then have to be
approved by voters before it could become part of the state constitution.

Secretary of State Jon Husted, who has advocated redistricting reform, has
issued this statement
<https://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/mediaCenter/2014/2014-12-04.aspx>. While
saying that the state house’s proposal offers “new hope,” Husted thinks
that there’s one respect in which it “must be amended to build the
necessary public trust in this proposal.”  In particular, Husted expresses
concerned that the proposal would allow a plan to take effect without any
votes from state officeholders — the four state legislative appointees (two
from each major party) could enact a plan on their own.  But he notes that
this problem could easily be fixed.

This is far from a done deal, but the overwhelming bipartisan vote in the
state house is the most encouraging sign in years for Ohioans who want
redistricting reform.
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Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
Good News: Brennan Center Redistricting Newsletter with Michael Li on the
Way <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68817>
Posted on December 4, 2014 1:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68817> by *Rick
Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Via email from the Brennan Center: “Starting next week, the Brennan Center
will launch a monthly newsletter covering redistricting. The newsletter
will include all the latest news from legislatures and courtrooms as well
as pertinent developments across the country. To subscribe, click here
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=67833&qid=2717296>.
Read *Michael Li’s* latest story on gerrymandering in Texas for the *San
Antonio Express-News
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=67838&qid=2717296>*
.”

[corrected headline]
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Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
Another OpEd Suggesting Voter ID Affected Election Outcomes in 2014
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68815>
Posted on December 4, 2014 1:47 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68815> by *Rick
Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Benjamin Jealous and Ryan Haygood
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/voter-suppression-and-the-2014-midterm-elections>
:

While the Court’s failure to block the law may have left over a million
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/texas-voter-id-law-struck-down> people unable
to vote, the Texas Governor’s race
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/texas-governors-race-greg-abbott-wins-big-over-wendy-davis>
was decided by 954,306 votes.

Similarly, this recent surge in voter suppression could have affected
the Senate
races <http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/us/senate> in
Virginia and North Carolina, and the governor’s race
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/2014/us/governor> in Alabama. In
Virginia, where the Senate race was decided by 16,727 voters, 198,902
registered voters
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/450000-in-va-may-lack-proper-id-to-vote/2014/09/25/9724f584-44db-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html>
may have lacked the identification needed to vote under a new voter ID law.
In North Carolina, 200,000 people
<http://www.thenation.com/blog/180608/north-carolina-will-determine-future-voting-rights-act>
voted early in 2010 and, thus, were potentially impacted by severe cuts to
early voting
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/why-early-voting-cuts-will-hit-blacks-hardest>
that the state passed mere months after the *Shelby County* decision. The
Senate race there was decided by 48,511 votes. In Alabama, 250,000 to
500,000 voters
<http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/03/new_photo_voter_ids_to_be_avai.html> were
impacted by a new voter ID law and the governor’s race was decided by
320,139 votes.

I remain deeply skeptical and think this kind of suggestive argumentation
detracts from the major problem with state voter id laws: they
disenfranchise people (especially poor people and people of color) without
adequte justification.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The
Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>
“As Hillary Clinton ponders 2016, Clinton-themed super PACs seek a piece of
the action” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68813>
Posted on December 4, 2014 10:30 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68813> by
*Rick Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Matea Gold reports
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/04/as-hillary-clinton-ponders-a-bid-clinton-themed-super-pacs-seek-piece-of-the-action/>
for WaPo.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

-- 
Daniel Tokaji
Charles W. Ebersold & Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Professor of
Constitutional Law
The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law
614.292.6566 | @Title52law <https://twitter.com/Title52law>
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