[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/4/13
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Mon Feb 3 21:05:54 PST 2014
"GOP defends tricky campaign contribution websites"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58513>
Posted on February 3, 2014 9:02 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58513>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NBC News
<http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/02/03/22559321-gop-defends-tricky-campaign-contribution-websites?lite>:
Republicans are defending a series of websites they established that
appear to support Democratic candidates for Congress, but instead
direct contributions to the GOP.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said its
websites were not confusing, and accused Democrats of crying foul
because their candidates were struggling.
The sites, like this one for Arizona Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
<http://contribute.sinemaforcongress.com/>, feature a "Kyrsten
Sinema for Congress" banner, and a picture of the first-term
congresswoman from a competitive Maricopa County district.
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
"The Voting Rights Playbook: Why Courts Matter Post-Shelby County v.
Holder" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58511>
Posted on February 3, 2014 4:38 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58511>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
New report
<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2014/02/03/83264/the-voting-rights-playbook/>
from the Center for American Progress.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
Montana AG Gives Up in Campaign Speech Case
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58509>
Posted on February 3, 2014 4:28 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58509>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
KXLH: "
<http://electionlawblog.org/www.kxlh.com/news/ag-agrees-campaign-mailer-law-is-unconstitutional/>Montana
Attorney General Tim Fox says a law about campaign materials that was
passed by the Montana Legislature last year is unconstitutionally vague,
setting the stage for a federal judge to throw out the law. Matthew
Monforton, a Republican running for House District 69 in Bozeman, filed
suit to strike down the law, which would have required candidates who
publish campaign materials about their opponents' records to include
every vote taken on the issues over the previous six years."
Good call.
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
Top Recent Downloads in Election Law on SSRN
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58507>
Posted on February 3, 2014 3:50 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58507>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/topten/topTenResults.cfm?groupingId=991929&netorjrnl=jrnl>:
*RECENT HITS (for all papers announced in the last 60 days) *
*TOP 10 Papers for Journal of LSN: Election Law & Voting Rights (Topic)*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/publicRss/rssManagerInc.cfm?journalId=991929>
/December 5, 2013 to February 3, 2014/
Rank Downloads Paper Title
1 115 *Universalism and Civil Rights (with Notes on Voting Rights
after Shelby)* <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2367975>
Samuel R. Bagenstos
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=328285>,
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor -- Law School -- Faculty,
/Date posted to database: /December 16, 2013
/Last Revised: /December 18, 2013
2 101 *Unteachable: Shelby County, Canonical Apostasies, and Ways
Forward for the Voting Rights Act*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2361495>
Kareem U. Crayton
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=602663>, Terry
Smith <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2164689>,
University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill -- School of Law,
DePaul College of Law,
/Date posted to database: /November 30, 2013
/Last Revised: /December 12, 2013
3 81 *Super PAC Contributions, Corruption, and the Proxy War Over
Coordination* <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2383452>
Richard L. Hasen
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=337>,
University of California, Irvine -- School of Law,
/Date posted to database: /January 23, 2014
/Last Revised: /January 29, 2014
4 66 *The Last Rites of Public Campaign Financing?*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2378393>
James J. Sample
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=792805>,
Hofstra University, Maurice A. Deane School of Law ,
/Date posted to database: /January 15, 2014
/Last Revised: /January 15, 2014
5 46 *Political Law*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2369458>
Spencer Overton
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=266965>,
George Washington University -- Law School,
/Date posted to database: /December 19, 2013
/Last Revised: /December 19, 2013
6 35 *Voting Rights Disclosure*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2365620>
Spencer Overton
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=266965>,
George Washington University -- Law School,
/Date posted to database: /December 11, 2013
/Last Revised: /January 9, 2014
7 25 *The Law of Deliberative Democracy: Seeding the Field*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2367870>
Ron Levy <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=915969>,
Australian National University,
/Date posted to database: /December 16, 2013
/Last Revised: /December 16, 2013
8 23 *Outside Influence*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2379171>
Anthony Johnstone
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=546899>,
University of Montana School of Law,
/Date posted to database: /January 16, 2014
/Last Revised: /January 17, 2014
9 22 *Compulsory Voting and Income Inequality*
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2374092>
John Carey
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=868704>, Yusaku
Horiuchi <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1101750>,
Dartmouth College, Dartmouth College -- Department of Government,
/Date posted to database: /January 3, 2014
/Last Revised: /January 3, 2014
10 19 *Contestatory Democracy and the Interpretation of Popular
Initiatives* <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2362994>
Glen Staszewski
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=106992>,
Michigan State University College of Law,
/Date posted to database: /December 4, 2013
/Last Revised: /December 4, 2013
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Posted in election law biz <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>
Eugene Kontorovich's Nonsense About Early Voting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58505>
Posted on February 3, 2014 2:45 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58505>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Last week I linked <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58404> to a Politico
piece by Eugene Kontorovich and John McGinnis
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/early-voting-the-case-against-102748.html#ixzz2rnqOkgHS>
against early voting. (I also linked to Doug Chapin's critique
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2014/01/so_yesterday_the_rather_outdat.php>.)
In essence, the argument against early voting is that we need a set
election day to make a deliberative choice as a nation. Having people
vote early, the argument goes, treats them as a different set of citizens.
This is a coherent argument, albeit one I have little sympathy for. As I
explained here,
<http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/03/4958430/republicans-have-pursued-election.html>
there is a fundamental divide between liberals and conservatives about
what the purpose of voting is /for/: conservatives see it as about
choosing the "best" candidate or "best" policies (meaning limits on who
can vote, when and how might make the most sense) and liberals who see
it as about the allocation of power among political equals.
Given that I said that Kontorovich's argument is coherent, where's the
nonsense? It comes from his acceptance of "good old fashioned absentee
balloting." If one really believes that we need a set election day to
all make a deliberative choice together, absentee balloting is even
/worse/ than early voting, because it does not even happen in public
with other voters.
The current political thinking (which may not even be true anymore) is
that early voting helps Democrats while no excuse absentee balloting
helps Republicans. So there may be a partisan valence to the Kontorovich
suggestion.
Kontorovich has now defended himself in a Volokh blog post.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/02/03/from-early-voting-to-pre-voting-a-response-to-critics/>
If you read it, here's what he says about absentee balloting: "Others
have asked why if we care about civic participation, why we don't favor
a national election holiday. Or why we would tolerate absentee ballots.
Well, it is all a matter of tradeoffs, costs and benefits, and there is
no objective scale where these can be weighed."
This is an incoherent response. If absentee balloting presents exactly
the same risks (or even greater risks) than early voting, how can
Kontorovich defend it as a trade-off?
It is no secret I take the view that voting is about the allocation of
power among political equals. We should take steps to insure that all
eligible voters, but only eligible voters, can easily cast a ballot
which will be accurately counted. To accomplish that, in person early
voting should be expanded, and we should approach absentee balloting
cautiously, given the greater risk of vote buying which has been
empirically documented and which is flagged as an issue in the PCEA
report. If we want to allow as many eligible voters to participate in
the political process as possible, I believe we can tolerate some people
voting a few days or a few weeks before election day---when the voter
does not have to deal with work or childcare conflicts.
But I don't see anything in Kontorovich's post which acknowledges the
participatory value and the equal citizenship values that come from
making voting for eligible voters easier.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
"FPPC goes after more committees in its 'dark money' case"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58503>
Posted on February 3, 2014 9:29 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58503>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This item
<http://www.politicallawbriefing.com/2014/01/fppc-goes-after-more-committees-in-its-dark-money-case/>
appears at Venable's Political Law Briefing.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
"Bill Maher Takes His Show on the Campaign Trail: the 'Press
Exemption' After Citizens United and a Lament for the Parties"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58501>
Posted on February 3, 2014 6:47 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58501>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2014/02/bill-maher-takes-show-campaign-trail-press-exemption-citizens-united-lament-parties/>.
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Posted in campaign 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
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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