[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/10/14

Mon Feb 10 08:28:21 PST 2014

    "The New Conservative Assault on Early Voting"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58629>

Posted on February 10, 2014 8:26 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58629>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this new /Slate /piece 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/02/the_new_conservative_assault_on_early_voting_more_republicans_fewer_voters.html>, 
which begins: "It is easy to dismiss the latest conservative rants 
against early voting as just one more way for Republicans to try to gain 
advantage over Democrats at the polls. But something much more troubling 
may also be at work: Some opponents of early voting are promoting the 
view that a smaller (and skewed) electorate is better for democracy."

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voting 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

    It's Never Off the Record for Politicians Anymore
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58627>

Posted on February 10, 2014 8:14 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58627>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT: 
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-opposition-research-20140210,0,3804631.story#axzz2sw7Dgzks>

    Nine months before the November election, the 100-person staff of
    American Bridge has now fanned out across 37 states, with 40
    full-time trackers and 25 researchers collecting every utterance by
    their 2014 Republican targets in House, Senate and governor's races.
    They are simultaneously building their books on the 2016 Republican
    hopefuls, dispatching 169 records requests to local, state and
    federal officials on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
    <http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/chris-christie-PEPLT0000017577.topic>
    alone.

    But for the first time, a Republican counterpart, America Rising, is
    engaged in a similar effort, rapidly expanding a team that now
    includes 11 full-time trackers, 23 part-time trackers and 22
    staffers at headquarters. They are monitoring candidate events and
    interviews in 20 states, with plans to move into 10 more.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

    ACLU Offers Extensive Comments on IRS 501c4 Proposed Rulemaking
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58625>

Posted on February 10, 2014 8:08 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58625>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Read 
<http://electionlawblog.org/www.campaignfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2-4-14-ACLU-Comments-to-IRS.pdf>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

    "FreedomWorks Chief Says GOP Senators Are Killing His Group's
    Funding" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58623>

Posted on February 10, 2014 7:59 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58623>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM 
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/matt-kibbe-freedomworks-donations-republicans> 
pulls out this nugget from NYT's Chastened G.O.P. Tries to Foil 
Insurgents at Primary Level. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/us/politics/chastened-gop-tries-to-foil-insurgents-at-primary-level.html?hp&_r=0>

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Posted in political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, 
political polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>

    "D.C. Needs a Grassroots Fix That Will Come When Left and Right Find
    Common Ground" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58621>

Posted on February 10, 2014 7:56 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58621>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lessig 
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/09/d-c-needs-a-grass-roots-fix-that-will-come-when-left-and-right-find-common-ground.html>in 
the /Daily Beast./

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    "Holder v. Roberts: The Attorney General Makes Voting Rights the
    Test Case of His Tenure" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58618>

Posted on February 10, 2014 7:54 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58618>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jeffrey Toobin writes 
<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_toobin>for 
/The New Yorker/.  The full extensive piece is behind the paywall. 
Toobin's take is similar to mine about the North Carolina and Texas 
cases (which Holder predicts the U.S. will win):

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 8.53.42 AM 
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-8.53.42-AM.png>

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting 
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

    The Parties Fight Back Against Political Fragmentation
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58615>

Posted on February 10, 2014 4:42 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58615>by Richard Pildes 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

In my Washington Post essay 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/06/how-to-fix-our-polarized-politics-strengthen-political-parties/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd> 
I blogged about recently here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58574>, I 
argued that political fragmentation of the political parties is the 
danger to focus on if we are worried about the capacity of our political 
institutions to govern effectively.  My claim, which certainly runs 
against the grain of a lot of popular alienation from the parties, is 
that the solution to fragmentation is creating ways to empower the 
forces of centralization in the parties.  Perhaps counter-intuitively, 
only if party leaders have the leverage to force party members to accept 
the leadership's position on major policy issues are we likely to see 
legislation in our world of polarization and divided government.  I 
offered some legal and policy reforms that would push back against 
political fragmentation, but suggested this push back might also happen 
organically. Today's NY Times story 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/us/politics/chastened-gop-tries-to-foil-insurgents-at-primary-level.html?hp&_r=0> 
provides the most powerful evidence so far that the party leadership on 
the Republican side is indeed starting to bring out every weapon at its 
disposal to fight back against this fragmentation.  My claim, if this is 
effort is successful, is that it will actually make it easier to enact 
major legislation, such as on immigration, than if the party leaders 
cannot enforce unity on their caucuses.

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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

-- 
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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