[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/30/14
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Jan 30 07:34:35 PST 2014
Chapin (Rightly) Slams Kontorovich and McGinnis on Early Voting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58439>
Posted on January 30, 2014 7:30 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58439>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Doug
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2014/01/so_yesterday_the_rather_outdat.php>:
"The release of the PCEA report is an opportunity for new voices to join
the discussion about how to improve American elections. But this piece
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/early-voting-the-case-against-102748.html>
is so out of step with current research and realities on early voting
that it adds little, if anything, to the field."
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
"Nebraska Debates Electoral College Changes"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58437>
Posted on January 30, 2014 7:28 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58437>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg reports.
<http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2014-01-29/nebraska-legislators-debate-electoral-college-changes/>
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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
"Dershowitz, Law Enforcement Experts Slam D'Souza Targeting"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58435>
Posted on January 30, 2014 7:27 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58435>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NewsMax reports
<http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/DSouza-Dershowitz-targeting-selective/2014/01/29/id/549845>.
The article misquotes me slightly. I did not say that the Ted Stevens
and Tom DeLay cases were examples of political targeting by overzealous
prosecutors. I said that one could not discount that possibility.
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Posted in bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
"How Democrats Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Citizens United"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58433>
Posted on January 30, 2014 7:25 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58433>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Andy Kroll reports
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/how-dems-learned-love-super-pacs-citizens-united>
for /Mother Jones/.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"Court Questions Plans to Create Minority Voting District"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58431>
Posted on January 29, 2014 9:52 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58431>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NY Law Journal:
<http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202640575082/Court-Questions-Plans-to-Create-Minority-Voting-District?slreturn=20140030004947>"A
federal judge in Albany has ordered a trial on an issue that continues
to perplex the federal appellate courts: Are black and Hispanic voters
politically cohesive?"
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Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
"Democrats may take action against Sen. Wright"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58429>
Posted on January 29, 2014 9:34 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58429>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The /LA Times/ reports.
<http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-rod-wright-20140130,0,4649343.story#axzz2rrC1KCCH>
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Posted in residency <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=38>
"Kings arena subsidy foes sue city to get measure back on ballot"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58427>
Posted on January 29, 2014 9:30 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58427>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The /Sacramento Bee/ reports.
<http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/29/6111814/arena-opponents-file-against-city.html>
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Posted in petition signature gathering <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=39>
"Interesting City Lobbyist/County Election Board Member Conflict"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58425>
Posted on January 29, 2014 2:48 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58425>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
City Ethics:
<http://www.cityethics.org/content/interesting-city-lobbyistcounty-election-board-member-conflict>
When a lawyer decides to represent a private client, she does not
give up her right to vote or petition governments on her own behalf.
But what about when a lawyer decides to represent a public client,
especially as a lobbyist? Does such a lawyer give up her right to
vote on issues relating to the city government (assuming she sits on
another government's board) or petition a government on behalf of
her own beliefs?
These questions arise from a case in Cincinnati, where a city
lobbyist also sat on the county elections board. According to an
article this week on cincinnati.com
<http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2014/01/26/cranley-to-lobbyist-dont-vote-on-boe-move/>,
the city government strongly opposes moving an early-voting site out
of the city's downtown, but the lobbyist supports the move. The
mayor asked the lobbyist to withdraw by abstaining from the
elections board vote. Instead, the lobbyist withdrew from his
lobbying contract, which had paid him nearly $9,000 a month.
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Posted in conflict of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>
"STOP files suit to challenge Sacramento city clerk's rejection of
arena-vote petitions" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58423>
Posted on January 29, 2014 12:08 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58423>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
/Sacramento News and Review/:
<http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/pageburner/blogs/post?oid=12633532>
Earlier this month, City Attorney James Sanchez sent a confidential
memo to select staff. The city won't release it, but multiple
sources told SN&R that its contents explored ways to successfully
quash the arena ballot initiative, which asks for voter approval of
the Sacramento Kings deal. Sanchez looked at 10 possible scenarios.
But his conclusion was, essentially, that even though the petitions
contained multiple errors and deficiencies, a judge would ultimately
find them compliant with election law.
This past Friday, however, City Clerk Shirley Concolino rejected the
arena-vote petitions anyway.
Now, Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork and Voters for a Fair
Arena Deal---the two groups vying to put the initiative on the June
ballot---submitted an application in Sacramento Superior Court this
week challenging the city's ruling. They argue that their
signature-gathering efforts amount to "substantial compliance" with
election requirements.
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Posted in direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>,
petition signature gathering <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=39>
"The Anxiety of Influence: The Evolving Regulation of Lobbying"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58420>
Posted on January 29, 2014 11:40 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58420>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Richard Briffault has postedthis draft
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2384645> on SSRN.
Here is the abstract:
Lobbying has long been a source of anxiety. As early as the
mid-nineteenth century courts expressed concern about the "designing
and corrupt men" who sought to wield "secret influence." Lobbying is
a multi-billion dollar business today, but the association of
"lobbying" with improper influence is so strong that the American
League of Lobbyists -- the lobbyists' trade association -- recently
renamed itself to drop the word "lobbyist." Yet, courts have also
long recognized that people have a legitimate interest in being able
to influence government action, and that they may need to be able to
hire agents to help them, and since the 1950s the Supreme Court has
recognized that lobbying consists of rights protected by the First
Amendment. The law of lobbying has been structured by these two
competing visions of lobbying, as it strives to hold together the
differing and conflicting goals of protecting constitutional rights
of speech and petition; controlling unfair and improper means of
influencing government action; and promoting transparency of
lobbying's role in the political process.
This article examines the legal framework for the regulation of
lobbying. It explores the values shaping lobbying regulation, the
regulatory techniques, and the evolving judicial treatment of
lobbying. It then addresses the principal issues on today's
regulatory agenda, particularly the interplay of lobbying with
campaign finance and the application of lobbying laws to grassroots
activities intended to influence government action.
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Posted in lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
"K Street Wants Less Bashing of Lobbyists"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58418>
Posted on January 29, 2014 11:38 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58418>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
/The Hill /reports.
<http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/196652-k-street-wants-less-bashing-of-k-street#ixzz2ro8zU3s1>
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Posted in lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
"Since When Did Lobbying and PR Become Extortion?"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58416>
Posted on January 29, 2014 11:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=58416>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Karen Hinton writes
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/karen-hinton-ecuador-chevron-102747.html?ml=m_pm#.UulYEfZRF7m>
for /Politico/ magazine.
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Posted in lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
--
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
hhttp://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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