[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/3/14

Mon Jun 2 20:44:54 PDT 2014

    "At The Polls in Lowndes Country With Alabama's New Voter ID Law"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61983>

Posted on June 2, 2014 8:36 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61983>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WBHM reports. <http://www.wbhm.org/News/2014/VoterIDLowndes>

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Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, 
chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

    Alabama Redistricting Case at SCOTUS Roundup
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61980>

Posted on June 2, 2014 8:33 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61980>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT, 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/us/politics/supreme-court-to-hear-challenge-to-alabama-redistricting.html?ref=politics>WaPo 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-to-review-alabamas-race-based-reapportionment/2014/06/02/4f5fca76-ea86-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html>, 
WSJ 
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-takes-up-appeal-on-alabama-redistricting-plan-1401718882>

And at Al.com: Could redistricting challenge before U.S. Supreme Court 
affect Alabama 2014 elections? There's a precedent for a do-over 
<http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/06/could_redistricting_challenge.html>

As noted this morning <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61943>the Court 
noted probable jurisdiction in these cases, limiting the questions to 
racial gerrymandering questions  (it did not grant cert. 
<http://jurist.org/paperchase/2014/06/supreme-court-to-rule-in-alabama-redistricting-cases.php>, 
which is not the procedure for an appeal).

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

    Weed for Votes Likely Illegal in CA Election
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61977>

Posted on June 2, 2014 7:19 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61977>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Following up on this post, <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61913>I had 
not realized that this was for a primary election with federal 
candidates. As Reuters 
<http://news.yahoo.com/san-jose-pot-clubs-offer-voters-free-weed-215503568.html>correctly 
reports, "A spokesman for San Jose, David Vossbrink, said that the offer 
appeared to be illegal under federal law, which he said bars inducing 
voters to register or vote in elections that include a federal contest. 
Tuesday's election includes U.S. Congressional primaries."

I know I'm a party pooper.  First no free Ben and Jerrys 
<http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/article/election_law_blogger_responsible_for_free_ben_jerrys/>, 
and now no free pot (though I suppose the other order would be worse).

Background: Hasen, Vote Buying. 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=257564>

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Posted in vote buying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=43>

    "Ex-Brooklyn Prosecutor Charles J. Hynes Accused of Misuse of Funds"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61975>

Posted on June 2, 2014 7:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61975>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT: 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/nyregion/charles-hynes-brooklyn-district-attorney-inquiry.html?hp&_r=0>

    A New York City Department of Investigation inquiry has implicated
    Charles J. Hynes
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/charles_j_hynes/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,
    the former Brooklyn district attorney, in the improper use of money
    seized from drug dealers and other criminal defendants to pay a
    political consultant more than $200,000 for his work on Mr. Hynes's
    unsuccessful re-election campaign last year.

    The report
    <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/03/nyregion/03brooklyn.html>,
    which has been referred to the state attorney general and several
    other agencies, concluded that Mr. Hynes could face larceny charges
    for the misuse of public funds.

    The investigation also found that a widely respected jurist, Barry
    Kamins, the administrative judge for New York City's criminal courts
    <http://bit.ly/1wXua7n>, violated the judicial code of ethics by
    advising Mr. Hynes on his campaign, offering legal advice and
    discussing matters that the district attorney's office was actively
    prosecuting.

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    Robert Post's "Citizens Divided" Book
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61972>

Posted on June 2, 2014 4:15 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61972>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

There are a spate of campaign finance books coming out over the next few 
months---including books by Robert Post 
<http://www.amazon.com/Citizens-Divided-Campaign-Constitution-Lectures/dp/0674729005/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397921007&sr=1-1&keywords=citizens+divided>, 
Bob Mutch 
<http://global.oup.com/academic/product/buying-the-vote-9780199340002;jsessionid=C6827DDD34E72558A35699F184980110?cc=us&lang=en&>, 
Ken Voge 
<http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/big-money/kenneth-p-vogel/9781610393393>l, 
Zephyr Teachout 
<http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674050402>, and Timothy 
Kuhner <http://www.sup.org/book.cgi?id=21815>. I will try to write short 
reflections on each of these books as I read them.  These will be very 
short, as I'm in the midst of my own manuscript on campaign finance, 
which will allow deeper exploration of these books as necessary for my 
argument.

Today a few words on Robert Post's book, which is out today (and which I 
read a few weeks ago). This book is Post's two-part Tanner lecture at 
Harvard (just shy of 100 pages total, not counting footnotes), along 
with commentaries by Pam Karlan, Larry Lessig, Frank Michelman, and 
Nadia Urbinati.

Post is a wonderful writer, and I highly recommend this book for its 
first half, which nicely constructs the meaning of voting and 
representation throughout American history. I believe the book's second 
half (the second Tanner lecture) is less successful. In it, Post (who in 
the past had been critical of the constitutionality of much campaign 
regulation), advances what he terms an "electoral integrity" argument 
which he posits could stand to reverse /Citizens United. /

The "electoral integrity" argument is important to read and understand, 
if for no other reason than Justice Breyer relies upon it in his dissent 
in the /McCutcheon /case.  (Reliance 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60683> was quite odd 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60645> because the book was listed as 
forthcoming and no draft was currently available.)

I find the electoral integrity argument to be mostly a fancy way of 
making an appearance of corruption argument, and therefore the argument 
suffers from some of the same problems that this argument has.  (Pam 
makes this point very well in her contribution to the book.)  I am not 
sure Post advances the ball very much in this area.

Also interesting to me is that Post and Lessig engage, and Post reads 
Lessig as making a political equality argument for reform, which Lessig 
again resists (as he has when I've made that point 
<http://harvardlawreview.org/2012/12/fixing-washington/>, as have Bruce 
Cain and Guy Charles).

I'll have much more to say about Post's fascinating book, but it will 
likely await my own work in the area.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    "New Study Links 'The Colbert Report' to Presidential Election
    Campaign Knowledge" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61970>

Posted on June 2, 2014 3:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61970>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

/Variety/ reports. 
<http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/study-colbert-report-boosts-presidential-election-campaign-knowledge-1201207129/>

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

    Alex Padilla's Non-Answer on Top-Two
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61967>

Posted on June 2, 2014 1:11 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61967>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Following up on this post <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61807>, CA 
Secretary of State candidate Alex Padilla has now written answers to the 
CfER survey <http://cfer.org/sos2014.php#padilla> on election reform.  
But look at this response on top two:

*What is your opinion of the top-two primary in particular and two-round
runoff systems (as used by many local jurisdictions) in general?  What are
your thoughts about replacing the top-two primary with, for example, a
single IRV election with all the candidates in November, or a 'top four'
system that winnows the field to four candidates in June and then uses IRV
to determine the final winner in November?  Do you have other ideas as to
how to ensure that the most popular candidates advance to a later
final-round general election or runoff?
*
Beyond an election's format, the essential question we have to answer in
California is how to get more voters engaged and participating in our
democracy.  Regardless of an election's format, we know that currently,
there are millions of Californians who do not vote and millions of
Californians who aren't even registered.  We need to work to engage more
Californians in voting.  That's why I've pledged to register a million more
voters in my first term as Secretary of State and prioritize visiting high
schools throughout California to cultivate civic engagement among the next
generation of California voters.  At the same time, we also must work to
increase trust and confidence of government.  That's why I've introduced a
tough package of campaign finance reforms in the state legislature to ban
fundraising during the last 100 days of session and strengthen campaign
finance disclosure and reporting.  By working to engage more Californians in
elections, and working to institute reforms to restore trust in government,
we can strengthen our democracy.

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Posted in political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, 
primaries <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

    "'Money Is Speech' Was Never Spoken"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61965>

Posted on June 2, 2014 12:49 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61965>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

David Schultz NLJ oped. 
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202657436451?slreturn=20140502154834>

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    "Two-time GOP loser changes party to Democrat, name to Cesar Chavez
    for new congressional bid" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61963>

Posted on June 2, 2014 12:46 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61963>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Really? 
<http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2014/06/02/az-republican-scott-fistler-changes-name-to-cesar-chavez-party-to-democrat-for-new-congressional-bid/>

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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "If Fiduciary Duty Governs Financial Advice, Why Not Ethics Advice
    and Officials' Disclosure?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61961>

Posted on June 2, 2014 11:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61961>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This item 
<http://www.cityethics.org/content/if-fiduciary-duty-governs-financial-advice-why-not-ethics-advice-and-officials-disclosure> 
appears at City Ethics.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
conflict of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

    "WI Club for Growth Tries to Bar GAB from Spending Money to Probe
    Illegal Campaign Spending" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61959>

Posted on June 2, 2014 11:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61959>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brendan Fischer blogs 
<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/06/12497/wi-club-growth%E2%80%99s-latest-john-doe-suit-gab-not-bureaucratic-enough>.

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

    Wyoming Liberty and CCP Attorneys [corrected] File Amicus Brief in
    Tom DeLay Case <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61957>

Posted on June 2, 2014 11:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61957>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here. 
<http://wyliberty.org/feature/wyliberty-attorneys-file-free-speech-brief-in-texas-case/#ff_s=fA9Ie>

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Posted in bribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "Franita Tolson: Voting rights at a crossroads"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61955>

Posted on June 2, 2014 8:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61955>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This oped 
<http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/06/02/franita-tolson-voting-rights-crossroads/9787859/> 
appears in the Tallahassee Democrat.

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Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

    "How David Vitter Shattered Another Campaign Finance Rule"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61953>

Posted on June 2, 2014 7:51 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61953>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Shane Goldmacher 
<http://www.nationaljournal.com//politics/how-david-vitter-shattered-another-campaign-finance-rule-20140601>for 
NJ.

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

    Bauer on Gerken on CU and Campaign Finance
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61950>

Posted on June 2, 2014 7:48 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61950>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here. 
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2014/06/troubles-political-parties-misreadings-citizens-united/>

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    "Ohio SoS Channels PCEA and EAC, Directs Counties to Prepare
    Election Administration Plans" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61948>

Posted on June 2, 2014 7:47 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61948>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinBlog. 
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2014/06/ohio_sos_channels_pcea_directs_counties_to_prepare_election_plans.php>

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
PCEA (Bauer-Ginsberg Commission) <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=79>

-- 
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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