[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/9/14
Justin Levitt
levittj at lls.edu
Thu Oct 9 03:01:14 PDT 2014
Theory to Practice: The Democracy Facts Label Goes Live
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66562>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:56 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66562>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Yesterday, Ricklinked <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66517>to a press
release from the San Francisco Ethics Commission, announcing the launch
of a great newcampaign finance dashboard
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/09/about-the-2014-campaign-finance-dashboards.html>.
The site has a few different tools to get campaign finance information,
and more important, to visualize it in different ways so that the morass
of data is more meaningful. There aremaps for contributions by location
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2013/12/board-of-supervisors-district-2-dashboard-november-4-2014-election.html>,
andc
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/09/general-purpose-committee-activity.html>harts
for sorting big PACs from small ones
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/09/general-purpose-committee-activity.html>;
there aregraphs for lobbyist
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/08/political-contributions-made-arranged-or-delivered-by-lobbyists-to-candidates-for-local-office-in-20.html> contributions
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/08/political-contributions-made-arranged-or-delivered-by-lobbyists-to-candidates-for-local-office-in-20.html>andinfographics
of major donors
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/2014/09/major-donors-2014.html>.
<http://electionlawblog.org/archives/DemocracyFacts.jpg>But the piece
I'm most proud of is theinterface
<http://www.sfethics.org/ethics/democracyfacts.html>for quickly
communicating information about the funding profile and major funders of
ballot measures. It's modeled after my proposal for a "Democracy Facts"
label, described inthis paper <http://ssrn.com/abstract=1676108>and
highlighted in thisblog post
<http://electionlawblog.org/archives/017415.html>almost exactly 4 years
ago. The idea is to borrow the familiar design of the Nutrition Facts
labels, focusing on the few most important campaign funding facts real
people actually might want to know, in readily digestible and comparable
fashion.
The individual pieces of information on the label can be tailored to
local needs and desires; there are lots of potential variations. The
San Francisco Ethics Commission chose the info that suited them best.
And the technical wizards on the implementation team improved on the
idea in many different ways. Among the upgrades: given the web
interface, each individual major donor is clickable, and linked to a
Google search providing a bit more context about the person or entity
involved. Community feedback, I understand, has thus far been
profoundly positive.
Last year,Heather Gerken
<http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/HGerken.htm>had theopportunityto see
herDemocracy Index
<http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/democracyindex.htm>come to life, when
Pew released itsElections Performance Index
<http://www.pewstates.org/research/reports/elections-performance-index-85899445029>.
Shewrote <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47114>about the experience of
watching the real-life realization of her powerful policy proposal to
render information about the electoral environment more accessible and
relevant, and thereby more meaningful.
She was right. It feels great.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>Edit
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10/9 FEC Meeting: Citizens United, McCutcheon & More
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66559>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:49 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66559>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Late Wednesday, the FEC posted several drafts of rules to be considered
at a meeting Thursday. One of thedrafts
<http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc_14-53-a.pdf>implements
the Supreme Court's decision in/Citizens United/, removing prohibitions
on labor and corporate spending on independent political activity; it
would also allow corporations and labor organizations to contribute to
others engaging in independent political activity, including SuperPACs
and regular PACs with separate independent-expenditure accounts.
Another
<http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc_14-51-a.pdf>implements
the Supreme Court's decision in/McCutcheon/, removing the aggregate
limits on contributing to candidates, party committees, and PACs.
Stillanother
<http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc_14-52-a.pdf>announces
an upcoming rulemaking to consider further refinement in light
of/McCutcheon/, including potential adjustments to existing earmarking,
affiliation, and disclosure rules to help prevent circumvention of the
existing base limits on contributions.
The FEC also released two draft advisory opinions. The first is an AO
requested by the DNC and RNC about whether they can fundraise separately
for the 2016 presidential nomination conventions, in addition to limits
on donations to the party committees generally. Here's the "yes" option
<http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc_14-50-b.pdf>;here's the
"no" option <http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2014/documents/mtgdoc_14-50-a.pdf>.
The second is an AO requested by the two dueling Randolph-Macon College
professors looking to replace Eric Cantor, about whether the college can
continue paying fringe benefits while the candidates are on leave. For
those convinced that the FEC is hopelessly divided based on rank
partisanship for every possible issue (I've got doubts
<http://ssrn.com/abstract=2239491>), I look forward to a 3-3 deadlock
with the 3 Republican nominees voting to allow the college to pay the
Republican candidate, and a 3-3 deadlock with the 3 Democratic nominees
voting to allow the same college to pay the Democratic candidate.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>Edit
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=66559&action=edit>
On Party Fundraising for 2016 Conventions
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66554>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:48 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66554>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
About those AOs up later today: the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy
21have
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2628:october-8-2014-watchdogs-urge-fec-to-reject-rnc-a-dnc-request-to-open-soft-money-loophole-for-convention-funds&catid=63:legal-center-press-releases&Itemid=61>
opinions
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/images/CLC_D21_Comments_on_Draft_AO_2014_12.pdf>.
Bauer
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2014/10/facts-theories-campaign-finance-argument-convention-financing-matter-fec/>does
too, highlighting that the conventions are about more than just the
nominee. As every bar in the host city can confirm.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>Edit
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"Rules for Provisional Ballots All Over the Map"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66552>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:46 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66552>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Pam Fesslertries to make sense of the provisional ballot landscape
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2014/10/09/354534487/rules-for-provisional-ballots-all-over-the-map>for
NPR.
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Posted inprovisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67>Edit
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Right Questions, Wrong Answers in Voter ID Decision
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66549>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:46 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66549>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Prof.Chris Elmendorf <https://law.ucdavis.edu/faculty/elmendorf/>, over
at theElection Law @ Moritz
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/election-law/article/?article=12965>site,dives
deep <http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/election-law/article/?article=12965>onthe
7^th Circuit's WI voter ID decision
<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/Frank72.pdf>. It
begins:
Earlier this week Rick Hasen blasted Judge Easterbook's opinion
upholding Wisconsin's voter ID requirement as cavalier with the
facts and "heartless and dismissive" in tone. But in one respect the
opinion is extremely helpful: it asks the right questions.
Three questions foregrounded by Easterbook are particularly
important to the future of the Voting Rights Act:
What limiting principle keeps the Section 2 "results test" from
obligating every state to tinker with its election machinery until
rates of voter participation by race have been equalized? Insofar as
Section 2 conditions state obligations on past or present societal
discrimination, how does this square with the 14th and 15th
Amendments, which by their terms reach only state action? To what
extent are the "fact" questions in Section 2 cases questions that
district judges should try to answer on the basis of expert
testimony, as opposed to questions of belief, faith, or policy that
ought to be settled by appellate courts as a matter of law?
As this post will explain, Judge Easterbook's answers to these
questions are not convincing. But unless proponents of robust voting
rights protections come forth with better answers---answers that a
conservative judge can appreciate---Easterbook's opinion is likely
to prove a harbinger of things to come at the Supreme Court.
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Posted inelection law and constitutional law
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=55>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>,Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>Edit
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=66549&action=edit>
Roundup on the GAO Report on Voter ID
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66547>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:44 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66547>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/voter-id-laws-minorities-111721.html>,Natl
Journal
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/voter-id-laws-can-decrease-minority-and-youth-turnout-20141008>,
theWall St. Journal
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/10/08/gao-study-finds-voter-id-laws-reduced-turnout-in-tennessee-kansas/>,
and theWashington Times
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/8/photo-id-laws-do-hurt-voter-turnout-study/>discuss
the GAO report; Sec. Kobach responds
<http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article2629693.html>.
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Posted inThe Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>Edit
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Redistricting Made Simple <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66545>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:43 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66545>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
Change IL <http://www.changeil.org/>has agreat new animated digital tool
<http://app.newsbound.com/stacks/redistrict/redistrict_il/public>explaining
how redistricting works. Even those who don't like redistricting
commissions have 18 slides to love.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>Edit
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=66545&action=edit>
"Dark Money Still a Bit Player" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66543>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:43 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66543>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
CCP in The Hill
<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/219926-dark-money-still-a-bit-player>:
What would you call an election in which over 95 percent of campaign
spending is funded by groups that publicly disclose the names and
addresses of their donors to the Federal Election Commission, along with
information on donors' employers and occupations?
Though the point is valid, this op-ed assumes that spending disclosed to
the FEC is the relevant denominator, and focuses on the portion with
(some) donors disclosed. But remember,some campaign spending is not
disclosed to the FEC at all
<http://summaryjudgments.lls.edu/2014/05/the-drunkards-search-for-money-in.html>,
and we have no idea whether that number is large or small. That's not
itself an argument for disclosing all the rest. But it's important to
keep in mind the spending nobody knows about before trumpeting
transparency based on what's visible under the streetlight.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>Edit
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"How Campaign Finance Laws Make Florida Governor's Race Unique"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66540>
Posted onOctober 9, 2014 2:42 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66540>byJustin Levitt
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>
On Miami public radio
<http://wlrn.org/post/how-campaign-finance-laws-make-florida-governors-race-unique>.
According to the Campaign for Public Integrity, the campaigns of Charlie
Crist and Rick Scott are responsible for about 3 percent of the spending
in the race.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
--
Justin Levitt
Professor of Law
Loyola Law School | Los Angeles
919 Albany St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213-736-7417
justin.levitt at lls.edu
ssrn.com/author=698321
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