[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/4/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Jun 4 07:30:04 PDT 2015
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is the Other Party”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73140>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:25 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73140>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Alan I. Abramowitz and Steven Webster write
<http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/the-only-thing-we-have-to-fear-is-the-other-party/>.
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Posted inpolitical parties
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,political polarization
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
“Congress Slyly Changed Campaign Finance Rules. Now the GOP Is
Cleaning Up. The Democrats? Not so much.”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73138>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:23 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73138>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Russ Choma
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/republican-national-committee-megadonors-2016?utm_content=buffercd11e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer>for
Mother Jones.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Voting Case Has Potential to Put House Further Out of Reach for
Democrats” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73136>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:22 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73136>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nate Cohn
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/upshot/court-case-can-put-house-further-out-of-reach-for-democrats.html?rref=upshot&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1>on
Evenwel for NYT’s The UpShot.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Brownback May Empower Kris Kobach To Prosecute ‘Voter Fraud’ Cases
Himself” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73134>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:20 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73134>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
TPM.
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/kris-kobach-sam-brownback-prosecute-voter-fraud>
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,fraudulent fraud squad
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Lobbyists and Campaign Finance: The ‘Bundling’ Question”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73132>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:14 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73132>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs.
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/06/lobbyists-campaign-finance-bundling-question/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,lobbying
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
“Authorities unlikely to stop 2016 election fundraising
free-for-all” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73130>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:10 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73130>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Reuters reports.
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/04/us-usa-election-enforcement-idUSKBN0OK0CI20150604>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
“Cruz super PAC claim: More than $37 million raised”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73128>
Posted onJune 4, 2015 7:07 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73128>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Teddy Schleife
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/03/politics/ted-cruz-super-pac-identities/>r
for CNN.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Twitter Just Killed Politwoops” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73126>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 3:31 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73126>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Boo! <http://tktk.gawker.com/twitter-just-killed-politwoops-1708842376>
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,social media and
social protests <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>
“Clinton to call for at least 20 days of early voting nationwide”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73123>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 1:47 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73123>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo reports.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/03/clinton-to-call-for-at-least-20-days-of-early-voting-nationwide/?postshare=3521433363977565>
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
An Inside Look at the Drafting of President Obama’s Selma Speech on
the Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73120>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 12:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73120>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Must read WaPo
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/06/03/obama-and-american-exceptionalism/>,
complete with handwritten presidential notes.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
Sargent Speaks to Rep. Sarbanes About Moving Campaign Finance Reform
Forward <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73118>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 12:36 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73118>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/06/03/how-democrats-can-make-voters-care-about-big-money-in-politics/>,
at Plum Line.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Ahead of 2016, Voting Wars Continue, But Momentum on Registration
Reform” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73116>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 11:53 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73116>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Via email [and postedhere
<https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/ahead-2016-voting-wars-continue-momentum-registration-reform>]:
With the 2016 race already under way, the voting wars continue in
the states, but with a significant drop-off in new restrictions in
2015, according to anew analysis
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82590&qid=5174001>by
the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.
Since the 2010 election, however,21 states
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82503&qid=5174001>have
new laws making it harder to vote — and in 14 states, next year will
be the first time these rules are in effect for a presidential
election, which is marked by high turnout.
At the same time, there is also solid momentum on reforms to improve
the voter registration process this year. In recent months, Oregon
enacted a significant new law that will automatically sign up
citizens. Several other states have seen proposals to adopt online
registration. In fact, for the third year in a row, bills to expand
voters’ access to the ballot box outpace those to restrict voting.
Overall, since the 2012 election,23 states
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82504&qid=5174001>plus
the District of Columbia passed new laws to improve voting. This has
not necessarily put voters ahead of where they have been in recent
years, however, because restrictive legislation continues to make it
harder for voters to participate.
In the 2015 legislative session, there have been at least:
* 113 restrictive voting bills introduced in 33 states
o *1 voter ID bill*passed in North Dakota
* 464 bills to enhance voting access introduced in 48 states plus
the District of Columbia
o *14 bills*to improve voting passed in*11 states*, plus the
District of Columbia
Click here for a full list of states and maps.
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82590&qid=5174001>
“Heading into the 2016 election, politicians continue to waste time
fighting over restrictive voting laws,” said*Myrna Pérez*, deputy
director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “Instead, we
must improve the voting system. Several states are moving in the
right direction. Next year, let’s make sure every eligible American
can make their voice heard. ”
*Voting Wars Continue, But With Less Output*
Voter ID is still at the forefront of the voting wars, and it
remains largely a partisan issue, according to the Brennan Center’s
analysis. Nearly half the restrictive bills introduced this session
are voter ID-related, and most have Republican-only sponsorship.
Only one restrictive bill has been enacted thus far. North Dakota
passed a bill making its voter ID law even more restrictive,
permitting only four forms of ID. But voter ID requirements failed
in several states, including Arkansas, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska,
New Mexico, and Nevada, which had a rancorous fight.
*Momentum on Registration Reform*
In March, Oregonpassed
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82505&qid=5174001>a
breakthrough law to modernize voter registration byautomatically
registering
<http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=82506&qid=5174001>eligible
citizens who have driver’s licenses (and do not ask to remain
unregistered). Oregon’s law triggered a surge of similar proposals
from 14 states and the District of Columbia. Another popular reform
this year is online registration, which continues to receive
bipartisan support, with bills passing in Florida, New Mexico, and
Oklahoma. Vermont also passed a bipartisan Election Day registration
bill, and Indiana passed legislation allowing state agencies that
issue SNAP and TANF benefits to electronically transfer voter
registration information to election officials.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“News attention to voter fraud in the 2008 and 2012 US elections”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73114>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 11:49 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73114>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brian JFogarty,JessicaCurtis,Patricia FrancesGouzien,David CKimball, and
Eric CVorst inResearch & Politics
<http://rap.sagepub.com/content/2/2/2053168015587156>:
The nature and frequency of voter fraud figure prominently in many
ongoing policy debates about election laws in the United States.
Policy makers frequently cite allegations of voter fraud reported in
the press during these debates. While recent studies find that voter
fraud is a rare event, a substantial segment of the public believes
that voter fraud is a rampant problem in the United States. It
stands to reason that public beliefs are shaped by news coverage of
voter fraud. However, there is very little extant academic research
on how the news media, at any level, covers allegations or
documented cases of voter fraud. This paper examines local newspaper
attention to voter fraud in each of the 50 states during the 2008
and 2012 US elections. The results show that local coverage of voter
fraud during the 2012 elections was greatest in presidential swing
states and states that passed restrictive voting laws prior to the
2012 election. No evidence that newspaper attention is related to
the rate of actual voter fraud cases in each state was found. The
findings are consistent with other studies indicating that parties
and campaigns sought to place voter fraud on the political agenda in
strategically important states to motivate their voting base ahead
of the election.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Money has too much of an influence in politics, Americans say”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73112>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 8:42 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73112>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
MSNBC reports.
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/money-has-too-much-influence-politics-say-americans>
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Democrats Challenge Voter Restrictions in Battleground States”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73110>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 8:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73110>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Important Maggie Haberman/Amy
ChozickNYT<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/us/politics/democrats-voter-rights-lawsuit-hillary-clinton.html>reporting:
For or Mrs. Clinton, such speeches can do much to reinforce her
liberal credentials while reassuring black voters who supported Mr.
Obama that she is on their side.
In the same way, even if the lawsuits are unsuccessful, Democratic
strategists say, they serve an important political purpose for
Democrats by highlighting Republicans’ responsibility for the
statutes being challenged. Democrats will also remind the party’s
base that Republicans have tried to mobilize their own core voters
by warning, as Mitt Romney did in 2012, against the possibility of
widespread voter fraud by Democrats.
Both those points could help fire up minority leaders and voters,
Democratic strategists say.
Republicans, however, argue that the lawsuits are a transparent ruse
aimed at energizing minority voters, whom Mrs. Clinton badly needs
to turn out in numbers similar to those Mr. Obama drew in his 2012
re-election.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
Great Lineup for IACREOT Meeting in Vail
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73108>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 7:56 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73108>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Interested in election administration? Want a beautiful setting for a
conference?Great speakers <http://t.co/mcMWWVNMIn>?
Registration and detailshere <http://t.co/T9e7DSuWYI>.
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Posted inelection administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
Nate Persily on The Supreme Court’s Big Data Problem in Evenwel
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73106>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 7:16 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73106>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/the-supreme-courts-big-data-problem-118568.html#.VW8MBlxVhHx>:
Legitimate philosophical arguments can be made in favor of using one
set of statistics over another — just as one could argue that some
concerns in redistricting, such as keeping counties or communities
intact, should override the concern for precise equality. A
redistricting plan based on equal numbers of people, the system we
have now, also ensures that the workload and constituent-related
burdens of representatives are roughly equal. In effect, equal
representation may be more important than equal voting power itself.
But the question that confronts the court as it prepares to hear
the/Evenwel/case in the fall is whether the Constitution mandates
the use of one statistic to the exclusion of all else. The fact that
no accurate count of citizens exists should be the end of the
matter. Unless the justices are prepared to mandate a new kind of
citizen census — one never contemplated by the Constitution — then
they should leave it to the states to draw their districts using the
most accurate data available. The one person, one vote rule isn’t
broken, and the Supreme Court shouldn’t try to fix it.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Americans Think Money In Politics Is A Problem, But Just How Big?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73104>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 7:14 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73104>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Peter Overby
<http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/03/411604682/americans-think-money-in-politics-is-a-problem-but-just-how-big>for
NPR.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“How to Make Friends and Influence Elections; This California
winemaker has a private plane and a boat. Now he has a super PAC,
too.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73102>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 7:12 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73102>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-06-03/how-to-make-friends-and-influence-elections?cmpid=BBD060315>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Jeb Bush, Taking His Time, Tests the Legal Definition of Candidate”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73100>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 7:08 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=73100>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/us/politics/jeb-bush-taking-his-time-tests-the-legal-definition-of-candidate.html?_r=1>on
the Bush charade.
And as I explained inJeb the Destroyer
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/01/jeb_bush_the_undecider_in_chief_how_the_gop_hopeful_is_making_a_mockery.html>,
this will have negative consequences for how candidates “run” in the future.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
Common Cause “Gerrymander Standard” First Place Winner
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72993>
Posted onJune 3, 2015 6:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72993>byDan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
We are thrilled to announce the first place winners of theCommon Cause
“Gerrymander Standard” writing competition
<http://www.commoncause.org/issues/voting-and-elections/redistricting/gerrymander-standard-writing-competition.html>.Michael
D. McDonald
<https://www.binghamton.edu/political-science/faculty/michael-mcdonald.html>andRobin
E. Best <http://www.robinebest.com/>of Binghamton University (SUNY),
authors of “Unfair Partisan Gerrymanders in Politics and Law: A
Diagnostic Applied to Six Cases,” are the inaugural winners of this
competition. Earlier in the week, we announced thesecond
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72989>andthird place
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72987>entries.
The winning paper seeks to shift the conversation of partisan
gerrymandering away from whether a political party wins a “fair” share
of seats to a focus on individual rights.Read a summary of the paper
here <http://www.robinebest.com/#%21gerrymandering/c1aps>and look for
the entire paper in Election Law Journal this fall. McDonald and Best
argue that the key question is whether a map creates an unequal
weighting of votes for Americans of one party versus another. They also
create a diagnostic test based on this perspective to apply this idea to
real-world maps. The authors make the case that the vote-weight measure
leads to a manageable standard and important insights into whether
gerrymandering unconstitutionally causes the votes of some individuals
to be worth more than the votes of others.
Using the diagnostic test the authors created, the paper scrutinizes six
different congressional maps that generated controversy when passed. The
test identifies partisan gerrymanders in Michigan and Ohio while
emphasizing that Florida’s congressional districts after the 2000 census
constituted a sufficiently severe gerrymander that it should have been
ruled unconstitutional. The authors couple their fresh perspective on
this topic with a rigorous application of their theory to a variety of
maps. Their clarity and creativity provide invaluable insight that will
help political and legal advocates end the undemocratic practice of
gerrymandering.
Thanks again to Common Cause for organizing this competition, all of the
authors for their outstanding entries, and to our fellow judges who took
time out of very busy schedules to participate. Finally, congratulations
to all of the winners. Keep an eye out for details about a forum Common
Cause will host this fall in Washington, DC featuring all of the winners
and for the launch of the second annual Common Cause Democracy Prize
writing competition.
Norm Ornstein & Dan Tokaji
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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
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http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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