[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/20/15

Wed May 20 07:48:48 PDT 2015

    “Clinton Super PAC Executive Director Exits Amid Shake-Up”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72625>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:40 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72625>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BuzzFeed reports. 
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/priorities-wicks#.ig8q13RZ5>

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

    Bin Laden Had Bev Harris’s “Black Box Voting” on His Bookshelf
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72623>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:38 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72623>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Buzzfeed 
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/us-releases-contents-of-bin-ladens-english-language-bookshel#.uoN6Q4Lxr>has 
the list. Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader for the pointer.

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

    “Bronx DA Johnson Indicts Former Assembly Candidate Hector Ramirez”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72621>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:35 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72621>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Bronx Chronicle 
<http://thebronxchronicle.com/2015/05/20/bronx-da-johnson-indicts-former-assembly-candidate-hector-ramirez/>:

    The charges are related to the 2014 race in the 86th AD where
    Ramirez was accused of election fraud involving absentee ballots.
    Ramirez was narrowly defeated by the incumbent Assemblyman Victor
    Pichard. Pichardo won 86th Assembly District Democratic primary in a
    Bronx Board of Elections supervised manual recount by TWO votes over
    two-time challenger Hector Ramirez.

    Hector Ramirez and Ana Cuevas (Ramirez’s campaign manager in 2014),
    were indicted on seven counts for each allegedly false
    instrument submitted to The Board of Elections in the City of New
    York totaling 242 counts involving absentee ballots and
    applications for some 32-35 persons, some of whom were not eligible
    to vote…. The duo are accused of acting in concert in falsifying and
    submitting fraudulent absentee ballot applications and
    ballots bearing the names of voters between August 14 and primary
    day, September 9, 2014 and inducing ineligible persons to vote in
    that primary.

Here 
<https://www.scribd.com/doc/265940256/Indictment-Ramirez-Hector-Cuevas-Ana-Redacted>is 
the indictment.

UPDATE: Doug Kellner of the NY Board of Electionscomments 
<https://nyelectionsnews.wordpress.com/2015/05/20/bronx-da-indicts-former-assembly-candidate-hector-ramirez/>.

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Posted inabsentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>,chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,election administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

    “Pro-Scott Walker super PAC spells out perks for $1 million donors”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72618>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:29 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72618>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: 
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-woos-members-of-congress-lobbyists-in-dc-visit-b99503384z1-304291621.html>

    What does a million-dollar political donor get for his or her money
    these days?

    The answer is spelled out in great detail in a handout from the
    super PAC supporting RepublicanGov. Scott
    Walker’s<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-290106981.html>potential
    presidential bid.

    Among the perks:

    Twice-a-year retreats, members-only briefings, weekly email updates,
    members-only conference calls, a dedicated staff contact, two
    private dinners with “VIP Special Guest(s),” inclusion in “all
    public/regional fundraising events,” and a special “Executive Board
    Member” pin.

    Those benefits are itemized in a handout from Unintimidated PAC, the
    committee launched by longtime Walker advisers, to people attending
    a private reception with the governor that was held by the PAC in
    Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

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

    “Hillary Clinton’s Hypocrisy” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72616>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:27 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72616>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Dana Milbank 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hillary-clintons-hypocrisy/2015/05/19/f8a7b194-fe48-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html>:

    Her advisers claim campaign-finance reforms will be at the top of
    her agenda, a sensible choice because of the deep resentment in the
    populace toward a political system rigged in favor of the wealthy.
    But she gives supporters little evidence that she’s genuine. Asked
    by The Post last month about the role of the pro-Clinton Priorities
    USA Action, Clinton shrugged her shoulders and said,“I don’t know.”
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/04/14/hillary-clinton-we-do-have-a-plan-for-campaign-finance-reform/>

    If she really thinks money is corrupting politics, she can take
    concrete steps right now. She could pledge to return immediately to
    the public finance system and call on pro-Clinton super PACs to
    cease and desist — if her Republican opponents will do the same. The
    Republicans won’t, of course, but then Clinton would have gained the
    moral high ground she now lacks.

    She could also vow to enact four pieces of legislation if elected:
    reviving the public-finance system with matching funds for small
    contributions; curtailing candidate super PACs by drafting strict
    rules prohibiting coordination; forcing the disclosure of anonymous
    “dark money” contributions; and creating a new enforcement agency to
    replace the impotent and perpetually deadlocked Federal Election
    Commission.

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

    “Foundations To SEC: Force Corporations To Disclose Political
    Giving” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72614>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:25 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72614>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Peter Overby report 
<http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/19/408010757/foundations-to-sec-force-corporations-to-disclose-political-giving>s 
for NPR.

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

    “A 2016 theme emerges: Money, money, money, money, money”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72612>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:23 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72612>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Dan Balz’s take. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/money-money-money-money-money-money-money/2015/05/19/6d69633e-fe3e-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html>

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

    “The Kentucky Republican Gubernatorial Primary Goes Into Extra
    Innings: What Happens Next?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72610>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:17 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72610>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh Douglas and Thomas Travis write. 
<http://www.uky.edu/electionlaw/analysis/kentucky-republican-gubernatorial-primary-goes-extra-innings-what-happens-next>

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Posted inrecounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>

    “Roiled in Partisan Gridlock, the FEC Cannot Do Its Job in the 2016
    Elections” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72608>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:16 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72608>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Press release 
<http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=5522>:

    The nation’s elections agency remains incapacitated by the
    ideological divide between its Democratic and Republican
    commissioners,according to a study (PDF)
    <http://www.citizen.org/documents/fec-deadlock-update-april-2015.pdf>Public
    Citizen released today.

    In “Roiled in Partisan Gridlock, Federal Election Commission is
    Failing
    <http://www.citizen.org/documents/fec-deadlock-update-april-2015.pdf>,”
    Public Citizen found that deadlocked votes by the Federal Election
    Commission (FEC) on enforcement actions and audits remain at an
    all-time high.

    Partisan deadlock prevents actions on regulations and advisory
    opinions as well. At the same time, the number of actions even
    considered by the agency has plummeted.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal 
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

    “Republican Candidate Adopts Jeb Bush Super-PAC Strategy for the
    Senate” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72605>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:11 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72605>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

National Journal reports. 
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/carlos-lopez-cantera-jeb-bush-super-pac-20150519>

He’s not calledJeb the Destroyer 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/04/jeb_bush_destroying_campaign_finance_rules_his_tactics_will_be_the_future.html>for 
nothing.

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

    “Popular study on same sex marriage attitudes was based on
    fabricated information” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72603>

Posted onMay 20, 2015 7:08 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72603>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vox 
<http://www.vox.com/2014/4/8/5592214/simply-talking-to-people-about-same-sex-marriage-makes-them-more>:

    *Update:*It turns out that the Michael LaCour and Donald Green study
    described here really was “miraculous”: it wasn’t true. Two other
    political scientists,David Broockman and Joshua Kalla
    <http://stanford.edu/%7Edbroock/broockman_kalla_aronow_lg_irregularities.pdf>,
    tried to conduct an extension of the study, and ran into a number of
    irregularities, not least an unusually high response rate among
    survey participants. When they contacted the survey firm they
    believed performed the study and asked to speak with an employee
    believed to have helped, the firm said it was unfamiliar with the
    project, had no employee by that name, and didn’t have the
    capabilities to run many aspects of the study.

    Eventually, LaCour confessed to “falsely describing at least some of
    the details of the data collection.” Green retracted the study on
    his website
    <http://falsely%20describing%20at%20least%20some%20of%20the%20details%20of%20the%20data%20collection/>and
    has requested that Science, the journal that published the study,
    retract it as well. LaCour was set to become an assistant professor
    at Princeton this July, but Retraction Watch’s Ivan Oransky
    <http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/20/author-retracts-study-of-changing-minds-on-same-sex-marriage-after-colleague-admits-data-were-faked/>notes
    that this position has been scrubbed from LaCour’s personal website
    <http://www.mikelacour.com/0dhwbon5clg7ce8885avmfppxn5jvi>.

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

    “Too close to call: Matt Bevin leads James Comer by 83 votes; Comer
    calls for recanvass” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72601>

Posted onMay 19, 2015 9:00 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72601>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sam 
Youngman<http://www.kentucky.com/2015/05/19/3859827/alert-republican-race-for-kentucky.html>on 
#KYGOV.

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,recounts 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>

    New Tara Ross Video Defending the Electoral College
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72599>

Posted onMay 19, 2015 11:40 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72599>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6s7jB6-GoU>

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Posted inelectoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

    “Republicans Very Troubled By Clinton Donors See No Conflict With
    Their Own Dark Money” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72597>

Posted onMay 19, 2015 7:49 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=72597>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Paul Blumenthal reports 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/clinton-foundation-dark-money_n_7307852.html?1432035248>for 
HuffPo.

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

-- 
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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