[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/3/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Tue Nov 3 07:42:22 PST 2015
What Does Charles Koch Want for His Big Campaign Money?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77230>
Posted onNovember 3, 2015 7:41 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77230>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/03/charles-koch-defends-big-money-campaign-contributions/?ref=politics&_r=0>
The normally press-shy Mr. Koch, who has madea string of recent
media appearances
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/us/koch-brothers-brave-spotlight-to-try-to-alter-their-image.html>to
promote his book, “Good Profit <http://www.goodprofitbook.com/>,” is
helping raise hundreds of millions of dollars this year for
conservative political and philanthropic causes, some of which will
come out of his own pocket. In return, Mr. Koch said, he hoped to
see government officials adopt policies that would limit
interference in the free market.
“I expect something in return,” Mr. Koch said. “I would love to have
the government stop this corporate welfare. That’s what I want. I
want the government to, to let companies, or require that companies
only profit by helping make other people’s lives better. That’s what
I want and that’s what I’m working for.”
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“The toxic erosion of voter rights in Alabama”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77228>
Posted onNovember 3, 2015 7:40 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77228>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo editorial
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eroding-voter-rights-in-alabama/2015/11/02/15714168-7762-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html>.
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Posted inThe Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,Voting
Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“Marin’s assemblyman wants to legalize ‘ballot selfies’ in
California” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77226>
Posted onNovember 3, 2015 7:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77226>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Marin Independent Journal reports.
<http://www.marinij.com/government-and-politics/20151102/marins-assemblyman-wants-to-legalize-ballot-selfies-in-california>
On why I think this is a very bad idea, see the Selfie is a Threat to
Democracy
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/08/17/why-the-selfie-is-a-threat-to-democracy/>,
Reuters Opinion, Aug. 18, 2015
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Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,vote buying
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=43>
“Trevor Potter’s Remarks at Harvard Law School: ‘Legal Rubble: Money
and Politics in the Age of Citizens United'”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77224>
Posted onNovember 3, 2015 7:28 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77224>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Watch
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/blog/trevor-potters-remarks-harvard-law-school-legal-rubble-money-and-politics-age-citizens>.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“What We Know and What We Need to Know: Voter Registration and
Turnout in the U.S.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77222>
Posted onNovember 3, 2015 7:27 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77222>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This looks likea great
event<http://www.american.edu/spa/events/voter-registration-and-turnout-11162015.cfm>at
American University on Nov. 16.
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Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>
More Hints from @Lessig of Independent Presidential Bid
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77219>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 3:49 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77219>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lessig Blog post:
<http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/132425036707/on-suspending-my-campaign> (my
emphasis)
But I will regret forever not having a real chance at the debates to
press the one real issue that is before us as a democracy, and that
the other candidates just are not addressing: At the core of our
democracy there is a hole where the Framers meant there to be a
Congress. That crippled and corrupted institution will block
progress until it is fixed. We desperately need a politics that can
talk about that, and begin to talk about how it could be fixed. That
is not just “campaign finance reform.” That is not just about
“getting money out of politics.” It is anagenda for reforming a
failed institution
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T8MGD4S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1>,
by building on the cross-partisan recognition there is that this
critical part of our democracy is broken.
We need that issue to become central, because that is the only way
that failed institution will ever be fixed. And fixing that failed
institution is the only way we will ever have any any chance of
addressing sensibly the long list of problems this nation must address.
*This a hard point to make in the middle of a political party. Maybe
it is a point better made outside of party primaries. We’ll see.*For
now, there’s just some sleep and time with the kids to think about.
Seriously happy time ahead.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“School Board Recalls: At least 307 attempted since 2012; 24
officials kicked out, 21 resigned, 13 survived vote”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77217>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 3:46 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77217>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Recall Elections Blog
<http://recallelections.blogspot.com/2015/11/school-board-recalls-at-least-307.html>:
Once again, a recall election is arguably the most fascinating
election of the year. As opposed to some of the past famous recalls,
the big one this year is for a minor political position: three
School Board members in Jefferson County, Colorado, Ken Witt, Julie
Williams and John Newkirk. Yet we’ve already seen reports that over
amillion dollars has been raised by both sides
<http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_29042787/death-threats-big-money-become-part-jeffco-school>in
what has to be one of the (though not the
<http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/26/local/la-me-school-board-20130227>)
most expensive school board races of all time.
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,recall elections
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11>
“Offering a new standard for gerrymandering to the Supreme Court”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77214>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 3:44 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77214>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Sam Wang:
<http://election.princeton.edu/2015/11/02/supreme-court-brief-harris-v-arizona-independent-redistricting-commission/>
Today, I filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the/Harris v. Arizona
Independent Redistricting Commission/case (S. Ct. 14-232
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/14-232.htm>).
The brief can be foundhere
<https://web.math.princeton.edu/%7Esswang/14-232_bsac_SamWang.pdf>.
In it, I argue that the Supreme Court should reject Harris’s case on
the grounds that there was no partisan injury.
Claims of partisan gerrymandering are sometimes wielded fairly
loosely. Harris/et al./claim that voters of one party (in their
case, Republicans) were packed into districts by the Commission to
impair their representation. My brief describes how such a claim can
be put to an impartial mathematical test. In fact, there was no
partisan asymmetry to what the Commission did. Ironically, my
analysis finds a slight (but statistically nonsignificant) partisan
tilt favoring /Republicans/.
The test I proposed is a simple one: the difference between the
average support for a party in a state, and the median
district-by-district outcome. The average-median difference* has
well-known statistical properties, and can be applied to any
statewide districting scheme. It might be useful in the future as a
general standard for statewide partisan gerrymandering. A need for
such a standard for partisan asymmetry has been expressed in
the/Vieth v. Jubelirer/and/LULAC v. Perry/cases.
I have written more generally on rigorous measures of partisan
symmetry. A current version my article, “A Three-Prong Standard for
Partisan Gerrymandering,” isavailable at SSRN
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2671607>.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
@Lessig Leaves Democratic Primary Quest, Does Not Expressly
Foreclose Independent Bid <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77212>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 9:45 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77212>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
YouTube video
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IsqmMqCEo&feature=em-uploademail>.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“A Feasible Roadmap to Compulsory Voting”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77210>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 9:09 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77210>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nick Stephanopoulos
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/a-feasible-roadmap-to-compulsory-voting/413422/>in
the Atlantic:
Compulsory voting, then, is not as far-fetched an idea as it might
seem. For it to take root in America, all that’s necessary is for a
single city (in the right state) to take the plunge. Partisan forces
would then promote the policy’s rapid spread. And the same dynamic
would apply not just to compulsory voting, but
to/any/turnout-boosting policy a city might adopt. So to transform
American politics, the best advice might be to forget about the
national picture—and instead, think local.
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Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>
“Campaign Legal Center Brief Urges Supreme Court to Reject Challenge
to Arizona Commission’s Redistricting Plan”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77208>
Posted onNovember 2, 2015 9:07 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77208>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/press-releases/campaign-legal-center-brief-urges-supreme-court-reject-challenge-arizona>:
Today, the Campaign Legal Center filed an/amici brief
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/sites/default/files/Final%20Amicus%20Brief%20Harris%20v%20%20Arizona%2010-30-2015%20FOR%20FILING.pdf>/in
the U.S. Supreme Court in/Harris v. Arizona Independent
Redistricting Commission/on behalf of former Justice Department
attorneys in support of the Commission and its redistricting plan.
The brief emphasizes that the state commission was fully justified
in drawing districts, with minor population deviations, that
complied with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The plan at issue
was drawn by the Commission at a time when the state was required to
preclear any voting changes with the Justice Department or the D.C.
District Court, and ensure that the plan did not decrease the
opportunity of minority voters to elect their candidates of choice.
The brief also stresses that the holding urged by those challenging
the plan would unnecessarily cause substantial disruption and upset
political stability in states and municipalities nationwide.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
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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