[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/17/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Sat Oct 17 12:47:36 PDT 2015
“Late Night With Seth Meyers A Closer Look: Wealthy Families
Dominate Campaign Contributions” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76781>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:46 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76781>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Video. <http://www.hulu.com/watch/856309>
(with a Trevor cameo!)
Quoting Charles Koch: “It’s hard to save the world when the world
doesn’t want to be saved.”
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,election
law "humor" <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>
“Hillary Clinton Bets on Future With Spending Spree to Build
Campaign Infrastructure” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76779>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:35 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76779>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/17/us/politics/filings-reveal-hillary-clinton-leads-money-race.html?ref=politics&_r=0>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
Lessig Stays in Race But Abandons Plan to Be Temporary President
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76777>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:33 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76777>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lessig says
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/referendum-presidency-larry-lessig/411013/?utm_source=SFTwitter>his
pledge to resign after passing campaign finance reform if elected
president proved deeply unpopular.
In a 1,008-person survey about the idea of a referendum presidency,
Drew Westen, perhaps the Democrats’ most influential messaging guru,
tested both the idea of a campaign focused on fixing our democracy
first, and the idea of a president resigning once that work was done.
The resignation idea was a total bust. No one liked it. At all.
But the idea of an outsider making fundamental reform the central
issue of the campaign blew the race apart.
After a careful description of the idea, and me, the poll found that
my support didn’t just increase. It dominated the field. And while
the survey was not designed to test the ultimate strength of one
candidate against the other—so the (insanely high) numbers it found
supporting me can’t be read as a measure of actual predicted
support—the survey did show the astonishing potential for such a
campaign in America today. This fundamental issue, properly
presented, totally changed the race.
I asked Lessig some skeptical questions about his plan to resign inthe
ELB podcast. <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75706> It is no surprise
that the idea is unpopular.
But it presents two big challenges now for Lessig:
First, can he show that he has important ideas, thoughts and depth
regarding other issues key to being president?
Second, what does it say about his judgment that he thought this was a
sensible idea in the first place?
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Amid voting rights criticism, Alabama partially backs off
controversial plan to close driver license offices”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76775>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:27 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76775>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/17/amid-voting-rights-criticim-alabama-partially-backs-off-controversial-plan-to-close-driver-license-offices/>:
The governor of Alabama has partially reversed a decision to close
more than 30 government offices that issue driver licenses and photo
IDs, following weeks of criticism by civil rights advocates and
Democratic lawmakers who say the action would make it harder for
some black residents to get the identification needed to vote.
On Friday, Gov. Robert Bentley (R) said that instead of fully
closing the 31 offices, most in rural communities around the state,
the facilities wouldopen once a month to serve residents.
<http://wiat.com/2015/10/16/gov-bentley-asks-alea-to-staff-closed-driver-license-offices-once-a-month/>
The closures are part of service cuts in several agencies to balance
the state’s budget, state officials say.
Bentley took issue with the implication that his actions were
racially motivated. “To suggest the closure of the driver’s license
offices is a racial issue is simply not true, and to suggest
otherwise should be considered an effort to promote a political
agenda,” Bentley said in a statement.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>
“US turning into plutocracy as small number of donors buy into
power” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76772>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:23 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76772>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Irish Times:
<http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/us-turning-into-plutocracy-as-small-number-of-donors-buy-into-power-1.2394921#.ViKQMbEKYJw.twitter>
The PAC figures are mind-boggling. Right to Rise USA, the Super PAC
supporting Bush, raised $103 million in the first half of the year
at a time when he wasn’t a candidate – a move campaign finance
observers claim he used to coordinate the fundraising efforts of his
PAC. Republican Scott Walker’s PAC, Unintimidated, raised $20
million yet the Wisconsin governor still left the race.
This showed direct contributions are still vitally important. That
PAC money can simply be used to support another candidate’s
campaign./The New York Times/reported last week that just 158
families, mostly ultra-wealthy people who made their fortunes in
finance and energy, gave almost half of all the seed money raised to
support Democratic and Republican candidates: a whopping $176 million.
An indignant Sanders has argued that the US is turning into an
oligarchy. A plutocracy is probably more accurate. Sanders’s claims
are “essentially correct”, said Corrado. “Campaign financing in
presidential races has evolved in a manner that has given great
force to the wealthiest donors,” he said. “What we have seen is a
transformation where a very small group of about 200 donors are
responsible for a large share of money.”
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Posted incampaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>
“Murray Energy to pay $5,000 penalty for anti-Obama sign disclosure
violations” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76770>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:21 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76770>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Cleveland.com
<http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/10/murray_energy_to_pay_5000_pena.html#incart_river_home>:
Ohio-based Murray Energy has agreed to pay the Federal Election
Commission a $5,000 penalty for failing to put disclosures on
anti-Obama signs it distributed to employees before the 2012
election to show the signs were paid for by the company.
According to the election commission, between July and October of
2012, Murray Energy paid roughly $22,000 for 4,708 yard signs and
banners that said “STOP the WAR on COAL – FIRE OBAMA.
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/epa-be-sued-over-war-coal-robert-murray>”
A Democrat-leaning group – Progress Ohio – complained the signs
violated campaign laws because they expressly advocated Obama’s
defeat without including the required disclaimers. Murray Energy
said it didn’t know disclaimers were needed and said it stopped
distributing the signs when it learned of the requirement.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Are Ohio Voters About to Fix Politics?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76768>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:19 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76768>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Cincinnati Enquirer:
<http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/10/16/ohio-voters-fix-politics/74045180/>
If voters approve the ballot initiative this November, Ohio could
become a nationwide leader on how to draw lines for state lawmakers’
districts, said Michael Li, an elections expert at New York
University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice. The
much-maligned process of allowing lawmakers draw Rorschach test-like
districts to ensure a win for their party could end — or at least
become less egregious — with this first-of-its-kind proposal, he said.
“People are really watching Ohio very closely,” Li said.
Most of the time, when states change who draws legislative
districts, the idea comes from a group of fed-up voters not
lawmakers with a vested interest in maintaining their control over
the pen, Li said. But a bipartisan effort from Ohio legislators, two
of whom were leaving because of term limits, passed last December
and is headed to voters this fall. Only nine of 130 sitting
lawmakers voted “no” on the proposal,which passed at 4 a.m. the day
after legislators planned to break for the holidays
<http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/20/inside-story-ohio-surprising-redistricting-deal-came-together/20652947/>.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
December American Interest on “Fixing American Democracy”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76766>
Posted onOctober 17, 2015 12:15 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76766>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here <http://www.the-american-interest.com/back-issue-toc/?i=5182>:
November/December 2015
IF IT\’S BROKE…
Our Peculiar Reform Challenge
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123718>
BRUCE E. CAIN & FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
Polarization and Partisanship
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123729>
DIDI KUO
Fuss Budgeting
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123750>
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
The Transparency Paradox
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123789>
BRUCE E. CAIN
The Campaign Revolution Will Not Be Televised
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123805>
NATHANIEL PERSILY
De-Polarizing
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123830>
LARRY DIAMOND
Electoral Integrity
<http://www.the-american-interest.com/?post_type=post&p=123836>
STEPHEN JOHN STEDMAN
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Posted inpolitical polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
“Campaign Finance and Political Polarization: When Purists Prevail”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76751>
Posted onOctober 16, 2015 1:58 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76751>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bumped to the top to note that clickingon the
link<http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/ump.13855466.0001.001>lets you get FREE
electronic access to this book.
Ray La Raja and Brian Schaffner have just writtenthis book
<http://www.press.umich.edu/4882255/campaign_finance_and_political_polarization>,
which I am very much looking forward to reading:
Efforts to reform the U.S. campaign finance system typically focus
on the corrupting influence of large contributions. Yet, as Raymond
J. La Raja and Brian F. Schaffner argue, reforms aimed at cutting
the flow of money into politics have unintentionally favored
candidates with extreme ideological agendas and, consequently,
fostered political polarization.
Drawing on data from 50 states and the U.S. Congress over 20 years,
La Raja and Schaffner reveal that current rules allow wealthy
ideological groups and donors to dominate the financing of political
campaigns. In order to attract funding, candidates take
uncompromising positions on key issues and, if elected, take their
partisan views into the legislature. As a remedy, the authors
propose that additional campaign money be channeled through party
organizations—rather than directly to candidates—because these
organizations tend to be less ideological than the activists who now
provide the lion’s share of money to political candidates. Shifting
campaign finance to parties would ease polarization by reducing the
influence of “purist” donors with their rigid policy stances.
La Raja and Schaffner conclude the book with policy recommendations
for campaign finance in the United States. They are among the few
non-libertarians who argue that less regulation, particularly for
political parties, may in fact improve the democratic process.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Supreme Court continues record of hostility to minor parties and
independent candidates” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76762>
Posted onOctober 16, 2015 9:05 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76762>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Richard Winger writes
<http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-judiciary/257142-supreme-court-continues-record-of-hostility-to-minor-parties>for
The Hill.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Kris Kobach responds to Hillary Clinton campaign’s criticism over
voting rules” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76760>
Posted onOctober 16, 2015 9:04 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76760>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bryan Lowry
reports<http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/prairie-politics/article39334167.html>for
the/Wichita Eagle/.
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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>
Have Liberals Overstated the Alabama DMV Closing Effect on Voter ID?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76758>
Posted onOctober 16, 2015 8:47 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76758>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brentin Mock
<http://www.citylab.com/politics/2015/10/workers-not-voters-are-most-at-risk-due-to-alabamas-dmv-closings/409957/>:
Still, the connection between the closed-out license services and
opportunities to vote can’t help but feel pretty tenuous. While
voting accessibility in black, rural counties/is/a problem, this was
just as problematic when the now-closed, part-time services were
open. The bigger loss from these closures is that people in these
counties are losing a vital place to get a license to drive.
Not having cars and drivers licenses impedes Black Belt residents’
access to jobs and plenty of other social welfare offices
concentrated in county seats. Speaking with State Representative
Anthony Daniels about it, he told CityLab that, “It’s more of a
quality of life issue than it is a voting rights issue.”
This is consistent with Campbell Robertson’sexcellent NYT report
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/us/alabama-budget-cuts-raise-concern-over-voting-rights.html?ref=politics>from
Alabama on this issue.
I think the point is that Alabama already makes getting the id so hard
for poor folks this looks more like a piling on. But its practical
effect may be minimal given the other barriers faced by these eligible
voters.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
ACLU Also Responds to Liptak One Person, One Vote Prisoner Piece
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76756>
Posted onOctober 16, 2015 8:43 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76756>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here
<https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/home-not-where-you-are-involuntarily-confined>.
Share
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Posted infelon voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>,redistricting
<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
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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