[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/19/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Mon Oct 19 07:45:09 PDT 2015
“Super PACs Target Local Races” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76812>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:42 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76812>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This is a key point from the WSJ: donorsget more bang for the buck
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/super-pacs-target-local-races-1445216030>targeting
lower on down the ballot. In fact, the presidential race is probably
the race where Super PAC money matters /the least/(as I’ll argue
inPlutocrats United)
<http://www.amazon.com/Plutocrats-United-Campaign-Distortion-Elections/dp/0300212453/ref=la_B0089NJCR2_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430416698&sr=1-7>.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Hundreds of Obama bundlers missing from Clinton’s elite fundraising
ranks” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76810>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:35 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76810>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
USA Today reports.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2015/10/18/hundreds-obama-bundlers-missing-clintons-elite-fundraising-ranks/74170182/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Preparing Today to Meet and Manage the Challenges of Elections in
2016” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76808>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:31 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76808>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Paul DeGregorio and Adam Ambrogi blog
<http://www.democracyfund.org/blog/entry/preparing-today-to-meet-and-manage-the-challenges-of-elections-in-2016>(viaDoug
Chapin
<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2015/10/19/new-democracy-fund-blog-post-looks-ahead-to-planning-for-the-2016-election/>).
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Posted inelection administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“California: Presumptions about Super PACs”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76806>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:28 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76806>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs.
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/10/california-presumptions-super-pacs/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Washington AG Sues Both Sides of a Right-to-Work Ballot Battle for
Campaign Finance Violations” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76804>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:27 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76804>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NPQ reports.
<https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/10/16/washington-ag-sues-both-sides-of-a-right-to-work-ballot-battle-for-campaign-finance-violations/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Larry Lessig wants equal air time to Hillary Clinton’s ‘SNL’
appearance” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76802>
Posted onOctober 19, 2015 7:26 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76802>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CNN reports.
<http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/18/media/larry-lessig-equal-time-hillary-clinton-nbc/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“The big cost of using big data in elections”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76800>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 7:44 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76800>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Michael McDonald, Peter Licari and Lia Merivaki in WaPo:
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-big-cost-of-using-big-data-in-elections/2015/10/18/cb7bdf6c-7443-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html>
In modern campaigns, buzzwords like “microtargeting” and “big data”
are often bandied about as essential to victory. These terms refer
to the practice of analyzing (or “microtargeting”) millions of voter
registration records (“big data”) to predict who will vote and for whom.
If you’ve ever gotten a message from a campaign, there’s a good
chance you’ve been microtargeted. Serious campaigns use
microtargeting to persuade voters through mailings, phone calls,
knocking on doors, and — in our increasingly connected world —
social media.
But the big data that fuels such efforts comes at a big price, which
can create a serious barrier to entry for candidates and groups
seeking to participate in elections — that is, if they are allowed
to buy the data at all.
When weasked <http://voterlist.electproject.org/>state election
officials about prices and restrictions on who can use their voter
registration files, we learned that the rules are unsettlingly
arbitrary….
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
Quote of the Day <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76797>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 7:33 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76797>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
“I’m the only candidate up here who is not a billionaire. I don’t have a
Super PAC. I don’t even have a back pack. I carry my stuff around loose
in my arms like a professor, you know, between classes. I own one pair
of underwear– that’s it. Some of these billionaires they got three, four
pairs. And I don’t have a dryer. I have to dry my clothes on the
radiator. So who do you want as president? One of these Washington
insiders, or a guy with one pair of underwear that he dries on his
radiator? BernieSanders.com, check it out, it’s a mess.”
–“Bernie Sanders” (Larry David), inSNL’s Democratic Debate satire
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmwGAd1L-o>.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,election law "humor"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52>
“The inside story of Donald Trump’s connections to a big-money super
PAC” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76795>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 6:07 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76795>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-inside-story-of-donald-trumps-connections-to-a-big-money-super-pac/2015/10/18/532b61d4-72b5-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html?postshare=9891445216005030>:
In one of several interviews with The Post, Lewandowski first denied
knowing Ciletti or anyone connected to the super PAC. “I don’t know
him,” Lewandowski said.
Two days later, when confronted with the campaign’s payments to
Ciletti’s firm, Lewandowski acknowledged he was familiar with Ciletti.
“I know a lot of people,” he said. “I know of Mike Ciletti.”
After being pressed for more details, he hung up.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
Attn Chief Justice Roberts: Things Have Not Changed in the South as
Much as You Think <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76793>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 6:04 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76793>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Sam Hall
<http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/dailyledes/2015/10/18/rep-bubba-carpenter-black-judge-and-initiative-42/74196426/>in
the Clarion Ledger describes how a Republican state legislator in
Mississippi opposed a ballot measure because a “black judge” would
decide its fate:
In a speech to the Tishomingo County Midway Republican Rally,
Carpenter outlined his opposition to Initiative 42. He initially
used the same language as most opponents, that a Hinds County judge
would be deciding the fate of public education funding. Mind you,
the language being voted on does not mention Hinds County at all.
And while any legal challenge to the Legislature would take place in
Hinds County, it’s funny how opponents have been quick to point out
everything that’s not in the amendment language but this one fact.
Many assume the “Hinds County judge” language is used as a means of
saying “black judge,” though opponents have been adamant that such a
claim is ridiculous, even feigning insult when the question is asked.
Enter Bubba Carpenter.
“If 42 passes in its form, a judge in Hinds County, Mississippi,
predominantly black — it’s going to be a black judge — they’re going
to tell us where the state education money goes,” Carpenter said.
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Posted inVoting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“Automatic voter registration is aim of Illinois proposal”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76789>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 1:33 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76789>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP reports.
<http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/automatic-voter-registraion-is-aim-of-illinois-proposal/article_e4e9af62-0987-5900-a1ee-52ff25edb369.html>
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter registration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
“Editorial: Voting volley; It’s surprising that the Kansas secretary
of state didn’t choose more high-profile examples of voter fraud for
his first prosecutions” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76787>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 1:31 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76787>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lawrence Journal-World.
<http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/oct/18/editorial-voting-volley/>
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Clinton goes on the attack over voting rights in Alabama”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76785>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 1:29 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76785>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo reports.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-goes-on-the-attack-over-voting-rights-in-alabama/2015/10/17/dbef615a-7373-11e5-9cbb-790369643cf9_story.html>
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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>
In Which I Call Kansas SOS Kris Kobach a Huckster
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76783>
Posted onOctober 18, 2015 1:23 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76783>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bryan Lowry, Kobach’s voter prosecutions draw scrutiny to
proof-of-citzenship requirement:
<http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article39670275.html>
Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship law would have done nothing to prevent
the type of voter fraud Secretary of State Kris Kobach alleges three
people committed in recent elections.
Kobach’s officeannounced three prosecutions last week
<http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article38915277.html>of
people he says double voted – casting ballots in more than one
jurisdiction – after the Legislature and Gov. Sam Brownback granted
him prosecutorial power earlier this year. Kobach is the only
secretary of state in the nation with such authority.
The misdemeanor charges against a pair of Republican voters in
Johnson County and a felony case against a Sherman County man, whom
Kobach calls a serial double voter, come after several years of
Kobach warning of the threat of voter fraud to Kansas elections and
pushing for stricter voting laws.
Kobach’s critics have argued, with a strong dose of derision, that
the fact that he has filed only three cases is proof that the threat
of voter fraud has been overstated. But Kobach has said that he
plans to file more cases over the next two months.
“If this is why we have been through six years of this to find three
people … then it tells me that our secretary of state has been
jousting at windmills for the past six years for his own political
advantage,” said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, one of Kobach’s
most outspoken opponents in the Legislature.
Kobach said that “there will never be enough prosecutions” to sway
his critics about the need for stricter voting laws.
“If we prosecuted, you know, 30 cases this month they would still
say that’s not enough voter fraud to worry about,” Kobach said.
“They’re never going to be persuaded, nor am I going to try to
persuade them.
“I think most people realize that one case of voter fraud is too many.”
But Kobach’s critics have also noted that the three people charged
with voter fraud don’t exactly fit the image of a voter fraudster
that conservative Republicans have conjured up in recent years.
These weren’t immigrants looking to vote despite their lack of
citizenship. These were people with property in more than one state
who allegedly cast votes in both states….
Hasen said that voter fraud does happen, but it’s extremely rare,
and he said when it does happen it’s usually not by noncitizens.
“There’s a group of people who I call the ‘fraudulent fraud squad’
who gin up all kinds of talk of voter fraud being an epidemic, but
then when you get down to it you find that the kind of fraud that
happens is not the kind of fraud that’s targeted by the laws that
these people tend to support,” Hasen said. “And I put Kobach in that
camp.”
Carmichael, an attorney, raised concern about the fact that Kobach
is now in charge of both administering elections and prosecuting
election crimes, arguing that it creates a conflict of interest.
Rep. Mark Kahrs, R-Wichita, who is also an attorney and backed the
decision to give Kobach the power, said that some county attorneys
“have bigger fish to fry,” which has left many of these election
violations unprosecuted over time.
Giving the secretary of state the power to prosecute ensures that
the law will be enforced, he argued.
“To me as a lawyer and as a legislator is just made sense,” Kahrs
said. “The Secretary of State’s Office, they’re the subject matter
experts on election law.”
Hasen said that many people who vote illegally do so unwittingly,
and if Wilson genuinely did think that he was not breaking the law
than a felony charge might not be appropriate.
“Kobach’s incentive of course is too make as much political hay as
possible because he’s essentially a huckster trying to sell the
public on a belief that voter fraud’s an epidemic when it’s a very
rare problem,” he said.
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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>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>
--
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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