[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/22/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Tue Sep 22 07:50:38 PDT 2015
“The Warnings About The Supreme Court’s Dangerous Campaign Finance
Ruling Are Now Coming True” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76114>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:45 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76114>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Paul Blumenthal
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/joint-fundraising-committee-hillary-clinton_56006006e4b00310edf819c2>for
HuffPo:
During courtroom debate over/**/the McCutcheon decision, Solicitor
General Donald Verrilli expressed concern that political parties
could create joint fundraising committees to allow a single
candidate to solicit a $1 million-plus contribution, which could be
distributed to a collection of federal and state party committees.
State parties could then transfer this money to other, more
important state parties (for example, those in swing states) to
benefit the candidate.
Justice Samuel Alito,without any apparent knowledge of similar prior
arrangements by parties and candidates
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/mccutcheon-v-fec-alito_n_4065441.html>,
declared, “Now, how — how realistic is that? How realistic is it
that all of the state party committees, for example, are going to
get money and they’re all going to transfer it to one candidate?”
Alito went on to call such situations “wild hypotheticals” that
“certainly lack any empirical support.”
Chief Justice John Roberts also dismissed these concerns, among
others raised by supporters of the aggregate limits, as “divorced
from reality.”
However, Clinton’s campaign proved that Verrilli and other critics
were right on September 16, when her campaign expanded the Hillary
Victory Fund
<http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00586537/1024982/>, the
super joint fundraising committee it created earlier this year with
the Democratic National Committee, to include 33 state parties.
A maximum annual donation of $666,700 (totaling approximately $1.3
million in two years) will be split up among committees — with
$2,700 going to the Clinton campaign, a maximum of $334,000 to the
DNC and $10,000 to each state party committee. If Clinton wins her
party’s nomination, those state party accounts could transfer funds
she raises to the party accounts in swing states, enabling donors to
exceed the $10,000 “base” contribution limit to an individual state
party…
In exchange for their contributions, the new million-dollar donors
sought by parties and presidential candidates will receive access to
dinners, retreats, insider phone calls and opportunities to talk to
top lawmakers and candidates.
This dynamic now mimics the soft money landscape Congress banned in
2002 and the Supreme Court upheld in 2003. In its 2003 /McConnell v.
FEC/decision, the Supreme Court found that candidates’ practice of
soliciting large contributions for their direct benefit raised
concerns about both actual corruption and the appearance of
corruption. In the court’s eyes, this justified new restrictions on
campaign contributions and spending.
Yup.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“New study shows potential impact of a small donor matching program
on 2016 presidential race” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76112>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:44 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76112>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release
<http://uspirgedfund.org/news/usp/new-study-shows-potential-impact-small-donor-matching-program-2016-presidential-race>:
Candidates in the 2016 presidential race would see a dramatic shift
in their fundraising, and have a powerful incentive to focus more on
small donors under a proposed small donor public financing system,
according to a study released on Tuesday by the U.S. Public Interest
Research Group Education Fund (U.S. PIRG). Using candidate filings
with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) through July,“Boosting
the Impact of Small Donors: How Matching Funds Would Reshape the
2016 Presidential Election”
<http://uspirg.org/reports/usp/boosting-impact-small-donors?__utma=1.980955975.1442932997.1442932997.1442932997.1&__utmb=1.8.10.1442932997&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1442932997.1.1.utmcsr=%28direct%29%7Cutmccn=%28direct%29%7Cutmcmd=%28none%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=18184761>examines
the impact of a program that matches small contributions with
limited public funds for candidates who agree not to accept large
donations.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“What Happens To All That SuperPAC Money When A Candidate Drops Out”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76110>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:43 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76110>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Peter Overby reports
<http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/09/21/442277940/what-happens-to-all-that-superpac-money-when-a-candidate-drops-out>for
NPR.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“A few new faces — but not many — among megadonors to presidential
super PACs” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76108>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:42 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76108>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Center for Responsive Politic
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/08/a-few-new-faces-but-not-many-among-megadonors-to-presidential-super-pacs/?utm_source=CRP+Mail+List&utm_campaign=052de71c8c-Fall_Labor_Day_2015_Appeal_9_22_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9df8578d78-052de71c8c-206469445>s:
While there are no complete ingenues among the rosters of top donors
to the super PACs, which filed their disclosure reports for the
first half of the year this week, there are a few who previously
haven’t given sums anything like those they are notching this year.
They include the Texas-based Wilks family, four members of which
gave $15 million to groups backing Sen.Ted Cruz
<http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/>(R-Texas); brothers Farris and
Dan are religious conservatives who got rich in the fracking
business. Another: Laura Perlmutter, who gave $2 million to a super
PAC supporting Sen.Marco Rubio
<http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/>(R-Fla.).
The pure numbers are staggering: In the 2012 election cycle, all
super PACs together had raised about $26 million by June 30 of the
year before the vote; presidential super PACs were responsible for
about $15.6 million. This time, the total comes to more than $258
million at the same point in time for presidential super PACs alone.
That’s about double the more than $130 million the presidential
campaigns raised in the first six months of this year, setting up a
new paradigm for campaign finance at the federal level.Jeb Bush
<http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/>andHillary Clinton
<http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/>, with combined totals of $114
million and $71 million respectively, have settled themselves atop
the all time list of presidential campaign-related fundraising in
the first six months of the year before the election.
Several of the Republican efforts have been utterly dominated by
outside groups raising unlimited amounts from individuals,
corporations and other organizations. Seven Republican candidates
reported larger fundraising totals for their supposedly unconnected
super PACs than they disclosed for their campaigns, with the
pro-Bush Right to Rise group pulling in nearly 10 times as much as
the campaign itself.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Director’s Note: Expanded Opportunities on National Voter
Registration Day” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76106>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:40 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76106>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
David Becker writes
<http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/news/2015/09/22/directors-note-expanded-opportunities-on-national-voter-registration-day>for
Pew.
MORE
<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2015/09/22/national-voter-registration-day-2015/>from
Doug Chapin.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,voter registration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
“How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76104>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:38 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76104>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ari Berman writes for The Nation.
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Posted invoter registration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
“Scott Walker’s Demise Shows Limits of ‘Super PAC’ Money Model”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76102>
Posted onSeptember 22, 2015 7:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76102>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nick Confessore reports
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/us/politics/scott-walkers-demise-shows-limits-of-super-pac-money-model.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0>for
the NYT.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice N. Patrick Crooks dies”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76100>
Posted onSeptember 21, 2015 6:55 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76100>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/wisconsin-supreme-court-justice-n-patrick-crooks-dies-b99581412z1-328560641.html>.
A centrist vote on a sharply divided partisan court.
Our condolences to his family.
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Posted injudicial elections <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>
“New Report Released by National Commission on Voting Rights: More
Work Needed to Improve Registration and Voting in the U.S.”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76098>
Posted onSeptember 21, 2015 6:51 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76098>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
National Commission on Voting Rights
<http://votingrightstoday.org/ncvr/resources/electionadmin>:
Based on the testimony provided by hundreds of witnesses at 25 state
and regional National Commission on Voting Rights hearings convened
in 2013 and 2014, this national report highlights the voices of
people impacted by how elections are run in their communities—the
successes as well as the challenges. The report stresses the need
for state and local election administrators to increase efforts to
improve the voter experience by removing obstacles to both
registering and casting a ballot.
Some key findings from the report:
* *Voter Registration Needs to Be Easier:*Expansive registration
programs, such as online and same day voter registration,
encourage participation in the electoral process while
non-compliance with federal voter registration laws and
rollbacks of state laws that make it easier to register, hurts
voters.
* *Long Lines at the Polls Still a Possibility in 2016:*Elections
improve when election administrators plan early, develop
creative strategies and use technology wisely to streamline the
voting process for voters. Yet, many voters still face
challenges on Election Day due to a variety of factors,
including insufficient poll worker training or understaffing at
polling locations; excessively restrictive voter ID laws and/or
cuts to laws that encourage participation; and shrinking budgets
that restrict counties from upgrading old and malfunctioning
voting equipment.
* *Voters with Disabilities, Students and People with Felony
Convictions Face Voting Barriers:*Voters with disabilities often
arrive at polling locations to find that accessible voting
equipment is not functioning properly or that poll workers do
not know how to operate the machines. Out-of-state college
students have been denied regular ballots because their college
addresses do not match their driver’s licenses. Individuals
convicted of a felony continue to face a maze of confusing rules
and regulations around the restoration of their voting rights.
Download the Full Report
<http://votingrightstoday.org/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=131092>
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Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>,Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“If you think super PACs have changed everything about the
presidential primary, think again” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76096>
Posted onSeptember 21, 2015 5:16 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76096>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
David
Karol<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/09/21/if-you-think-super-pacs-have-changed-everything-about-the-presidential-primary-think-again/>for
the Monkey Cage.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Brennan Center Publishes Campaign Finance Paper Largely Grounded in
Reality” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76094>
Posted onSeptember 21, 2015 5:15 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76094>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Rare common
ground<https://www.pillaroflaw.org/index.php/blog/entry/brennan-center-publishes-campaign-finance-paper-largely-grounded-in-reality>(for
now).
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Latest Voting Rights Institute to Train New Generation of Voting
Rights Lawyers at Georgetown Law” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76084>
Posted onSeptember 21, 2015 5:14 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=76084>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Announcement.
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/press-releases/latest-voting-rights-institute-train-new-generation-voting-rights-lawyers-0>
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Posted inVoting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
--
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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