[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/5/16

[Rick Hasen]

“The Latest: Recount resumes in North Carolina governor race”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89714>
Posted on December 5, 2016 8:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89714> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The end<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article118930853.html> for Gov. McCrory’s challenge to the NC gubernatorial race may be near.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, recounts<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>


After Failing to Post $1 Million Bond Despite Raising Millions, Stein Files Late Federal Lawsuit to Force PA Recount<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89711>
Posted on December 5, 2016 8:13 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89711> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Why is this new federal suit<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-recount-idUSKBN13U0JT> not simply barred by laches?
It’s not as if Stein or anyone who looked would not have seen the supposed problems with Pa’s voting machines either before the election or perhaps the day after election day.

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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Judge orders immediate start of Michigan recount”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89709>
Posted on December 5, 2016 8:11 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89709> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Detroit Free Press:<http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/04/michigan-recount-decision-jill-stein-donald-trump/94952282/>
A federal judge early Monday morning ordered a recount of Michigan’s presidential ballots to begin at noon on Monday, and for the state to “assemble necessary staff to work sufficient hours” to complete the recount by a Dec. 13 federal deadline.
Lawyers for Green Party candidate Jill Stein urged the action in an emergency request, and U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith held a rare Sunday hearing in federal court. It lasted three hours, and Goldsmith issued a written opinion just after midnight on Monday morning.
Goldsmith said a state law requiring a two business day waiting period to start the recount likely violates voting rights. Stein has shown “a credible threat that the recount, if delayed, would not be completed” by Dec. 13 — the federal “safe harbor” deadline to guarantee Michigan’s electoral votes are counted when the electoral college meets on Dec. 19.
You can find the court’s opinion here <http://ballot-access.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gov.uscourts.mied_.316145.16.0-2.pdf> (via Ballot Access News). I think the judge has it wrong on laches.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Automatic Voter Registration a ‘Success’ in Oregon”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89707>
Posted on December 5, 2016 8:07 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89707> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“John Roberts Gutted the Voting Rights Act. Jeff Sessions is Poised to Finish It Off”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89705>
Posted on December 5, 2016 8:01 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89705> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AJ Vicens<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/voting-rights-act-whats-to-come-jeff-sessions-trump> for Mother Jones.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“Supreme Court Gets Involved In Redistricting”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89703>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:57 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89703> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NPR talks<http://www.npr.org/2016/11/28/503558353/the-day-in-1959-when-castro-took-questions-from-harvard-law-students> to Nick Stephanopoulos about gerrymandering.  Nick, a Chicago prof, is one of the key figures behind the Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case (in additio<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89260>n to becoming a new ELB contributor and casebook co-author).
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


In 1959 Roy Schotland Questioned Fidel Castro About Voting in Cuba<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89700>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89700> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This snippet<http://www.npr.org/2016/11/28/503558353/the-day-in-1959-when-castro-took-questions-from-harvard-law-students> from an NPR report on a Castro visit to Harvard in 1959 seems like vintage Roy for those of us who had the pleasure to know him:
GARCIA-NAVARRO: A bit later, one of the Harvard law students ask Castro, himself a doctor of law, when democracy would come to Cuba.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROY SCHOTTLAND: Dr. Castro, Roy Schottland (ph). The postponing of elections in Cuba has been explained by the need for special powers to fulfill your revolutionary reforms. Don’t you feel you would have even greater powers if the people were allowed to speak through the polls?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Castro responded that the political climate needed for free and open elections did not yet exist. Castro went on to say that it would take time for political parties to develop and that he would wait a few years to hold elections. Castro claimed that he took no pleasure in holding power. He said leading Cuba was a duty, that it was work and that he did it out of love of country, not lust for power.
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Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>


“The three fallacies of the popular vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89698>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:44 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89698> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ed Zelinsky blogs.<http://blog.oup.com/2016/12/three-fallacies-popular-vote-electoral-college/>
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Posted in electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>, Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


House Democrats Holding Hearing with All Star Lineup on Reforming Electoral College<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89695>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:39 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89695> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<http://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2016/12/members-of-congress-to-hold-forum-on.html#axzz4RoT8DkTz>
 Hillary Clinton has so far earned a historic 2.5 million more popular votes than Donald Trump, yet Mr. Trump won more Electoral College votes and the presidency.  According to press reports, several members of the Electoral College are trying to persuade their colleagues to vote for a candidate other than Mr. Trump when the College casts its votes on December 19th.
On Tuesday, December 6th at 1 PM, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) will host a forum with bipartisan experts and noted scholars to discuss proposed reforms of the current method of presidential selection, entitled “The Electoral College and the Future of American Democracy.”
WHO:             Members of Congress
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Representative Gene Green (D-TX)
Representative G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Chair, Congressional Black Caucus
Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus
Representative Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
Representative Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA)
Additional Members of Congress
Panelists
Professor Jamie Raskin, American University Law School (and U.S. Representative-Elect)
Professor Akhil Reed Amar, Yale Law School
Professor Jack N. Rakove, Stanford Law School
Professor Alexander Keyssar, Harvard University
State Representative Bob Thorpe (R-AZ), National Popular Vote Inc.
State Representative Chris Pearson (D-VT), National Popular Vote Inc.
Thomas Neale, Congressional Research Service

WHAT:        A panel discussion with bipartisan experts and noted scholars entitled “The Electoral College and the Future of American Democracy”
WHEN:        December 6, 2016
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
WHERE:      2226 Rayburn House Office Building
RSVP:          Media interested in attending should RSVP to Shadawn.reddick- smith at mail.house.gov<mailto:Shadawn.reddick-%20smith at mail.house.gov>.
Live Stream: The forum will also be streamed live on Rep. John Conyers’ Facebook page<https://www.facebook.com/CongressmanConyers/>.

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


“Questions Of Race And Redistricting Return To The Supreme Court”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89693>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:34 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89693> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nina Totenberg reports<http://www.npr.org/2016/12/05/504188630/questions-of-race-and-redistricting-return-to-the-supreme-court?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social> for NPR on today’s racial gerrymandering cases being argued today at SCOTUS.
For my views on these cases generally, see my Racial Gerrymandering’s Questionable Revival<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2601459>, 67 Alabama Law Review 365 (2015).
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“In an anti-recount filing, Trump’s lawyers say the election was ‘not tainted by fraud or mistake’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89690>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:29 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89690> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Fix:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/05/in-an-anti-recount-filing-trumps-lawyers-say-the-election-was-not-tainted-by-fraud-or-mistake/?utm_term=.b03e0b7850ac>
“On what basis does Stein seek to disenfranchise Michigan citizens? None really, save for speculation,” it reads. “All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.” The filing notes that both Michigan’s Republican governor and the White House articulated confidence in the results of the election. The former refers solely to Michigan, of course, but the latter citation by Trump’s lawyers argues<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/white-house-hackers-election-recount-231849> that there was no evidence of Russian interference at the national level.
Why is Stein conducting a recount, the lawyers ask? “Stein aims to sow doubts regarding the legitimacy of the presidential election.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Paul Ryan Doesn’t Know–and Says He Doesn’t Care–If Millions Voted Illegally<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89688>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89688> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Greg Sargent:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/12/05/republicans-are-actively-helping-trump-weaken-our-democracy-with-his-lies/?utm_term=.5f96d890fc47>
Republicans have spent years pushing lies about voter fraud in order to justify vote suppression measures. But Donald Trump took these lies to another level entirely. He not only claimed <https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/29/trump-is-already-trying-to-delegitimize-a-clinton-victory-historians-say-that-might-be-unprecedented/> in advance of the election that its outcome would be illegitimate if he lost. After winning the electoral college, he then falsely <https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/11/28/this-trump-tweet-signals-a-major-assault-on-voting-heres-what-it-might-look-like/> claimed that “millions” had voted illegally and that he’d actually won the popular vote, to dramatically inflate impressions of his popular support and mandate and, worse, apparently to continue eroding public confidence in our elections and democratic institutions.
Now two top Republicans have been given the opportunity to set the record straight about Trump’s claim that “millions” voted illegally. Both declined — making them complicit in Trump’s efforts to undermine that public confidence and, by extension, weaken our democracy.
Here’s Paul Ryan, on CBS’s 60 Minutes<http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/paul-ryan-weighs-in-on-trumps-voting-fraud-tweet/>:
QUESTION: Trump tweeted in the last week or so that he had actually won the popular vote, if you deduct the millions who voted illegally. Do you believe that?
RYAN: I don’t know. I’m not really focused on these things.
QUESTION: Wait a minute. You have an opinion on whether millions of Americans voted illegally.
RYAN: I have no way of backing that up. I have no knowledge of such things. But it doesn’t matter to me. He won the election.
Meanwhile, RNC chair Reince Priebus was asked on Face the Nation to account for Trump’s claim<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcript-december-4-2016-priebus-gingrich-pelosi-panetta/>. “I don’t know if that’s not true,” Priebus insisted. Pressed further, he actually said: “It’s possible.”
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


A Big Thank You to Dan Tokaji—and a Reminder<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89686>
Posted on December 5, 2016 7:24 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89686> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Thanks so much to Dan Tokaji for filling in for me during the last week when I was off the grid.  When I asked Dan to do this a while back, I was expecting it to be a relatively quiet week in the world of election law. Readers know it obviously was not. So thanks for the extra, unanticipated work Dan.
And a reminder that—despite all the election law stuff churning right now—I’m trying to keep my blogging and commentary light <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89262> for the next few months, as I try to make headway on a book project and other pressing writing commitments.
Thanks as always for reading ELB!
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Anthony Weiner Fined $65,000 for Campaign Finance Violations”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89683>
Posted on December 4, 2016 8:50 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89683> by Dan Tokaji<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
Missed this one <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/nyregion/anthony-weiner-fined-65000-for-campaign-finance-violations.html> on the NYC Campaign Finance Board’s imposition of fines Thursday for, among other things, “using campaign funds to pay for two cellphones, including the personal phone used by Mr. Weiner from May to September 2013 ….”
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Three Men in a Room: The D.C. Edition”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89681>
Posted on December 4, 2016 8:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89681> by Dan Tokaji<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>
Torres-Spelliscy at Brennan<http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/three-men-room-dc-edition>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89681&title=%E2%80%9CThree%20Men%20in%20a%20Room%3A%20The%20D.C.%20Edition%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


--
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
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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