[EL] more news 12/15/16

Thu Dec 15 15:16:23 PST 2016

SCOTUS May Get Emergency Requests This Weekend on Freeing Presidential Electors<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90019>
Posted on December 15, 2016 3:14 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90019> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Marcia Coyle:<https://twitter.com/MarciaCoyle/status/809535398699499521> “Calif. and Wash. state electors’ challenges now before 9th and 10th circuits. Look for weekend #SCOTUS<https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash> action soon after decision.”
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90019&title=SCOTUS%20May%20Get%20Emergency%20Requests%20This%20Weekend%20on%20Freeing%20Presidential%20Electors>
Posted in electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

“Proposal to split NC elections boards between political parties moves ahead”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90017>
Posted on December 15, 2016 3:10 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90017> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The latest<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article121112373.html> on the shenanigans.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90017&title=%E2%80%9CProposal%20to%20split%20NC%20elections%20boards%20between%20political%20parties%20moves%20ahead%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Debo Adegbile, Catherine Lhamon Appointed to US Civil Rights Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90015>
Posted on December 15, 2016 3:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90015> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Congrats!<https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/15/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90015&title=Debo%20Adegbile%2C%20Catherine%20Lhamon%20Appointed%20to%20US%20Civil%20Rights%20Commission>
Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>

“Electors are being harassed, threatened in bid to stop Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90013>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:58 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90013> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NY Post.<http://nypost.com/2016/12/14/electors-are-being-harassed-threatened-in-bid-to-stop-trump/>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90013&title=%E2%80%9CElectors%20are%20being%20harassed%2C%20threatened%20in%20bid%20to%20stop%20Trump%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

“Trump’s Dangerous, Unprecedented, and Unconstitutional Conflicts of Interest”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90011>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:56 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90011> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Liz Kennedy<https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/news/2016/12/15/295096/trumps-dangerous-unprecedented-and-unconstitutional-conflicts-of-interest/> for CAP.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90011&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20Dangerous%2C%20Unprecedented%2C%20and%20Unconstitutional%20Conflicts%20of%20Interest%E2%80%9D>
Posted in conflict of interest laws<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

“Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Issues Important Rulings for Due Process and Free Speech”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90009>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:54 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90009> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<https://www.pillaroflaw.org/index.php/blog/entry/texas-court-of-criminal-appeals-issues-important-rulings-for-due-process-and-free-speech>
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, issued two decisions late yesterday in the cases of David<http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=fb8a2fae-7674-4ff0-98bc-6f715d8e9597&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=658e4210-ffd6-47c0-a18e-c0656af89548> and Stacy Cary<http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=08d52573-0c39-4251-ac1e-74c47b2745b1&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=9cb52132-d147-495d-8c46-3af9d4c50456>, both appeals for bribery convictions relating to political campaigning. Both decisions acquit the Carys, ruling that the evidence was legally insufficient to uphold their convictions. The Pillar of Law Institute filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief<https://www.pillaroflaw.org/images/Article_PDFs/Cary_v._Texas_II-to_file_7.30.15.pdf> in Stacy Cary’s case, which was cited in the court’s opinion<http://www.search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=08d52573-0c39-4251-ac1e-74c47b2745b1&coa=coscca&DT=OPINION&MediaID=9cb52132-d147-495d-8c46-3af9d4c50456>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90009&title=%E2%80%9CTexas%20Court%20of%20Criminal%20Appeals%20Issues%20Important%20Rulings%20for%20Due%20Process%20and%20Free%20Speech%E2%80%9D>
Posted in bribery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>, campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“What We Learned from the Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania Recounts”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90007>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:47 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90007> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Important Marc Elias post:<https://medium.com/@marceelias/what-we-learned-from-the-wisconsin-michigan-and-pennsylvania-recounts-98c1811bf622#.b7fymq5br>
n Wisconsin, the recount proceeded relatively smoothly thanks to the cooperation of the state and local officials. We urged the state, and the courts, to ensure that the recount was conducted by hand statewide. That request was rejected. Nevertheless, the state has a process to conduct a post-election ballot audit, and most jurisdictions in the state chose to recount by hand. Those that did not recount by hand recounted via machine. An effort by two pro-Trump super PACs to halt the recount was resisted by the Republican Attorney General and rejected by a federal court. As predicted, the recounted results showed little change versus the initial results.
In contrast, Michigan halted its hand recount after the Republican Attorney General sued the state’s own election board for ordering the recount at all. The narrow legal issue was whether Dr. Stein was “aggrieved” by the election results. The larger, more troubling issue is whether states ought to be picking and choosing which candidates they think are really “aggrieved” and which are not. If North Carolina law says that only candidates within 10,000 votes may seek a recount, that is a clear standard. So, too, is a state law, like that in Wisconsin, that does not set a vote threshold to seek a recount. What isn’t fair, or likely constitutional, is a standardless approach where state officials or courts use their own judgment to decide if they think it’s close enough. Michigan may believe that Dr. Stein couldn’t possibly win and she isn’t “aggrieved,” but the Michigan law doesn’t set a threshold and nobody should want states exercising those judgments after the vote has taken place.
Finally, in Pennsylvania, the recount effort never got off the ground. Due to Pennsylvania’s arcane laws, the use of touch screen voting machines, and organizing challenges, the effort to obtain a statewide recount failed. Similarly, the efforts to obtain a forensic examination of voting systems suffered the same fate. In the end, the margin in Pennsylvania was the largest of the three states, but the process for recounting and confirming those results was the most difficult.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90007&title=%E2%80%9CWhat%20We%20Learned%20from%20the%20Wisconsin%2C%20Michigan%2C%20and%20Pennsylvania%20Recounts%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“How big is the gap between the donor class and ordinary Americans? Bigger than you think.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90005>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:46 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90005> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Sean McElwee, Jesse Rhodes, and Brian Schaffner for Monkey Cage<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/12/15/how-big-is-the-gap-between-the-donor-class-and-ordinary-americans-bigger-than-you-think/?utm_term=.54e205fb1e13>:
Across the board, we find that donors as a group are more partisan than non-donors who share their party affiliation. For example, Democratic donors were 10 percentage points more supportive of the 2009 stimulus package than were non-donors, although both groups were supportive of the key Obama administration effort. Across all the issues, Democratic donors were on average 7 percentage points more likely to take the liberal position than non-donors.
The gaps were even larger for Republicans. The average gap between donors and non-donors was 23 percentage points. For example, 55 percent of Republicans who didn’t donate supported the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but just 26 percent of Republican donors did. Republican donors were more consistently opposed to the Obama agenda than Republican non-donors.
These findings are consistent with a story of asymmetric polarization<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/09/08/how-different-are-the-democratic-and-republican-parties-too-different-to-compare/?utm_term=.e15be9a0e6e3>, in which Republican elites have moved further to the right than Democratic elites have moved to the left.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90005&title=%E2%80%9CHow%20big%20is%20the%20gap%20between%20the%20donor%20class%20and%20ordinary%20Americans%3F%20Bigger%20than%20you%20think.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, political polarization<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>

“First systematic evidence says 2016 voting lines were shorter than 2012”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90003>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:43 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90003> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Charles Stewart III<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly> for Electionline:
In the midst of an election campaign full of concerns over whether voting machines were being hacked and vigilantes would confront voters in polling places, there is good news about the administration of elections in 2016. The first systematic evidence about the experience of voters in the election reveals that lines waiting to vote were shorter than in 2012.
This evidence is contained in the preliminary results from the Survey of the Performance of American Elections, conducted in the aftermath of the 2016 election. This survey, like the ones before it in 2008 and 2012, asked all in-person voters how long they waited in line to vote. (For those interested, the methodology of the SPAE is discussed at the end of this article.)
Overall, the average in-person voter waited 11 minutes to vote in 2016, compared to 13 minutes in 2012 and 16 minutes in 2008. The biggest improvements came in the states that had the longest lines in 2012. Racial disparities were reduced in 2016, though they still remain in some places, especially in early voting.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90003&title=%E2%80%9CFirst%20systematic%20evidence%20says%202016%20voting%20lines%20were%20shorter%20than%202012%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“The voting rights manifesto: a state-by-state plan to defend democracy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90001>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:42 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90001> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.<http://the%20voting%20rights%20manifesto:%20a%20state-by-state%20plan%20to%20defend%20democracy/> for Vox.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90001&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20voting%20rights%20manifesto%3A%20a%20state-by-state%20plan%20to%20defend%20democracy%E2%80%9D>
Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

Shalom Lamm Charged with Vote Fraud in Bloomingburg Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89998>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89998> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I’ve been watching the Bloombingburg voting saga <http://electionlawblog.org/?s=bloomingburg&x=10&y=12> play out for years (see this excellent VICE piece<http://www.vice.com/read/how-voter-fraud-allegations-tore-a-tiny-village-apart> by Hella Winston).
And now comes news of what many suspected: Lamm and others have been charged in federal court <http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/U.S.-v.-Lamm-et-al-Indictment.pdf> with conspiracy to commit voter fraud to bring people in as residents of the town to elect officials would would be friendly to creating an ultra-orthodox Jewish community there.
The town had entered into a very onerous consent decree when the efforts to stop what they thought was voter fraud were attacked as racial discrimination. Now that the consent decree was potentially influenced by fraud, I bet the town tries to get it modified.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89998&title=Shalom%20Lamm%20Charged%20with%20Vote%20Fraud%20in%20Bloomingburg%20Case>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Don McGahn was one of the most principled members of the FEC”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89996>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89996> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brad Smith letter to the editor <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/don-mcgahn-was-one-of-the-most-principled-members-of-the-fec/2016/12/13/c6fae798-c0b0-11e6-a52b-a0a126eaf9f7_story.html?utm_term=.12511e35c508> responding to Ellen Weintraub oped<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-worked-with-trumps-pick-for-white-house-counsel-he-doesnt-care-about-corruption/2016/12/09/76f0793c-bcac-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.ea0b48b66d43>:
Mr. McGahn was one of the most principled people to serve on the FEC. Indisputably, he was influential and consequential. Ms. Weintraub complained that the FEC is dysfunctional. Yet Mr. McGahn left the FEC three years ago, while she has served 14 years and is the longest-serving current commissioner. Fair-minded readers will draw their own conclusions.

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89996&title=%E2%80%9CDon%20McGahn%20was%20one%20of%20the%20most%20principled%20members%20of%20the%20FEC%E2%80%9D>
Posted in federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

FEC Commissioner Ann Ravel Leaving Commission by May<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89994>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:28 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89994> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Can you blame her?<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/12/15/20524/federal-election-commission-forgotten-tool-donald-trump-s-drain-swamp-effort>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89994&title=FEC%20Commissioner%20Ann%20Ravel%20Leaving%20Commission%20by%20May>
Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Federal Election Commission: a forgotten tool in Donald Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ effort”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89992>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:28 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89992> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Important CPI report.<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/12/15/20524/federal-election-commission-forgotten-tool-donald-trump-s-drain-swamp-effort>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89992&title=%E2%80%9CFederal%20Election%20Commission%3A%20a%20forgotten%20tool%20in%20Donald%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98drain%20the%20swamp%E2%80%99%20effort%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Foreign National Influence, Foreign National Interference”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89990>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:25 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89990> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs.<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2016/12/foreign-national-interference-foreign-national-influence/>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89990&title=%E2%80%9CForeign%20National%20Influence%2C%20Foreign%20National%20Interference%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“North Carolina G.O.P. Moves to Curb Power of New Democratic Governor”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89988>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:23 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89988> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/us/politics/north-carolina-governor-roy-cooper-republicans.html?emc=edit_th_20161215&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=37373273>
See my earlier analysis yesterday<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89974>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89988&title=%E2%80%9CNorth%20Carolina%20G.O.P.%20Moves%20to%20Curb%20Power%20of%20New%20Democratic%20Governor%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Plutocrats (Truly) United<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89986>
Posted on December 15, 2016 2:20 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=89986> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Quartz:<http://qz.com/862412/trumps-16-cabinet-level-picks-have-more-money-than-a-third-of-american-households-combined/>
The 17 people who US president-elect Donald Trump has selected for his cabinet or for posts with cabinet rank have well over $9.5 billion in combined wealth<http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/trump-s-cabinet-picks-have-combined-wealth-11b-how-did-n692681>, with several positions<http://qz.com/841441/all-of-trumps-cabinet-nominations-and-appointments/> still unfilled. This collection of wealth is greater than that of the 43 million least wealthy American households combined—over one third of the 126 million households total in the US.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D89986&title=Plutocrats%20(Truly)%20United>
Posted in Plutocrats United<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>

--
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
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rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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