[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/19/16

Sun Dec 18 21:04:14 PST 2016

“Longtime Business Lobbyist Laments Loss of ‘Smoke-Filled Rooms’ in Washington”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90098>
Posted on December 18, 2016 9:01 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90098> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/politics/chamber-of-commerce-r-bruce-josten.html?ref=politics>
As executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/chamber_of_commerce_us/index.html?inline=nyt-org>, Mr. Josten, 66, was the point man for business interests in a slew of heavy-duty trade, tax and energy negotiations. He was a master at the inside game.
After more than 30 years in the Beaux-Arts-style chamber headquarters across Lafayette Square from the White House, Mr. Josten is now in his own transition, retiring after helping turn the chamber into a political powerhouse and watching his specialty — sophisticated legislative give-and-take — become less prized in a polarized capital.
Washington, he said, has become an “I win, you lose” town rather than a “how do we get this done” town where those skilled in what he calls the “art of the back room” can have a big effect.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90098&title=%E2%80%9CLongtime%20Business%20Lobbyist%20Laments%20Loss%20of%20%E2%80%98Smoke-Filled%20Rooms%E2%80%99%20in%20Washington%E2%80%9D>
Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

“The Electoral College Meets Monday. Here’s What to Expect.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90096>
Posted on December 18, 2016 8:59 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90096> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/politics/the-electoral-college-meets-monday-heres-what-to-expect.html?ref=politics>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90096&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Electoral%20College%20Meets%20Monday.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20What%20to%20Expect.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

“Detroit’s election woes: 782 more votes than voters”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90094>
Posted on December 18, 2016 8:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90094> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Detroit Free Press:<http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/12/18/detroit-ballots-vote-recount-election-stein/95570866/>
Whether the result of machine malfunction, human error or even fraud, the unexplained voting discrepancies in Detroit last month were not sizable enough to affect the outcome in Michigan of the presidential election, according to a new Free Press analysis of voting precinct records.
In 248 precincts, there were a total of 782 more votes tabulated by voting machines than the number of voters listed as picking up ballots in the precincts’ poll books. That makes up just three-tenths of 1% of the total 248,211 votes that were logged in Detroit for the presidential election. That number was far too small to swing the statewide election results, even in this year’s especially tight race that saw a Republican win Michigan for the first time since George Bush in 1988.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90094&title=%E2%80%9CDetroit%E2%80%99s%20election%20woes%3A%20782%20more%20votes%20than%20voters%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Abandoning same-day voter registration could be expensive for NH”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90092>
Posted on December 18, 2016 8:51 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90092> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Union-Leader:<http://www.unionleader.com/Abandoning-same-day-voter-registration-could-be-expensive-for-NH>
When it comes to achieving one of Governor-elect Chris Sununu’s top priorities – reforming New Hampshire’s election laws – the Newfields Republican is presented with a troublesome bargain.
It’s possible that he could convince the Republican-led Legislature to get rid of the state’s same day voter registration law which he says is too “loose” and makes us more vulnerable to fraud.
But in so doing, he’ll likely have to accept even more expansive and expensive access for the public to register to vote, a trade off which many of his fellow conservatives will not like.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90092&title=%E2%80%9CAbandoning%20same-day%20voter%20registration%20could%20be%20expensive%20for%20NH%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Fresh War Over Hasidic Bloomingburg Looms as Opponents of Hasidic Development Vow Fight”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90090>
Posted on December 18, 2016 8:43 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90090> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The latest.<http://forward.com/news/357420/fresh-war-over-hasidic-bloomingburg-looms-as-opponents-of-hasidic-developme/?utm_content=daily_Newsletter_MainList_Title_Position-1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Daily%202016-12-18&utm_term=The%20Forward%20Today%20Monday-Friday>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90090&title=%E2%80%9CFresh%20War%20Over%20Hasidic%20Bloomingburg%20Looms%20as%20Opponents%20of%20Hasidic%20Development%20Vow%20Fight%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“The Electoral College Vote Isn’t Just About The Electoral College”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90088>
Posted on December 18, 2016 8:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90088> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Chris Geidner:<https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/the-electoral-college-vote-isnt-just-about-the-electoral-col?utm_term=.ihapj83Rr3#.kkkEwWJ4oJ>
The battle over Monday’s electoral college vote is the beginning, not the end. A larger campaign to undermine the legitimacy — and constitutionality — of Donald Trump’s presidency is likely just getting underway.
Discomfort with Donald Trump before and since Election Day, the divisiveness of the 2016 election more broadly, and the popular vote mismatch with the electoral college result have produced yet another unusual moment in an unusual year.
Many Democrats and other opponents of Trump have been working to change the results of the election through the electoral college vote on Monday — an almost-impossible-to-succeed effort to deny Trump a majority of the electoral votes as required to become president. Presuming that mission is unsuccessful, prepare for the next phase: Jan. 6, when Congress formally tallies the results of those votes.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90088&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Electoral%20College%20Vote%20Isn%E2%80%99t%20Just%20About%20The%20Electoral%20College%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

“Election officials focus on whether voter ID laws contributed to Hillary Clinton’s defeat”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90086>
Posted on December 18, 2016 7:57 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90086> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
LAT:<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-minority-voter-suppression-2016-story.html>
Now, voting rights advocates, elections officials and political experts have zeroed in on the city as a case study of whether controversial new rules requiring ID for voting — the kind used in several states in November for the first time in a presidential election<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/2016-presidential-election-EVGAP00087-topic.html> — blocked vast numbers of largely young and racial minority Democrats from casting ballots and contributed to Clinton’s defeat.
In a state that saw its lowest turnout in 20 years, nearly 248,000 people voted in Milwaukee, roughly 41,000 fewer than in the last presidential election.
“I believe it was voter suppression laws from the state government that crushed turnout,” said Milwaukee County Clerk Joe Czarnezki, one of two officials who oversees local elections. “They tend to hit hardest on people who are poor, who don’t drive and don’t have a license, who are minorities.”
Other experts said the picture is more complicated, pointing out that many factors affect voting behavior.
That makes it difficult to say whether new voting policies this year — from a voter ID requirement in Virginia to cutbacks in early voting in Ohio and the closure of hundreds of polling sites across Southern states formerly regulated by the Voting Rights Act — decisively swayed election results, said Michael McDonald, a University of Florida professor who studies voter turnout.
“African American turnout was down across the board from 2012, and that likely had something to do with Obama not being on the ballot,” he said.
Voter turnout also decreased in traditionally Democratic areas with large black populations, such as Detroit and Philadelphia, where strict voter ID laws were not in place.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90086&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20officials%20focus%20on%20whether%20voter%20ID%20laws%20contributed%20to%20Hillary%20Clinton%E2%80%99s%20defeat%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“All This Talk of Voter Fraud? Across U.S., Officials Found Next to None”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90084>
Posted on December 18, 2016 7:52 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90084> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Must-read<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/voter-fraud.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur&_r=0> Michael Wines NYT:
After all the allegations of rampant voter fraud and claims that millions had voted illegally, the people who supervised the general election last month in states around the nation have been adding up how many credible reports of fraud they actually received. The overwhelming consensus: next to none.
In an election in which more than 137.7 million<http://www.electproject.org/2016g> Americans cast ballots, election and law enforcement officials in 26 states and the District of Columbia — Democratic-leaning, Republican-leaning and in-between — said that so far they knew of no credible allegations of fraudulent voting. Officials in another eight states said they knew of only one allegation.
A few states reported somewhat larger numbers of fraud claims that were under review. Tennessee counted 40 credible allegations out of some 4.3 million primary and general election votes. In Georgia, where more than 4.1 million ballots were cast, officials said they had opened 25 inquiries into “suspicious voting or election-related activity.”
But inquiries to all 50 states (every one but Kansas responded), found no states that reported indications of widespread fraud. And while additional allegations could surface as states wind up postelection reviews, their conclusions are unlikely to change significantly.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90084&title=%E2%80%9CAll%20This%20Talk%20of%20Voter%20Fraud%3F%20Across%20U.S.%2C%20Officials%20Found%20Next%20to%20None%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

Disgusting: Presidential Electors, Threatened, Receiving Death Threats<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90082>
Posted on December 18, 2016 11:30 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90082> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Everyone who condemned threats of violence earlier coming during Trump rallies needs to condemn this<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/electors-under-siege-232774?utm_content=buffere718b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer>. Deplorable:
On Monday, members of the Electoral College will cast their historic votes for the next president of the United States. In the meantime, they are under siege.
The nation’s 538 presidential electors<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/list-who-will-cast-a-formal-vote-for-president-2016-231235> have been thrust into the political foreground like never before in American history. In the aftermath of a uniquely polarizing presidential contest, the once-anonymous electors are squarely in the spotlight, targeted by death<http://gothamist.com/2016/12/15/mayday_steer_away_from_the_iceberg.php> threats,<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/22/gop-electors-harassed-threatened-foes-maneuver-blo/> harassing phone calls and reams of hate mail. One Texas Republican elector said he’s been bombarded with more than 200,000 emails.
“I never can imagine harassing people like this. It’s just f—– up,” said Jim Rhoades, a Republican elector from Michigan who runs a home inspection service. “I’ve lost a bunch of business.”
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90082&title=Disgusting%3A%20Presidential%20Electors%2C%20Threatened%2C%20Receiving%20Death%20Threats>
Posted in electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

--
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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