[EL] ELB Quick Hits

Fri Dec 30 12:18:39 PST 2016

“Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90199>
Posted on December 30, 2016 12:17 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90199> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us/politics/russia-election-hacking-sanctions.html?ref=politics&_r=0>:
President Obama<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per> struck back at Russia<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/russiaandtheformersovietunion/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services.
The administration also penalized four top officers of one of those services, the powerful military intelligence unit known as the G.R.U.
Intelligence agencies have concluded that the G.R.U. ordered the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations, with the approval of the Kremlin, and ultimately enabled the publication of the emails it harvested to benefit Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per>’s campaign.
President elect Trump on Twitter<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/814919370711461890>, after Putin declined to eject American diplomats: “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!”
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

ELB Quick Hits<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90191>
Posted on December 30, 2016 12:13 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90191> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Electionline Weekly<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>: The List (What’s In and Out in Election Administration for 2017)
Politico, Ward picked to lead Obama-Holder redistricting project<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/obama-redistricting-kelly-ward-232995>
NLJ, McDonnell Case Casts Long Shadow in Public-Corruption Prosecutions<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/home/id=1202775543648?kw=McDonnell%20Case%20Casts%20Long%20Shadow%20in%20Public-Corruption%20Prosecutions&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20161228&src=EMC-Email&pt=Daily%20Headlines&slreturn=20161128115527>
Jonathan Adler<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/12/29/the-real-reason-president-obama-wont-recess-appoint-merrick-garland-to-the-supreme-court/?utm_term=.974e81fe8093> and Seth Tillman<http://tinyurl.com/jvfbtl9> each weigh in on Ed Kilgore’s silly call for President Obama to recess appoint Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
New depressing poll<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2016/12/28/americans-especially-but-not-exclusively-trump-voters-believe-crazy-wrong-things/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.fff290ad05f3> on voters who believe conspiracy theories such as the idea that millions of illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election.

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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
NC: “Judge puts NC GOP elections board makeover on hold after Roy Cooper sues”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90195>
Posted on December 30, 2016 11:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90195> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
News and Observer<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article123763694.html>:
Governor-elect Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging the General Assembly’s special session law that revamps the state elections board.
Cooper’s attorneys asked a Wake County Superior Court judge to block the law from taking effect while the lawsuit pends. Judge Donald Stephens granted the request after a one-hour hearing Friday afternoon.
The law was set to take effect on Sunday, when the North Carolina State Board of Elections would officially have ceased to exist. That change will be delayed for at least a week, and Stephens set another hearing on the case for Thursday.
The law would merge the elections board with the State Ethics Commission, which administers ethics laws governing lobbyists, elected officials and government employees. The merger was approved by the Republican-led legislature during its special session earlier this month and signed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, one of several changes attempting to limit the power Cooper.
Cooper’s attorneys argue in the lawsuit filing that the change violates the state’s constitution.
“The General Assembly passed a bill that, among other things, radically changes the structure and composition of the executive agency responsible for administrating our state’s election laws,” the lawsuit says. “Those changes are unconstitutional because they violate the separation of powers provisions enshrined in the North Carolina Constitution by shifting control over that agency away from the governor to the General Assembly.”…
Under the new law, the new elections and ethics board wouldn’t be able to take action with a simple majority – six of eight members must vote in favor. If the board deadlocks, matters could then be appealed to a Wake County Superior Court judge.
Cooper’s lawsuit argues that the supermajority requirement means the new board is “likely to be consistently deadlocked and unable to act” and therefore “will not be able to execute the election laws.”
The lawsuit also notes that if the board can’t get bipartisan agreement on early voting schedules – and courts decline to intervene – the schedules would default to the minimum number of hours allowed by law: A single site open only during weekday business hours and the Saturday before the election.
Cooper referenced that scenario in a news release Friday afternoon. “A tie on a partisan vote would accomplish what many Republicans want: making it harder for North Carolinians to vote,” he said. “It will result in elections with longer lines, reduced early voting, fewer voting places, little enforcement of campaign finance laws, indecision by officials and mass confusion.”
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

US DOT Settles with Alabama over Access to Drivers License Offices, Relevant to Voter ID<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90193>
Posted on December 30, 2016 11:49 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90193> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release<https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-reaches-agreement-alabama-law-enforcement-agency-ensure>:
After a year-long investigation, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has reached an agreement<http://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/MOA-between-us-department-transportation-and-alabama-law-enforcement> with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to ensure that driver licensing services in the state will be available to all residents, regardless of race, color or national origin, in compliance with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“The U.S. Department of Transportation took on this issue as part of our responsibility under Title VI to prevent discriminatory behavior, and I’m pleased to have reached this agreement with the State of Alabama,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “DMVs play a critical role in the day-to-day functioning of the American people, including ensuring their ability to drive to work and other essential services and to get proper identification needed to vote or open a bank account. No one should be prevented from accessing these services based on their race, color or national origin – Title VI is not optional.”
In late 2015, the State of Alabama announced that it planned to close or reduce service to 31 driver license offices throughout the state. Because its preliminary analysis of the closures suggested that the service modifications would disproportionately impact African American residents in the state’s “Black Belt” region, USDOT opened an investigation into whether this action violated Title VI, which prohibits entities that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin in their programs and activities. The State of Alabama and ALEA, in particular, receive Federal assistance from the Department and, therefore, are subject to Title VI’s nondiscrimination prohibition.
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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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