[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/6/16
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Fri Feb 5 21:08:58 PST 2016
“Donald Trump’s Campaign, Billed as Self-Funded, Risks Little of His
Fortune” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79659>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 9:01 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79659>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/us/politics/donald-trumps-campaign-billed-as-self-funded-risks-little-of-his-fortune.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>
What remains is a quintessentially Trumpian endeavor that blurs the
line between campaigning and brand-building and complicates Mr.
Trump’s claims that he is funding his own White House campaign.
About three-quarters of Mr. Trump’s total campaign spending has
either gone to reimburse his own businesses or has been covered by
funds from grass-roots donors, according to an analysis by The New
York Times of F.E.C. reports. Virtually all of the money Mr. Trump
himself has put into the campaign was lent, rather than donated
outright, meaning that he could potentially sell enough hats and
T-shirts to pay himself back down the road.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
White Supremacist Super PAC Funding Pro-Trump Robocalls
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79657>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 8:42 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79657>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
CNN.
<http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/politics/donald-trump-white-supremacists-new-hampshire/index.html>
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
3-Judge Federal Court Strikes Down 2 North Carolina Congressional
Districts as Racial Gerrymanders <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79650>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 3:33 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79650>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The 100 pages of opinions arehere
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/North-Carolina-Decision.pdf>.
One of the three judges dissented as to one of the two districts.
If North Carolina wishes, it could seek direct Supreme Court review.
There isalready a Virginia case
<http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/wittman-v-personhuballah/?wpmp_switcher=desktop>raising
similar issues before the Court. And we are waiting for other rulings in
similar cases, including the remand of the Alabama racial gerrymandering
case from last year which got this ball rolling.
On these cases, see my piece, Racial Gerrymandering’s Questionable
Revival,/Alabama Law Review/(forthcoming 2015) (draft available
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2601459>).
Update: The court has given two weeks to parties to redraw these
districts, but early votinghas already begun
<https://twitter.com/gercohen/status/695774366311845888>. [Correction:
It isabsentee voting
<http://elections.mytimetovote.com/dates/north_carolina.html>, not in
person early voting which has already started.] Republican lawmakers
have alreadycriticized this change
<https://twitter.com/RaleighReporter/status/695769244072542208>as
“eleventh hour.”
The state might file an emergency motion with the Supreme Court, and the
Court could delay this ruling. The Supreme Court has been very wary of
allowing court changes to election rules just before the election.
(Seethis
paper<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2545676>on the
Purcell Principle).
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
“Judge puts Michigan ‘gag order’ election law on hold”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79648>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 3:01 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79648>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Detroit Free Press
<http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/05/judge-puts-michigan-gag-order-election-law-hold/79888702/>:
A federal judge agreed to put at least a temporary halt to an
election law bill passed in December that would restrict how local
and school officials communicate with their residents about ballot
proposals and millage issues.
U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara ruled Friday that the bill,
the last one passed at the end of the year without any public
hearings or debate, is unconstitutionally vague and an infringement
on free speech rights.
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“PAC Payments Raise Questions Over Rubio Campaign Finance”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79646>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 2:38 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79646>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WSJ:
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/pac-payments-raise-questions-over-rubio-campaign-finance-1454707035>
After he began running for president, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
continued to send monthly payments to top campaign and Senate aides
through his leadership PAC, Reclaim America, raising questions with
election experts about whether the PAC is subsidizing his
presidential campaign activities beyond legal limits.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Does North Carolina voter ID law suppress minority votes? A federal
judge will decide.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79643>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 2:31 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79643>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
LAT reports.
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-voter-id-20160204-story.html>
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>,Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“All the money in the world isn’t buying votes this primary season”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79641>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 2:15 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79641>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Noah Bierman
<http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-super-pacs-20160205-story.html>for the
LAT:
Money may yet prevail in this year’spresidential election
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/2016-presidential-election-EVGAP00087-topic.html>,
but the failure so far of big donors to propel candidates to the top
of the heap has shown the limitations of even huge stockpiles of
cash and put some critics of lax campaign finance laws on the defensive.
Former Florida Gov.Jeb Bush
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/jeb-bush-PEPLT007436-topic.html>,
who has collected more super-PAC money than any candidate, finished
with less than 3% of the vote in Iowa, where his super PAC spent
about $3,000 on television ads for every vote he won. Although he
says he hopes for a “reset” in New Hampshire, Bush has lagged badly
in polls leading up to Tuesday’s primary there.
Wisconsin Gov.Scott Walker
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/scott-walker-PEPLT006878-topic.html>,
another early favorite of the big-donor class, dropped out four
months before the first ballots were cast.
Meanwhile, two candidates who rail against big money and declined to
establish their own super PACs, RepublicanDonald Trump
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/business/construction/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html>and
Vermont Sen.Bernie Sanders
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/bernie-sanders-PEPLT005768-topic.html>,
a democratic socialist running as a Democrat, finished near the top
of their races.
The lesson, says Richard L. Hasen, a professor at UC Irvine and
author of a new book on campaign spending, “Plutocrats United,” is
that money remains powerful, but not all powerful.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>
“The Supreme Court and the 2016 Elections”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79639>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 11:21 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79639>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Looking forward to this event
<http://www.law.uci.edu/events/election-law/scotus-elections-2016feb22.html>Feb.
22 at UCI Law (which will be livestreamed):
UCI Law ProfessorRick Hasen
<http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/index.html>andEd
Whelan <http://eppc.org/author/edward_whelan/>, president of the
Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), a conservative D.C. think
tank, will offer perspectives on the Supreme Court and the 2016
elections. The event will be moderated by UCI Law professorHenry
Weinstein
<http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/weinstein/index.html>. The
panelists will discuss questions such as why Democratic-appointed
and Republican-appointed Justices differ on constitutional law and
statutory interpretation, the extent to which the Supreme Court will
be an issue in the 2016 election, and the extent to which the 2016
elections will influence the future of the Supreme Court….
This program is co-sponsored by the UCI Law Speakers Series, and the
UCI Law student chapters of theAmerican Constitution Society
<http://www.law.uci.edu/campus-life/student-organizations/orgs/acs.html#acs>andThe
Federalist Society
<http://www.law.uci.edu/campus-life/student-organizations/orgs/tfs.html>.
RSVP here
<https://ucisl.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/GuestSpeakerSeriesTheSupremeCourtandthe2016ElectionsADebate/tabid/737412/Default.aspx>by
February 19 to reserve your seat. Lunch will be provided.
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Posted inSupreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Nevada Democratic caucus overlooks Sabbath observers”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79637>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 11:06 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79637>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Las Vegas Review Journal
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/politics/elections/nevada-democratic-caucus-overlooks-sabbath-observers>:
Observant Jews and Seventh-day Adventists who want to caucus with
Nevada Democrats on Feb. 20 are out of luck.
The party’s noon caucus falls squarely in the middle of a Saturday,
a sacred day of rest and worship for both faiths.
Jewish clergy said the timing of the caucus disenfranchises those
who want to participate and pointed out that other high-profile
early-state caucuses and primaries don’t fall on a Saturday.
A party spokesman said the big event is set for that day and time to
maximize participation.
I’ve complained about this before as a reason to kill the caucuses.In
2012,
<http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/elections/nevada-gops-sundown-caucus-becomes-raucous>Republicans
had a post-sundown caucus to accommodate observant Jews.
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Posted inprimaries <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>
20 Republicans Join 20 Democrats in AZ House in Supporting National
Popular Vote <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79635>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 8:51 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79635>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Interesting.
<http://azdailysun.com/news/state-and-regional/house-gives-initial-ok-to-establish-national-popular-vote/article_809dccf2-9a9f-5add-9375-30f314d5954a.html>
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Posted inelectoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
Talking Campaign Finance with Steve Simpson Feb. 10 at Southwestern
Law <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79631>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 8:49 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79631>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The talk is sponsored by ACS and the Federalist Society.Details
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/CFR_Poster-single-page.pdf>.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Claims about Corruption in the Case for Political Equality”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79629>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 8:40 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79629>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2016/02/claims-corruption-case-political-equality/>:
There is a shift here to more careful claims about what money buys
and when: that it counts for more in some races than in others; that
it is not all that effective if the candidate is a “bad product”;
that money’s effects are more of a “skew” than a power play; and
that those effects are not always all that obvious unless you look
closely. But there is little change in the statement of campaign
money’s impact: it is large, pernicious and pervasive, and it
accounts for “the rise of a plutocratic class capturing private
benefits for personal gain.”
Now this position may sound like the long-standing corruption
argument now having to straddle the line between its empirical and
moral foundations—having to concede after all this time the
complexity of money’s effects while insisting that the corruption
remains as bad as ever. But Rick is not an anti-corruption theorist
of the old school. He is arguing for campaign finance regulation as
an antidote to extreme political inequality, a position forcefully
and skillfully laid outin his new book
<http://www.amazon.com/Plutocrats-United-Campaign-Distortion-Elections/dp/0300212453>,/Plutocrats
United/.
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Posted incampaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>
“Enough about our ‘corrupt campaign finance system’ already. Let’s
talk equality.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79627>
Posted onFebruary 5, 2016 8:26 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79627>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lee Drutman at Vox
<http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/2/5/10908722/hasen-plutocrats-united>offers
a generous review of my book, Plutocrats United:
In reading/Plutocrats United/, I found myself doing a lot of nodding
to myself. I am on board with Hasen — equality is a much more
sensible and practical justification for regulating campaign finance.
But Sanders gets big applause lines whenhe says things
<http://www.vox.com/2016/2/2/10892752/bernie-sanders-iowa-speech>like,
“We can no longer continue to have a corrupt campaign finance
system.”Corruption polls well
<http://www.gallup.com/poll/185918/majority-americans-congress-touch-corrupt.aspx>.
That’s the reason Larry Lessig has used it in his various political
adventures.
And for decades, campaign finance reformers have played to the
central role that the Court gave corruption in/Buckley/. They’ve now
spent four decades trying to prove that our campaign finance system
is “corrupt,” searching for that always elusive evidence that would
somehow convince the Court.
But they haven’t succeeded. At what point is it time to accept
Einstein’s famous definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting a different result”? Maybe that time
has finally come.
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Posted incampaign finance
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
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
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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