[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/17/16

[Rick Hasen]

“Should Congress create a law to prevent election fiascos?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83629>
Posted on June 16, 2016 9:10 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83629> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Arizona Republic<http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/azdc/2016/06/16/should-congress-create-law-prevent-election-fiascos/85946170/>:

Congress should make national rules to prevent election debacles like the March 22 presidential preference election in Maricopa County<http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/03/23/maricopa-county-presidential-primary-election-chaos-arizona/82174876/> that was plagued by six-hour-long lines and confusion over voter registration, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., says.

Grijalva, of Tucson, introduced the Voting Access Act on Wednesday.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“‘It’s Pretty Lonely’: A Democratic Incumbent in a Sea of Texas Red”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83627>
Posted on June 16, 2016 7:42 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83627> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Manny Fernandez for the NYT<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/its-pretty-lonely-a-democratic-incumbent-in-a-sea-of-texas-red.html?_r=0>:

There are 29 statewide elected offices in Texas. Republicans control 28 of them. And then there’s Lawrence E. Meyers, 68, the senior judge on the state’s highest criminal court and the sole Democrat.

How did he do it? By defection. He was elected in 1992 as a Republican to the state Court of Criminal Appeals, and won re-election as a Republican in later elections. But he switched parties<https://www.texastribune.org/2013/12/20/party-switch-gives-democrats-something-build/> in 2013.

Now, for the first time since crossing over, Judge Meyers is up for re-election as a Democrat in November. To call him an underdog is an understatement. The last time a Democrat won a statewide office was nearly 22 years ago, in November 1994….

Q. Why haven’t Democrats been able to break that 20-year G.O.P. winning streak?

A. More people that would be inclined to vote Democratic are just not voting. I’m not enough of a political strategist to know why people aren’t voting. Part of our strategy to start getting people encouraged to vote — if we can get enough Democrats to make some changes in some things — is to start rewarding people for voting. If they can use their proof of voting to obtain some type of a situation that would be helpful to them, then I think people would vote more.

Q. You mean if people show proof they’ve voted they’re going to receive what, exactly?

A. Then you’re going to get some breaks.

Q. What kind?

A. I don’t want to go into it right now. I had some kind of basic thoughts about it and I’ve taken it to other people who are brighter and smarter than me, and they’ve expanded it. Let’s reward you for voting instead of trying to suppress it.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“The Presidential Candidates’, Super PACs’ and Parties’ May 20 Reports Give Clues for June 20”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83625>
Posted on June 16, 2016 1:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83625> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Latest analysis<http://cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/16-06-16/The_Presidential_Candidates%E2%80%99_Super_PACs%E2%80%99_and_Parties%E2%80%99_May_20_Reports_Give_Clues_for_June_20.aspx> from the Campaign Finance Institute.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Reforming Presidential Elections: The Need for a National Primary”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83623>
Posted on June 16, 2016 1:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83623> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ned Foley has posted this draft<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2795124> on SSRN (forthcoming, Fordham Law Review). Here is the abstract:

For presidential elections, America needs a new National Primary, to be held in June. It would be an intermediate stage between, first, the state-based partisan primaries that start in January of a presidential election year and then, finally, the November general election. Any political party or independent candidate could qualify for the National Primary ballot by using a new internet-based system to gather electronic signatures from five percent of the national electorate. In this way, the National Primary would enable third-party and independent candidates to have a genuine chance to compete against the two major-party candidates without the risk of becoming spoilers, a risk that occurs now if they attract significant support in the November general election.

The National Primary would send two finalists on to the November ballot. The simplest and most familiar rule for this purpose would be to permit each voter to vote for one candidate on the National Primary ballot, and have the two candidates with the most votes move on to November. That rule, although significantly preferable to the current system because of its ability to avoid the spoiler problem, does not take advantage of alternatives that could be adopted at the same time as implementing the National Primary. One promising alternative would be to use an “OK” ballot, with which each voter could cast an “OK” vote for any of the candidates on the National Primary ballot whom the voter deems acceptable. The two candidates with the most “OK” votes would advance. A form of so-called Approval Voting, this “OK” ballot would enable a candidate who is the second choice of most voters, although not the first choice of most, to make it to the November election matchup. Similarly, if the National Primary in June had three candidates, with many voters viewing one of them especially unfavorably, these voters could use their “OK” votes to cast in effect a negative vote against the objectionable candidate. (They would do so by casting an “OK” vote for each of the other two candidates on the National Primary ballot.)

While history shows that this kind of National Primary would have been advantageous for the many past presidential elections that involved significant third-party or independent candidates, it would have been particularly advantageous in 2016, a year in which both major-party candidates were viewed unfavorably at unprecedented levels. The existing system made it exceedingly difficult to give the American electorate a realistic alternative to the two major-party nominees. Had this National Primary been in place, by contrast, it would have been easy for an independent or third-party candidate to come forward as a less unfavorable option.
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Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>, primaries<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

“Election Toolkit launches; Free and low-cost tech tools will help promote civic engagement nationwide”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83621>
Posted on June 16, 2016 1:33 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83621> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

That’s the lead story in this week’s Electionline Weekly<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Why Voter Rolls Can Be a Mess”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83619>
Posted on June 16, 2016 11:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83619> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR/WNYC report.<http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/481921080/why-voter-rolls-can-be-a-mess>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“The Democratic Primary Wasn’t Rigged; But now Clinton and Sanders supporters should unite on making it easier to vote.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83616>
Posted on June 16, 2016 8:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83616> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important Ari Berman piece<http://www.thenation.com/article/the-democratic-primary-wasnt-rigged/> in The Nation.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Donald Trump, Chasing Campaign Cash, Veers From Battleground States”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83614>
Posted on June 16, 2016 8:18 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83614> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/us/politics/donald-trump-fundraising-gop.html?_r=0>:

Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/donald-trump-on-the-issues.html?inline=nyt-per>’s campaign schedule is being driven by his fund-raising needs, prompting him to appear in heavily Republican states like Georgia and Texas and diverting his attention from battlegrounds where Hillary Clinton<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/hillary-clinton-on-the-issues.html?inline=nyt-per> is spending her time.

Mr. Trump’s aides, scrambling to raise money to compete against Mrs. Clinton’s cash juggernaut and extensive donor network, have scheduled fund-raisers in places like Georgia, North Carolina and Texas this week. The private events for donors were often scheduled first, followed by his campaign rallies, according to two people involved in Mr. Trump’s fund-raising who insisted on anonymity.

Even some of Mr. Trump’s appearances in battleground states have been tied to fund-raisers: A New Hampshire rally on Monday night was planned in conjunction with a fund-raiser in Boston, but both events were canceled after the deadly shooting in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday.

Mr. Trump has informed people raising money for his campaign that he is not interested in traveling to states for donor events unless there is a rally scheduled as well, according to the people involved. Those rallies have often garnered Mr. Trump national cable news coverage, the type of news media attention that fueled his primary campaign.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


Hettinger Reviews Gann Hall on “Attacking Judges”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83612>
Posted on June 16, 2016 7:25 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83612> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here<http://www.lpbr.net/2016/05/attacking-judges-how-campaign.html>, at the LPBR.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, judicial elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>


“More on Campaign Finance and the Threat of Darkness: Trumpism and Issues Speech”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83610>
Posted on June 16, 2016 7:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83610> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bauer blogs.<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2016/06/campaign-finance-threat-darkness-2/>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


--
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<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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