[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/22/16

[Rick Hasen]

“Will Dominant Images of Conventions Be of Unity or Protest?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83744>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:38 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83744> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Trip Gabriel<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/us/politics/convention-protests-philadelphia-cleveland.html?ref=politics> for the NYT:

The divisive nominating contests have produced countercurrents of deep resentment in both parties. And next month, that bitterness could spill into the streets in large protests just when Republicans and Democrats — and the host cities — are trying to present images of unity to the country.

Mass demonstrations have occurred at nearly every modern political convention, perhaps none more disastrously than at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago<http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1968-democratic-convention-931079/?no-ist>, where street riots contributed to Hubert H. Humphrey’s loss that November.

There is no chance of that level of violence, officials in both cities insist, because modern policing has evolved to be less confrontational. Philadelphia is considering issuing $100 summonses to marchers blocking highways or failing to disperse, rather than arresting them.

But protest organizers in Cleveland say that by imposing strict rules to contain demonstrators, the city is only increasing the likelihood that unsanctioned protests will erupt, leading to violent clashes with the police or between Trump supporters and opponents.
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Posted in social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


“The Boundary Problem and the Changing Case Against Deference in Election Law Cases: Lessons from Local Government Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83742>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:17 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83742> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

David Schleicher has posted this draft<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2798337> on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:

This essay for the 2016 AALS Section on Election Law Program, “Election Law at the Local Level,” applies lessons from local government law to election law problems. Both local government and international law scholars discuss something sometimes called the “boundary problem.” A simple belief in democracy or self-determination — or the decision of some group of voters — cannot provide much guidance about what the boundaries of a city, state, or nation should be. Before a geographically-bounded group of voters can decide its own boundaries, who comprises the relevant group must itself be determined. Any such choice will exclude some people who claim an interest in the decision. The group of deciders cannot be determined democratically, as a vote to decide who decides would face the same problem. Some value other than self-determination must be introduced to determine who decides before any boundaries can be set. The implication is that any city, state, or country’s decision about its own boundaries is not due any particular deference on democratic grounds. The Supreme Court has endorsed this view, giving states virtually free reign to determine who should participate (if anyone) in elections setting local boundaries.

There is a functional analogy between election laws and boundary drawing. Like determinations about the boundaries of a polity, election laws determine who may participate as part of tomorrow’s electorate and how those votes will be aggregated. Because both involve decisions that include or exclude others from the body politic, the boundary problem should also apply to election law. This fresh way of thinking about election law suggests that courts should not give their ordinary, democratically justified deference to legislative enactments in election law cases, one quite distinct from traditional principal-agent-style concerns. Further, the boundary problem can help explain the Court’s skeptical attitude in cases like Lucas v. The Forty-Fourth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, where voters themselves in a referendum choose a system other than equal representation.

Finally, the boundary problem bites more severely when local governments pass election laws. Local governments have all sorts of tools for determining who may live in town — from taxes to land use — that can entrench today’s majority. Local election laws provide these majorities with yet another tool, which makes competition even more unlikely. Whatever deference is due in election law cases generally, courts should give less deference to locally-drawn election laws.
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Posted in theory<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=41>


“Appeals Court Considers North Carolina Voting Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83740>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:14 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83740> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Pam Fessler two-way<http://www.npr.org/2016/06/21/482981919/appeals-court-considers-north-carolina-voting-law?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social> with Audie Cornish on NPR.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“Ongoing Battles Over Kansas Registration Laws Leave Local Election Officials Uncertain How To Proceed”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83738>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:13 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83738> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinBlog.<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2016/06/22/ongoing-battles-over-kansas-registration-laws-leave-local-election-officials-uncertain-how-to-proceed/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“New Super-PAC Launches for Donors Who Won’t Back Trump But Loathe Clinton”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83736>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:11 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83736> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg reports.<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-22/new-super-pac-launches-for-donors-who-won-t-back-trump-but-loathe-clinton>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“Get Ready: The Next ‘Citizens United’ Is Coming”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83733>
Posted on June 22, 2016 7:05 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83733> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Carrie Levine<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/supreme-court-scotus-citizens-united-money-campaigns-political-new-fec-next-law-suit-213980> of CPI writes for Politico magazine.

Earlier I wrote this Atlantic piece <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/supreme-court-soft-money/480978/> about the soft money case.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“Could Lack of Money Be Trump’s Downfall?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83731>
Posted on June 21, 2016 4:37 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83731> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this piece<http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/21/opinions/trump-funding-richard-hasen/index.html> for CNN. It begins:

2016 was supposed to be the presidential election where big money didn’t matter.
After all, the shock-and-awe campaign of Jeb Bush’s Super PAC, with its nine-figure budget<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/us/politics/jeb-bush-campaign.html>, was far less than awesome. Bernie Sanders raised tens of millions of dollars in very small donations (recall his constant refrain that the average donation he received was $27<http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/10/politics/bernie-sanders-raises-5-2-million/>).
And Donald Trump’s major selling point was that he was self-funding his campaign (which wasnot really true<http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/19/politics/donald-trump-campaign-finance-crowdpac/>) and too rich to be bought anyway, leaving big donors on the sidelines. (Never mind that he still relied on big money in the primaries — his own.)
But now comes the news of Trump’s embarrassingly paltry fundraising<http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/20/politics/republicans-cash-crunch-donald-trump/index.html> numbers for May, in which he has less cash on hand than many congressional and local candidates, and only one-fortieth of Hillary Clinton’s cash on hand.
It looks like big money still matters a lot, as Trump may find out the hard way.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“North Carolina Faces Tough Questions From Appeals Court on Voting Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83729>
Posted on June 21, 2016 4:35 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83729> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brent Kendall reports<http://www.wsj.com/article_email/north-carolina-faces-tough-questions-from-appeals-court-on-voting-law-1466534446-lMyQjAxMTI2NzIwMTcyMjE1Wj> for WSJ.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“Why Prisoners Deserve the Right to Vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83727>
Posted on June 21, 2016 4:09 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83727> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Corey Brettschneider <http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/prisoners-convicts-felons-inmates-right-to-vote-enfranchise-criminal-justice-voting-rights-213979> for Politico magazine.

o some, the idea may seem risky, unnecessary or even unconscionable. But in fact, there are good reasons to embrace it. For one, our constitutional ideals support the right of prisoners to vote, and denying it violates the concept of self-government that the founders cherished. Granting this right also makes sense for the country in terms of politics and policy. As prisons have grappled with the explosion in their populations in the past 20 years, allegations of prisoner maltreatment multiply, and criminal justice reform moves to the fore of our political debate, we should consider that one of the best ways to solve these intractable and expensive problems would be to listen to those currently incarcerated—and to allow them to represent themselves in our national political conversation.
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Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>


It’s Even Worse Than It Looks (Trump’s Fundraising, That Is)<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83725>
Posted on June 21, 2016 3:53 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83725> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/us/politics/donald-trump-fund-raising-republicans.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>

Even the stark disparity in cash on hand may understate the desperate straits in which Mr. Trump finds himself. His fund-raising, led largely by the Republican National Committee, has slowed. He canceled a fund-raiser with 90 people in Boston last week, after the shooting in Orlando, Fla.; it has been rescheduled for June 29.

Mr. Trump is to be feted at two fund-raisers in Manhattan this week, organized by Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets, with one event featuring Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. But the ticket price for that event is only $500, a paltry sum for a presidential campaign, and only 260 people have signed up, according to a person involved in Mr. Trump’s fund-raising, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not intended for the public.

Charles Spies, a Republican election lawyer who advised Jeb Bush’s “super PAC<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/campaign_finance/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,” said Mr. Trump would have to put in an enormous amount of his own money to jump-start his campaign and win over big donors. He suggested an appropriate figure would be $100 million to $200 million.

Mr. Spies said Mr. Trump should also forgive the loans he had made to his campaign, to reassure contributors that he would not use their money to repay himself.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


June 23 Forum on Corporate Political Spending and Foreign Influence at the FEC<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83723>
Posted on June 21, 2016 3:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83723> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Announcement via email:

Join Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub of the Federal Election Commission as she brings together some of the nation’s top scholars, public-interest professionals, and attorneys to discuss some of the hottest issues in campaign finance surrounding corporate political spending and foreign influence.

When Citizens United opened the door in 2010 to unlimited corporate political spending, it failed to address how to keep foreign funds from flowing through corporations into our elections. The American people deserve assurances that corporations, whether large or small, are not using foreigners’ money to influence our elections. And the law demands it. But how big is the problem? And what’s the best way to solve it?

When: Thursday, June 23, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (doors open 9:30 a.m.). A light lunch will be provided.

Where: Federal Election Commission, 999 E St. NW, 9th floor, Washington, DC 20463

Agenda

Meet and Greet | 9:30 am – 10 am

Welcoming Remarks by Commissioner Weintraub | 10 am – 10:15 am

Panel 1 | 10:15 am – 11:15 am

How do we define ‘foreign money’? How much money is being raised and spent overall and by corporations this election cycle, and where is it coming from? What don’t we know and why don’t we know it?

Panelists:
·         Sheila Krumholz<https://www.opensecrets.org/about/staff.php>, Center for Responsive Politics
·         Norman J. Ornstein<https://www.aei.org/scholar/norman-j-ornstein/>, American Enterprise Institute
·         John Pudner<http://takeback.org/about/>, Take Back Our Republic
·         Melissa Yeager<https://sunlightfoundation.com/team/myeager/>, Sunlight Foundation

Break | 11:15 am – 11:30 am

Panel 2 | 11:30 am – 1 pm

When assessing the role of foreign nationals and corporations in campaign finance, what is the state of the law? How can other legal disciplines inform election law?

Panelists:
·         Corporate law: John Coates<http://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/10170/Coates>, Harvard Law School
·         Corporate law: Robert Jackson<http://www.law.columbia.edu/fac/Robert_Jackson>, Columbia Law School
·         Communications law: Mace Rosenstein<https://www.cov.com/en/professionals/r/mace-rosenstein>, Covington & Burling
·         Tax law: Donald Tobin<https://www.law.umaryland.edu/faculty/profiles/faculty.html?facultynum=1061>, University of Maryland School of Law

Lunch | 1 pm – 2 pm

Panel 3 | 2 pm – 3:30 pm

What’s the impact of corporate money and foreign influence on the ground? What can the FEC do about it? How can the FEC build the best record that would allow the Commission and/or Congress to respond to corporate and foreign money?

Panelists:

·         Administrative/Election law: Richard Briffault<http://www.law.columbia.edu/fac/Richard_Briffault>, Columbia Law School

·         State election law: Jared DeMarinis<http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25ind/html/30elect.html>, Director, Candidacy and Campaign Finance Division, Maryland State Board of Elections

·         Election law: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy<http://www.stetson.edu/law/faculty/torres-spelliscy-ciara/>, Stetson University College of Law

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>


“Nearly half of Nebraska county election officials may be denying voting right”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83721>
Posted on June 21, 2016 3:34 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83721> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lincoln Journal-Star<http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/nearly-half-of-nebraska-county-election-officials-may-be-denying/article_702c7238-a247-5e74-968f-d5c3571380be.html>:

Only about half of Nebraska’s 93 counties accurately provide voting rights for ex-felons, according to a survey by the ACLU of Nebraska<https://www.aclunebraska.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/voting_rights_of_former_felons_-_june_2016.pdf>.

Nearly half of the county election officials contacted by ACLU researchers provided inaccurate information related to voting rights for people with felony convictions, the organization said.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>


Will Trump Abandon RNC?<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83719>
Posted on June 21, 2016 12:38 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83719> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I am skeptical<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-leaders-alarmed-by-trumps-devastating-fundraising-start/2016/06/21/6dfa5b4c-37bc-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c_story.html> he could come close to self-funding his campaign. Hard to figure out the strategy here, if there is one.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


Listen to the 4th Circuit Oral Arguments in NC Voting Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83716>
Posted on June 21, 2016 10:41 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83716> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here.<http://coop.ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/16-1468-20160621.mp3>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“The Gutting of the Voting Rights Act Could Decide the 2016 Election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83714>
Posted on June 21, 2016 10:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83714> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

It’s a good piece by Ari Berman <https://www.thenation.com/article/the-gutting-of-the-voting-rights-act-could-decide-the-2016-election/> but terrible framing.

Courts should strike down restrictive voting laws that make it harder to register or vote for no good reason, whether or not such laws affect election outcomes.

And I have serious doubts that these restrictive voting laws will affect the presidential elections, at the least.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“The End of the Great Compromise”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83712>
Posted on June 21, 2016 10:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83712> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

John Samples responds<http://www.libertylawsite.org/liberty-forum/the-end-of-the-great-compromise/> to Derek Muller’s essay on campaign finance.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Appellate judges skeptical about North Carolina’s voter ID law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83710>
Posted on June 21, 2016 10:20 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=83710> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Early report<http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/appellate-judges-skeptical-about-north-carolina-s-voter-id-law/article_21d6adf4-1c3e-519a-ae69-afd5830c3160.html> on oral argument from AP.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


--
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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