[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/19/16
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Wed Oct 19 08:01:35 PDT 2016
Trump’s Campaign Manager, Unlike Cowardly Mitch McConnell, Willing to Say No Widespread Voter Fraud on Election Day<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87728>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87728> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
See here.<https://twitter.com/HallieJackson/status/788736556789923840>
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
Ocean’s Eleven Parody on Election Rigging<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87726>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:52 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87726> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Can’t decide if this is funny or not.<https://twitter.com/MattNegrin/status/788700049706328064>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D87726&title=Ocean%E2%80%99s%20Eleven%20Parody%20on%20Election%20Rigging&description=>
Posted in election law "humor"<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52>
“Do Campaign Ads Matter? Donald Trump Offers a Rare Chance to Find Out”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87724>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:45 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87724> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lynn Vavreck f<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/upshot/do-campaign-ads-matter-donald-trump-gives-a-rare-chance-to-find-out.html?ref=politics>or NYT’s The Upshot.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Kasich: Fear of election rigging ‘a big fat joke’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87722>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:42 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87722> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Columbus Dispatch:<http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/10/19/Kasich_objects_to_xriggedx_election_talk.html>
“To say that the elections are rigged and all these votes are stolen — that’s like saying we never landed on the moon,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said on CBS “This Morning.” He added that such accusations are “silly,” and “I don’t think it’s good for our democracy.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“New voter ID rules, other election changes could cause confusion”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87720>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87720> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Stateline reports.<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/voter-id-election-confusion/>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Progressives ponder the unthinkable — a postelection Supreme Court blockade”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87718>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:38 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87718> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Weigel. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/17/progressives-ponder-the-unthinkable-a-postelection-supreme-court-blockade/>
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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Election officials brace for fallout from Trump’s claims of a ‘rigged’ vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87716>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:35 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87716> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-officials-clinton-team-brace-for-fallout-from-trumps-rigged-claims/2016/10/17/b6098246-9478-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html>
Donald Trump’s escalating effort to undermine the presidential election as “rigged” has alarmed government officials administering the vote as well as Democratic and Republican leaders, who are anxiously preparing for the possibility of unrest or even violence on Election Day and for an extended battle over the integrity of the outcome.
Hillary Clinton’s advisers are privately worried that Trump’s calls for his supporters to stand watch at polling places in cities such as Philadelphia for any hint of fraud will result in intimidation tactics that might threaten her supporters and suppress the votes of African Americans and other minorities.
The Democratic nominee’s campaign is recruiting and training hundreds of lawyers to fan out across the country, protecting people’s right to vote and documenting any signs of foul play, according to several people with knowledge of the plans.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Voter registration system crashes in Va., preventing some from signing up in time”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87714>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87714> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/voter-registration-system-crashes-in-va-preventing-some-from-signing-up-in-time/2016/10/18/5336f1ae-9558-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1>
A civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to force Virginia to extend its voter registration period after the state’s online system crashed Monday, the last day to register, preventing an unknown number of voters from getting on the rolls.
One registrar estimated that “tens of thousands” of Virginians had been unable to register by the cutoff at 11:59 p.m. Monday, although the state elections commissioner, Edgardo Cortés, said the number was unknown.
The meltdown prompted a Washington-based civil rights group to file the lawsuit on behalf of Kathy and Michael Kern, a Charlottesville couple who tried multiple times Sunday and Monday to register without success. Two nonprofit groups involved in voter-registration drives — New Virginia Majority Education Fund and Virginia Civic Engagement Table — also are plaintiffs.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Anti-Semitic Posts, Many From Trump Supporters, Surge on Twitter”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87712>
Posted on October 19, 2016 7:18 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87712> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/us/politics/anti-semitism-trump-supporters-twitter.html?_r=0>
She had seen her face superimposed on the body of a concentration camp inmate. She had been called “a slimy Jewess.” She had been told she “deserved the oven.” One anonymous individual had electronically harassed her for 19 hours straight.
Things got so bad that Bethany Mandel, a 30-year-old freelance writer in Highland Park, N.J., decided one afternoon last spring to drive to a nearby gun shop. A mother of two small children, she now keeps a .22 in her home.
What had she done to provoke so much vitriol? She posted some messages on Twitter drawing attention to the fact that Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/donald-trump-on-the-issues.html?inline=nyt-per> seemed to have a lot of anti-Semitic supporters.
In some respects, Mrs. Mandel’s story has become a familiar one. She is among hundreds of Jewish journalists who have been the target of anti-Semitic attacks on Twitter during the 2016 presidential campaign<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/us/politics/presidential-debate.html>, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League.
I’ve experienced a small taste of this.<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/781266192552038400> Time for Twitter to clean up its act.
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Posted in social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>
“ACLU sues Georgia to re-open voter registration in storm-hit counties”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87710>
Posted on October 18, 2016 7:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87710> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. <http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/10/18/aclu-sues-georgia-to-re-open-voter-registration-in-storm-hit-counties/>
Brian Kemp, Ga’s Secretary of State, links to this story and tweets<https://twitter.com/BrianKempGA/status/788555289301843969>: “The ACLU wants to create chaos in our local elections offices. Stand with me & protect Georgia’s elections.”
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
Looks Like about 64,000 More People Were Able to Register to Vote in FL Thanks to Democrats’ Hurricane Lawsuit<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87708>
Posted on October 18, 2016 7:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87708> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
See here. <https://twitter.com/charlesminshew/status/788564021423247360>
Good news for voters.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Don’t believe the hype. Foreign hackers will not choose the next president.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87705>
Posted on October 18, 2016 7:30 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87705> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Thomas Hicks, Matthew Masterson and Christy McCormick, the three sitting U.S. EAC Commissioners, have written this WaPo oped:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dont-believe-the-hype-foreign-hackers-will-not-choose-the-next-president/2016/10/18/a2a89b2c-94b1-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html?utm_term=.c912bb9f6719&wpmk=MK0000200>
Recent reports regarding the ability of foreign hackers to change the outcome<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/intelligence-community-investigating-covert-russian-influence-operations-in-the-united-states/2016/09/04/aec27fa0-7156-11e6-8533-6b0b0ded0253_story.html> of the U.S. presidential election are overstated. Foreign hackers will not pick our next president — Americans will.
To be sure, malicious actors may be looking at the U.S. election system as a possible target. While headlines on this conversation may be new, election officials have been working to secure our voting systems for years. As threats emerge and evolve, those of us who work in elections are responding, adapting and constantly improving. Recently, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson commended this work and expressed confidence in the election process, saying<https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/09/16/statement-secretary-johnson-concerning-cybersecurity-nation%E2%80%99s-election-systems>: “It is diverse, subject to local control, and has many checks and balances built in.”
At the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), we use research, voting system testing information, and reports from state and local officials about the performance of their systems to improve our certification of voting systems. We work with state and local officials across the country to identify and share best practices regarding cybersecurity, including information on testing systems, auditing the results and creating contingency plans. Election officials use this information to better prepare and secure their systems.
Too bad they didn’t also write something against Trump’s irresponsible vote rigging claims.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>
“Trump Supporters Have Been Primed For His Bogus Voter Fraud Claims For Years”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87703>
Posted on October 18, 2016 7:26 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87703> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The great Ryan Reilly<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-voter-fraud_us_58062ef6e4b0b994d4c16848> reports for HuffPo.
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Donald Trump Urges His Supporters to Monitor Polling Sites for Voter Fraud”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87701>
Posted on October 18, 2016 6:12 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87701> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Trip Gabriel <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/us/politics/donald-trump-voting-election-rigging.html?ref=politics> for the NYT:
is language has stirred increasing fears of intimidation of minorities inside polling places, where their qualifications to vote could be challenged, or outside, where they would face illegal electioneering.
But as Mr. Trump casts doubt on the integrity of the presidential election, there are no signs of a wave of Trump poll watchers building. Like much else about his campaign, his call to “get everybody to go out and watch” the polls seems to be a Potemkin effort<http://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/potemkinskie-derevni/>, with little or no organization behind it….
Republican and election officials in cities and states that Mr. Trump has singled out for potential widespread voter fraud, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Ohio, said his message to supporters to become poll watchers had generated scant response.
“There’s a real disconnect between the intensity of the buzz at the national level and anything we’ve seen on the ground,” said Al Schmidt, a Republican who is the vice chairman of Philadelphia’s election board. “We haven’t received a single call from somebody outside of Philadelphia looking to be a poll watcher.”
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Can you rig a U.S. presidential election? Experts say it’s basically impossible.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87699>
Posted on October 18, 2016 6:09 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87699> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Sari Horwitz <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/can-you-rig-a-us-presidential-election-experts-say-its-basically-impossible/2016/10/18/7bcc4390-9557-11e6-bc79-af1cd3d2984b_story.html> for WaPo:
But stealing an election in this country isn’t easy. In fact, experts say it’s nearly impossible given how voting works. And documented instances of voter fraud are actually very rare. Wendy R. Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the rate of fraud is smaller than the rate of Americans being struck by lightning.
Below, we explain why rigging an election is so unlikely.
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Who Will Watch Trump’s Vigilante Poll-Watchers?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87697>
Posted on October 18, 2016 5:22 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87697> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brentin Mock:<http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/10/who-will-watch-the-trumps-vigilante-poll-watchers/504344/>
True the Vote and their affiliates are notorious for drawing harassment complaints<https://www.texasobserver.org/the-queen-of-king-street/> for their unwelcome and unlicensed “policing” of black and Latino polling sites in Houston, Texas, and beyond. I personally watched and reported Republican Party-affiliated and True the Vote-affiliated poll watchers prove themselves a nuisance<https://www.thenation.com/article/more-floridians-votes-challenged-tea-party-time-miami/> for black voters in Florida in 2012. There, the poll watchers challenged and reported<http://www.colorlines.com/articles/florida-early-voters-show-huge-numbers-despite-suppression-effort> NAACP activistswho offered water<https://www.thenation.com/article/tea-party-group-blocks-florida-voters-stops-water-handouts-polls/> and chairs to voters standing in long poll lines<https://www.thenation.com/article/undeterred-long-slow-line-toward-democracy/> under the hot Florida sun. In Denver, a poll watcher called in a fraud alert simply for seeing a “high concentration of people of color<https://www.thenation.com/article/watch-colorado-gop-poll-watcher-report-high-concentration-people-color/>” at a polling site.
It’s not just people of color who’ve been targeted. In 2012, a True the Vote training manual was flagged for containing materials that would lead observers to single out suspected transgender individuals<http://www.advocate.com/politics/election/2012/11/04/voter-suppression-effort-targets-transgender-people> for voter fraud.
Trump’s 2016 poll watchers could be even worse. At least True the Vote offered some semblance of poll-watcher training. The people who heed Trump’s challenges to watch “certain areas<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/1002/Why-Trump-wants-his-supporters-to-monitor-the-polls-in-certain-areas>” seem propelled by unmitigated anger and racial animus, especially if the Boston Globe report<http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/10/15/donald-trump-warnings-conspiracy-rig-election-are-stoking-anger-among-his-followers/LcCY6e0QOcfH8VdeK9UdsM/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed> is any true representative sample. The rancorous Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, one of Trump’s fondest acolytes<https://thinkprogress.org/sheriff-openly-calls-for-riots-as-trump-says-election-is-rigged-dfe1a7ffc2b#.sgpo926p2>—and no friend of black folks<http://www.citylab.com/crime/2015/10/why-milwaukee-is-the-worst-place-to-live-for-african-americans/413218/>—is literally calling for “pitchforks and torches.<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-clarke-pitchforks-and-torches_us_580257ffe4b06e04759531a6>”
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“The Claim that the Media is Rigging the Election–and Citizens United”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87695>
Posted on October 18, 2016 5:16 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87695> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ned Foley<http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2016/10/the-claim-that-the-media-is-rigging-the-election-and-citizens-united.html>:
Now for the relevance of Citizens United: insofar as the attack on that decision rests on the premise that corporate-funded speech will distort the electoral process by persuading voters of its message, it seems the same sort of argument that Trump and Pence are making with respect to the media’s capacity to influence what voters think. To be sure, there might be different types of arguments for attacking Citizens United–that corporate money, for some reason, should be off-limits in the process of persuading voters what to think. But if one rejects the idea that CNN and the New York Times are capable of rigging the election because the messages they send to voters about the competing candidates, then presumably to be consistent one should equally reject the idea that Citizens United and other corporations are capable of improperly distorting the electoral process because of the messages these other corporations send to voters.
Conversely, defenders of Citizens United should be taking the lead in condemning the Trump-Pence claim that the media is currently rigging the election because of its messages about the candidates. The First Amendment reasoning that underlies Citizens United rules out the Trump-Pence position on this issue.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“County official challenges law on nonpartisan candidate”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87693>
Posted on October 18, 2016 5:11 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87693> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/county-official-challenges-law-on-nonpartisan-candidates/article_093bf778-2982-54e8-80aa-74f6c0c40b22.html>
A Lincoln County official says she has a constitutional right to call herself a Republican while campaigning in the county’s nonpartisan elections, and she is seeking to strike down a Montana law that bars her from doing so, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
If Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder Robin Benson is successful in her lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Helena, candidates in counties that hold nonpartisan elections would be able to identify themselves as “Republican” or “Democrat” on the campaign trail. However, such a ruling would not directly apply to judicial elections, said Benson’s attorney, Matthew Monforton, and Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Mo
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Trumped-Up Fears of ‘Rigged’ Elections–and How Responses Could Disenfranchise Voters”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87691>
Posted on October 18, 2016 4:48 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87691> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I have written this piece <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/10/18/trumped-up-fears-of-rigged-elections-and-how-responses-could-disenfranchise-voters/> for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire’s Think Tank. It begins:
Thanks to comments<http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-steps-up-claims-of-a-rigged-election-1476663365> and tweets<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/787995025527410688> by Donald Trump and the apparent work of Russia, the news is full of allegations that next month’s vote will be stolen, “rigged,” or hacked<http://www.wsj.com/articles/president-obama-targets-donald-trumps-comments-on-rigged-election-1476817725>. Most of this talk is unsubstantiated<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87677> or greatly exaggerated. Here are four ways that the 2016 election won’t be stolen and one way that responses to exaggerated fears of electoral fraud could disenfranchise voters.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
Snopes on “Project Veritas’ Election 2016 ‘Rigging’ Videos”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87688>
Posted on October 18, 2016 4:30 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87688> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The verdict:<http://www.snopes.com/2016/10/18/project-veritas-election-videos/>
The videos are, as is typical of O’Keefe’s, work somewhat of a gish gallop<http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop>, comprising a constellation of allegations and assertions that is virtually impossible to fact check without complete clips of the involved conversations. Nearly all the videos used stitched-together, out-of-context remarks with no indication of what occurred or what was discussed just before and after the included portions….
Columbia Journalism Review reiterated assessments and warnings about O’Keefe’s methods in a 2011 piece targeting NPR. That article noted that the time-consuming nature of fact-checking (particularly when source material is obscured) has led to Project Veritas efforts skating past cursory review:…
The Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) organization also regularly covered<http://fair.org/uncategorized/blaming-the-internet-for-reporters-gullibility/>O’Keefe’s<http://fair.org/uncategorized/nbc-still-doesnt-know-about-okeefes-acorn-hoax/> efforts in 2011 and 2012, lamenting<http://fair.org/uncategorized/medias-weird-ethics-pretending-to-be-someone-else-is-worse-than-facilitating-global-catastrophe/> how often the details of the purported stings are misreported<http://fair.org/home/npr-unstung-once-again-okeefe-shows-he-shouldnt-be-trusted/> before being thoroughly investigated:….
In a 2011 op-ed, a Washington Post writer laid out the reasons<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-npr-video-and-political-dirty-tricks/2011/03/17/ABbyMym_story.html> why videos released by Project Veritas should initially sound numerous ethical alarms…
As the piece noted, the “rigging” clip and claims of voter registration form destruction did not stem fromactivity surreptitiously recorded by Project Veritas. Instead, the viral video simply depicts an operative of the organization attempting to bait campaign workers into “admitting” they would tolerate such behavior. And as with the video involving Manhattan Board of Elections Commissioner Alan Schulkin, what Project Veritas’ targets appeared to be doing was going along with leading questions rather than disputing them.
Schulkin himself provided comment<http://nypost.com/2016/10/11/elections-official-caught-on-video-blasting-de-blasios-id-program/> to that effect, telling the New York Post that he had played along with a young woman he described as a “nuisance”…
Project Veritas’ October 2016 election-related sting videos (embedded above) reveal tidbits of selectively and (likely deceptively edited) footage absent of any context in which to evaluate them. Unless his organization releases the footage in full, undertaking a fair assessment of their veracity is all but impossible.
(my emphasis)
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
“Ecuador Cut Off Julian Assange’s Internet Because Of His Effect On The US Election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87686>
Posted on October 18, 2016 4:12 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87686> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
BuzzFeed reports.<https://www.buzzfeed.com/karlazabludovsky/ecuadors-president-endorsed-clinton-ahead-of-julian-assange?utm_term=.baDnwbRgL#.wf86GmL7e>
I expect the Russians will simply shift to DC Leaks, Guccifer II or some other means of getting out what they want to get out.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
Ted Cruz Won’t Vouch for the Integrity of Texas’s Elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87683>
Posted on October 18, 2016 4:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87683> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Read it here<https://twitter.com/PatrickSvitek/status/788513888371216384>.
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
“Elizabeth Warren: Trump didn’t invent the ‘rigged election’ myth. Republicans did.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87681>
Posted on October 18, 2016 3:51 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87681> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo opinion.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elizabeth-warren-trump-didnt-invent-the-rigged-election-myth-republicans-did/2016/10/18/921ac368-953b-11e6-9b7c-57290af48a49_story.html?utm_term=.93e7aec206d2&wpmk=MK0000200>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Dems use loophole to pump millions into fight for the House”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87679>
Posted on October 18, 2016 3:46 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87679> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/democrats-house-campaign-money-229957#ixzz4NTeCRKoS>:
The Democratic Party is directing millions of extra dollars to its House candidates this fall by way of a legal loophole that has helped them bypass the typical limits on coordinated spending between parties and candidates — all while linking some vulnerable Republicans to Donald Trump.
Typically, Federal Election Commission regulations limit parties to just $48,100 of spending in direct coordination with most House candidates. But under a decade-old FEC precedent, candidates that word their TV ads a certain way — including references to generic “Democrats” and “Republicans” as well as specific candidates — can split the cost of those ads with their party, even if that means blowing past the normal coordinated spending ca
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
Respected Republican Lawyer Ben Ginsberg: No Widespread in-Person Voter Fraud Going On<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87677>
Posted on October 18, 2016 1:44 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87677> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
On Meet the Press Daily<http://www.msnbc.com/mtp-daily/watch/experts-no-evidence-of-widespread-in-person-voter-fraud-787844675674>:
Noted Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg asked if any proof of widespread voter fraud: “Not in person voter fraud, no. And what Jon Husted said is absolutely right. Look, Republican election officials control 30 different states and the election mechanisms within that…Republicans want this to be a fair election where every eligible voter wants to have their votes count.”
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Donald Trump’s Unsubstantiated Claims Of A Rigged Election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87675>
Posted on October 18, 2016 1:27 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87675> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I was on today’s Diane Rehm show and you can listen here<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-10-18/donald-trumps-unsubstantiated-claims-of-a-rigged-election>. Show description:
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears to be doubling down on his claims that there will be voter fraud come election day. And he’s called Republican party leaders who have strongly denied his accusations naïve. Presumably among those who are naïve is his own vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence. Trump offered no evidence to support his accusations, but many say he has already convinced a number of his supporters to question the integrity of the U.S. voting system. Why some say undermining confidence in the U.S. voting system is dangerous—and assessing the actual risks of potential election fraud.
Guests
* Tammy Patrick fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center federal compliance officer, Maricopa County Elections Department in Arizona
* Richard Hasen professor of law and political science, University of California, Irvine; author, “Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections”
* Stacey Abrams House Minority Leader, Georgia General Assembly represents 89th District, Atlanta, Georgia
* Beth Reinhard national politics reporter, The Wall Street Journal.
* Denise Merrill Secretary of State, Connecticut president, National Association of Secretaries of State, NASS
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Torres-Spelliscy on Corporate Citizenship and the Argument for Separation of Corporation and State”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87671>
Posted on October 18, 2016 1:09 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87671> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Corporate Crime Reporter.<http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/torres-spelliscy-on-corporate-citizenship-and-the-argument-for-separation-of-corporation-and-state/>
See also Ciara’s post, Does Big Money Still Matter?<http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/does-big-money-still-matter>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
The Latest (Possible) Dirty Trick? Telling People to Vote Online via Text<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87666>
Posted on October 18, 2016 11:24 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87666> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Hard to know if this is a real dirty trick, or just a dirty trick to make it look like there are dirty tricks going on.<http://www.snopes.com/can-you-vote-online-with-a-hashtag/>
Snopes<http://www.snopes.com/can-you-vote-online-with-a-hashtag/>:
The provenance of the meme was unclear. It was most likely intended merely as a joke, which one side then interpreted as a genuine attempt to suppress Democratic voter turnout in Pennsylvania, and which the other side claimed was spread as a smear against their candidate by suggesting his party would resort to such underhanded tricks. (Of course, it would be ridiculous to think that any particular online voting system could be used only by supporters of one particular candidate.)
Update: Looks like at least one local Republican official has circulated this<http://billypenn.com/2016/10/18/rigged-western-pa-republican-circulates-fake-meme-about-online-voting-in-pa/>, but we don’t know the origin.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
Pence, Citing Instances of Voter Fraud, Wants People Going to Polling Places “in a Respectful Way”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87664>
Posted on October 18, 2016 11:10 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87664> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Watch.<https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/788439235091062784>
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
“RNC members agree with Trump: It’s rigged”; Reince Silent<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87660>
Posted on October 18, 2016 10:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87660> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Moment of truth time <http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/republican-national-committee-election-rigged-229936> ,people.
Also: The GOP is trying to put out a ‘rigged’ election fire that it helped start<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/18/the-gop-is-trying-to-put-out-a-rigged-election-fire-that-it-helped-start/?postshare=5561476813463654&tid=ss_tw>
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
“Indiana state police investigating possible voter fraud”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87658>
Posted on October 18, 2016 10:03 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87658> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WISH:<http://nbc4i.com/2016/10/18/indiana-state-police-investigating-possible-voter-fraud/>
Thousands of birth dates and names listed on Indiana voter registrations were changed, officials said Tuesday, prompting an investigation into possible voter fraud.
Hoosiers reported finding the incorrect information when checking to see if they were registered to vote, according to a media release from Secretary of State Connie Lawson.
“These records were changed on paper forms, at the BMV and online,” Lawson said in a statement. “At this time, my office is not sure why these records were changed, but we have evaluated the Statewide Voter Registration System and have found no indication it has been compromised.”
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“BPC, Election Administrators Partner to Collect First-Ever National Data on Voting Lines”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87656>
Posted on October 18, 2016 9:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87656> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<http://bipartisanpolicy.org/press-release/bpc-election-administrators-partner-to-collect-data-voting-lines/>
The Bipartisan Policy Center, in partnership with the Polling Place of the Future Project of the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project, today announces a nationwide effort to measure Election Day lines at polling places around the country. BPC will collect unique data from every polling place in multiple jurisdictions on an hourly basis throughout Election Day.
This data will help to diagnose the causes of long lines at the polls, predict where they may happen in advance of elections, and develop tools to allow election officials to swiftly allocate resources to the precincts most in need.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“‘Rigged election’ rhetoric is having an effect on voters — just not in the way you think.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87654>
Posted on October 18, 2016 9:35 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=87654> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Fascinating post<http://electionupdates.caltech.edu/2016/10/17/rigged-election-rhetoric-is-having-an-effect-on-voters-just-not-in-the-way-you-think/> from Charles Stewart:
Donald Trump’s relentless messaging about a “rigged election” is having an effect on the confidence voters have that their votes will be counted accurately. But, it’s not the effect you think.
I came to this conclusion as I was considering yesterday’s Morning Consult poll results<https://morningconsult.com/2016/10/17/trump-support-slides-vote-rigging-rhetoric-takes-hold/>about confidence in the vote count. It so happens that I asked almost exactly the same question on a national poll during the pre-election period in 2012. (I can’t take all the credit. My colleague at Reed College, Paul Gronke<http://people.reed.edu/~gronkep/>, joined me in sponsoring a “double-wide” module on the 2012Cooperative Congressional Election Study<http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/cces/home>.) I decided to compare what Morning Consult found today with what we found almost exactly four years ago.
The results were surprising. The percentage of respondents who say that they are “very confident” that their own votes will be counted accurately is virtually unchanged from 2012. Confidence that votes nationwide will be counted accurately has, if anything, increased since 2012. Trump’s rhetoric appears not to have reduced Republican confidence in the accuracy of the vote count over the past four years. Rather, it has increased the confidence of Democrats. The degree of party polarization over the quality of the vote count has increased since 2012, but it is Democratic shifts in opinion, not Republican, that are leading to this greater polarization.
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Posted in 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>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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