[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/19/16

Mon Sep 19 07:57:20 PDT 2016

“Pro-painkiller echo chamber shaped policy amid drug epidemic”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86662>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:54 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86662> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CPI<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/19/20201/pro-painkiller-echo-chamber-shaped-policy-amid-drug-epidemic>:

An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity<http://www.publicintegrity.org/> and The Associated Press<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3d257452c24a410f98e8e5a4d9d448a7/pro-painkiller-echo-chamber-shaped-policy-amid-drug>reveals that similar feedback loops of information and influence play out regularly in the nation’s capital, fueled by money and talking points from the Pain Care Forum, a loose coalition of drugmakers, trade groups and dozens of nonprofits supported by industry funding that has flown under the radar until now.

Hundreds of internal documents shed new light on how drugmakers and their allies shaped the national response to the ongoing wave of prescription opioid abuse, which has claimed the lives of roughly 165,000 Americans since 2000, according to federal estimates.

Painkillers are among the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S., but pharmaceutical companies and allied groups have a multitude of legislative interests beyond those drugs. From 2006 through 2015, participants in the Pain Care Forumspent over $740 million lobbying<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/18/20203/pharma-lobbying-held-deep-influence-over-opioids-policies> in the nation’s capital and in all 50 statehouses<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/18/20200/politics-pain-drugmakers-fought-state-opioid-limits-amid-crisis> on an array of issues, including opioid-related measures, according to an analysis of lobbying filings by the Center for Public Integrity and AP.

The same organizations reinforced their influence with more than $140 million doled out to political campaigns, including more than $75 million alone to federal candidates, political action committees and parties.

That combined spending on lobbying and campaigns amounts to more than 200 times the $4 million spent during the same period by the handful of groups that work for restrictions on painkillers. Meanwhile, opioid sales reached $9.6 billion last year, according to IMS Health<http://www.imshealth.com/>, a health information company.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

Tweet of the Day<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86660>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:50 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86660> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
<https://twitter.com/GovWalker>
 Follow<https://twitter.com/GovWalker>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/561234118864670720/gasKlzlk_normal.jpeg]Governor Walker <https://twitter.com/GovWalker>
✔@GovWalker<https://twitter.com/GovWalker>

Elections are right around the corner, be prepared with your Voter ID: https://twitter.com/wisconsindot/status/777294065071185920 …<https://t.co/Tv5H1t5PbE>
9:16 AM - 18 Sep 2016<https://twitter.com/GovWalker/status/777541819936702469>
·         <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=777541819936702469>

·         <https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=777541819936702469>
 1717 Retweets<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=777541819936702469>

·         <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=777541819936702469>
 2424 likes<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=777541819936702469>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Texas’s controversial voter ID law can’t stop mail-in ballot fraud”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86657>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:34 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86657> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News21/WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/09/19/texass-controversial-voter-id-law-cant-stop-mail-in-ballot-fraud/?utm_term=.86479e60a839>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>

“Clinton is losing some millennial voters to third-party contenders”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86655>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86655> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Weigel:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-is-losing-some-millennial-voters-to-third-party-contenders/2016/09/18/952a1ac4-7c57-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html>

But a wide range of polls have found Clinton losing votes to Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. A new CBS-YouGov poll of Ohio showed Clinton winning voters under 30 by 32 points. But that amounted to just 51 percent of the millennial vote and represented a six-point decline since the summer. According to the 2012 national exit poll, President Obama won 63 percent of Ohio voters under 30. That year, Obama never lost his narrow lead in an average of Ohio polls. This year, Clinton has lost that lead, despite Trump’s lack of a sustained ad campaign and Republican Gov. John Kasich’s ongoing refusal to endorse him.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Scott Walker Leaks Could Force Supreme Court to Confront Dark Money”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86653>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86653> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Justin Miller<http://prospect.org/article/scott-walker-leaks-could-force-supreme-court-confront-dark-money> for TAP.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Is The Supreme Court Ever Actually Going To Be An Election Issue?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86651>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86651> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important Chris Geidner <https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/the-supreme-court-almost-became-an-issue?utm_term=.upMzLv06O#.irGkBlvgm> for BuzzFeed.

Last Sepember, I wrote: Why The Most Urgent Civil Rights Cause Of Our Time Is The Supreme Court Itself<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/supreme-court-greatest-civil-rights-cause>
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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Is Congress working as it should? Depends on who you are.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86649>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86649> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Frank Baumgartner and Lee Drutman<http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/9/15/12932742/is-congress-working> for Vox.
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Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

“The Campaign Finance Farce; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker showed how easy it is to game the system.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86647>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86647> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Dan Weiner and Brent Ferguson<http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-09-16/scott-walker-is-proof-that-campaign-finance-law-is-broken>:

The appeal of a pass-through entity like the Wisconsin Club for Growth is obvious. Whereas Walker’s campaign committee was subject to contribution limits and disclosure rules, the group could raise unlimited contributions and keep its donors secret, even as Walker’s control of the entity still guaranteed that its ads would contain – as another email put it – all the “correct messaging.”

You don’t need to be an election lawyer to see this reduces campaign finance rules to a farce. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court invalidated political spending limits for corporations like the Wisconsin Club for Growth because it assumed that such spending would be independent of candidates’ campaigns and fully transparent, and so pose little corruption risk. The court held that limits on direct contributions to candidates and disclosure were enough to protect the integrity of our political system. But such rules are pointless if a candidate can get around them as easily as Walker did.

These revelations are a stark example of what most political practitioners already know: Candidates and supportive groups like the Wisconsin Club for Growth often coordinate their activities with one another to get around campaign finance rules. In 2014, theBrennan Center released a report<https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/after-citizens-united-story-states/> documenting many instances of such coordination and showing how hard it is to write and enforce laws to prevent it. The problem has likely only gotten worse as candidates and groups have become more sophisticated and realized the potential benefits and low risk of coordinating their spending.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“DHS Statement On Voluntary Cybersecurity Assistance Available To Election Officials”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86645>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:08 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86645> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinBlog.<http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2016/09/19/dhs-statement-on-voluntary-cybersecurity-assistance-available-to-election-officials/>

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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Trump shatters GOP records with small donors”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86643>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:05 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86643> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico:<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-shatters-gop-records-with-small-donors-228338>

Donald Trump has unleashed an unprecedented deluge of small-dollar donations for the GOP, and one that Republican Party elders have dreamed about finding for much of the last decade as they’ve watched a succession of Democrats — Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and, to a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton — develop formidable fundraising operations, $5, $10 and $20 at a time.

Trump has only been actively soliciting cash for a few months, but when he reveals his campaign’s financials later this week they will show he has crushed the total haul from small-dollar donors of the last two Republican nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney — during the entirety of their campaigns

All told, Trump is approaching, and has possibly already passed, $100 million from donors who have given less than $200, according to an analysis of available Federal Election Commission filings, the campaign’s public statements and people familiar with his fundraising operation. It is a threshold no previous Republican has ever achieved in a single campaign. And Trump has done so less than three months after signing his first email solicitation for donors on June 21 — a staggering speed to collect such a vast sum.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Get Corporations Out of Politics: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86641>
Posted on September 19, 2016 7:00 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86641> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Nell Minow interviews<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nell-minow/get-corporations-out-of-p_b_12072372.html> Ciara about her new book.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“NC Supreme Court election could change ideological tilt”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86639>
Posted on September 18, 2016 8:47 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86639> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News and Observer:<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article102611887.html>

It was not until May that it became clear Edmunds would face any challengers in his campaign to keep his seat.

In 2015, the Republican-led General Assembly passed a law that changed how sitting justices could be re-elected. Incumbent justices could choose to stand for a retention election, meaning that voters would decide at the polls whether to keep the justice on the bench. If the voters said no, then the governor would appoint someone to fill the seat until the next election year, when the seat would be open to any candidates.

That law was struck down by a three-judge panel in February, and the state Supreme Court, with Edmunds recusing himself, deadlocked three to three on whether to uphold that decision.

Because the high court was evenly divided, the lower court ruling stood and a special primary election was hastily scheduled for June….

But Morgan challenges Edmunds, noting he sides with the Republican majority in cases such as the redistricting challenges, whether the General Assembly had the power to make a law to spend public dollars on private-school vouchers and some rulings supporting the loosening of environmental regulations.

“There is that perception that politics has infected that court, and perception often becomes reality,” Morgan said.

Morgan noted Edmunds has referred to himself as a “conservative judge” in campaign literature and at events.

Edmunds has said his use of the word “conservative” is not referring to a political leaning, but rather that he is a constitutional conservative.

“I think judges should be fair and impartial and that’s what I have been,” Morgan said. “One should not espouse a political proclivity at all.”

Morgan, who has been presiding over the challenge in state courts to the N.C. voter ID law, found himself at the center of a political question posed by the conservative Civitas Institute.

A column posted on its website suggested that Morgan should recuse himself from the case, contending that he stood to benefit by having a say in the outcome as a candidate in the November general election and from publicity about the issue.

Morgan checked with the Judicial Standards Commission on whether he had a conflict in keeping that case before signing up as a Supreme Court candidate in “an abundance of caution.” He was told there was no conflict by the commission’s executive director Carolyn Dubay. In a recent interview, Morgan said that had he been politically motivated, he could have made a ruling already in the case and he has not. The case is pending.
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Posted in judicial elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Meet the man at the center of the battle over the Texas voter ID law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86637>
Posted on September 18, 2016 8:33 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86637> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Extensive profile of Texas SOS Carlos Cascos<http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/meet-the-man-at-the-center-of-the-battle-over-the-/nsZnT/>, apparently the only person in Texas without a stated opinion on whether Texas’s voter id law is necessary to stop voter fraud or is really a pretext for suppressing likely Democratic votes:

While polls show that the idea that voters should have to show an ID is broadly popular, the particulars of the Texas law, and the question of how much of a threat voter fraud poses, is increasingly viewed through a partisan lens. Democratic partisans tend to think that Republicans are seeing things, and that they cry fraud as a pretext to suppress voting by folks who are more likely to vote Democratic. Republican partisans tend to think Democrats are turning a blind eye to fraud out of political self-interest.

And Cascos’ take?

“That’s for somebody else to decide. That’s for the A.G. and law enforcement agencies to decide,” Cascos said. “I can tell you that I believe every vote is sacred, every vote is important, every vote means something.”

And, said Cascos, who won his first re-election as county judge by 69 votes in 2010, “for someone to say that there’s not any (fraud), I have seen it first hand, where a friend of mine calls, `Hey, I found out my grandfather’s been voting for the five or six years, but he passed away in 2003.’”

“So there is some of it. How much of it, no one really knows,” he said. “I don’t know that the number is important, but every vote is sacred” and every fraudulent vote “canceled out somebody’s good vote.”
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Donald Trump’s Anything-Goes Campaign Sets an Alarming Political Precedent”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86635>
Posted on September 18, 2016 8:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86635> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important Jonathan Martin NYT news analysis:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/us/politics/donald-trump-presidential-race.html?ref=politics>

In fact, this past week offered a vivid illustration of how little regard Mr. Trump has for the long-held expectations of America’s leaders. He is not only breaking the country’s political norms, he and his campaign aides are now all but mocking them.

Besides using his campaign as a platform to make money on a new hotel, Mr. Trump leveled an untrue assertion that Hillary Clinton<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/hillary-rodham-clinton?8qa> had been the first to claim Mr. Obama was born abroad. He also boasted about his health<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/arts/television/on-dr-oz-trump-offers-placebo-transparency.html>on the show of a daytime television celebrity while releasing just his testosterone levels and a few other details about his well-being.

Mr. Trump also continued to flout 40 years of tradition by refusing to release his tax returns<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/nyregion/donald-trump-tax-breaks-real-estate.html>, a decision that his eldest son admitted this week was not based on an audit, as Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed, but on a desire not to “distract” from the campaign’s “main message.”

Beyond his handling of personal information, he also casually accused the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve of corruption<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/business/economy/fed-interest-rates-lael-brainard.html>, claimed that the bipartisan national debate commission was rigged against him, and stated that Mrs. Clinton had not proposed a child care plan. (She has, and did so a year before he did.)

He also mocked an African-American pastor<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/us/politics/donald-trump-flint-pastor.html> who had just welcomed him to her church, and again referred to Senator Elizabeth Warren<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/elizabeth-warren?8qa> of Massachusetts, who once said she had Native American roots, as “Pocahontas<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/18/us/politics/donald-trump-native-americans.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FWarren%2C%20Elizabeth&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection>.”

And that was all before Friday night, when Mr. Trump hinted at violence against Mrs. Clinton by inviting her Secret Service detail to disarm “and see what happens to her<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html>.”

Routine falsehoods, unfounded claims and inflammatory language have long been staples of Mr. Trump’s anything-goes campaign. But as the polls tighten and November nears, his behavior, and the implications for the country should he become president, are alarming veteran political observers — and leaving them deeply worried about the precedent being set, regardless of who wins the White House.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“In major shift, Koch consolidates network of advocacy groups into Americans for Prosperity”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86633>
Posted on September 17, 2016 12:32 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86633> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Matea Gold for WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/16/in-major-shift-koch-operation-consolidates-network-of-advocacy-groups-into-americans-for-prosperity/?postshare=3071474062298500&tid=ss_tw>

Billionaire Charles Koch is consolidating the array of conservative advocacy groups financed by his donor network, merging all the organizations into the main political arm, Americans for Prosperity, officials announced Friday.

Network leaders cast the surprising move as a way to operate more efficiently and better coordinate their organizing reach on the ground, which has increasingly become the focus of the operation<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/koch-network-focuses-on-senate-races--but-voters-want-to-talk-trump/2016/06/20/e643e2de-349d-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?tid=a_inl>. The change means that three smaller groups that target Latinos, veterans and millennials will now operate as part of AFP. The leaders of the LIBRE Initiative, Concerned Veterans for America and Generation Opportunity are all expected to remain in place, but will be running their organizations as branded projects under the AFP banner….

“We want to grow this into a movement of millions,” said Holden, who is general counsel of Koch Industries. “We’re hopeful to grow more.”

The change comes days after the Koch network announced <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/14/koch-network-moving-away-from-tv-ads-in-final-month-to-double-down-on-ground-game/> it was shifting its focus from television ads to its field program in the final month of the 2016 elections. As of now, the network does not plan to air any commercials after Oct. 4.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

“Prosecutor hadn’t seen some Doe documents”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86631>
Posted on September 17, 2016 12:25 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86631> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting development in WI John Doe investigation reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:<http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/16/prosecutor-hadnt-seen-some-doe-documents/90498108/>

The prosecutor who headed an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign said Friday he had not previously seen some of the probe documents leaked this week, including ones regarding $750,000 in donations from the billionaire owner of a company being sued by people poisoned by lead paint.

The donations by Harold Simmons of NL Industries were made before and after Walker and Republicans in the Legislature passed laws making it tougher<http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/14/report-lead-paint-makers-helped-gov-walker/90349256/> for victims to win such lawsuits.

“I have no recollection of ever seeing anything concerning that,” special prosecutor Francis Schmitz said.

His comments renew questions about how the Guardian US obtained the records. The U.S. arm of the British newspaper this week posted 1,352 pages of documents<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2016/sep/14/john-doe-files-scott-walker-corporate-cash-american-politics> about the probe, including the ones about Simmons’ donations.
The story notes that the state AG and the state Supreme Court did not express concerns about earlier leaks in the case that favored those suing.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“DNC Hacker Is Targeting States Trump Most Needs To Win”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86629>
Posted on September 17, 2016 12:22 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86629> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vocativ reports.<http://www.vocativ.com/359466/guccifer-2-swing-states/>
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Republicans For Clinton Launch Vote Trading Website … Is that Even Legal?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86627>
Posted on September 17, 2016 12:19 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86627> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Law Newz reports.<http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/republicans-for-clinton-launch-vote-trading-website-is-that-even-legal/>
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, vote buying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=43>

“Donald Trump Says Hillary Clinton’s Bodyguards Should Disarm to ‘See What Happens to Her’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86625>
Posted on September 17, 2016 12:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86625> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Chilling NYT lede:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html?&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>

Donald J. Trump once again raised the specter of violence against Hillary Clinton, suggesting Friday that the Secret Service agents who guard her voluntarily disarm to “see what happens to her” without their protection.

“I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in Miami, to loud applause. “I think they should disarm. Immediately.”

He went on: “Let’s see what happens to her. Take their guns away, O.K. It’ll be very dangerous.”

In justifying his remarks, Mr. Trump falsely claimed that Mrs. Clinton wants to “destroy your Second Amendment,” apparently a reference to her gun control policies.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“How a woman’s dead cat was asked to register to vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86623>
Posted on September 16, 2016 7:58 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86623> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Martin Wisckol reports for the OC Register.<http://www.ocregister.com/articles/group-729183-voter-register.html>

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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Some Republicans Acknowledge Leveraging Voter ID Laws for Political Gain”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86621>
Posted on September 16, 2016 7:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86621> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read Michael Wines<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/us/some-republicans-acknowledge-leveraging-voter-id-laws-for-political-gain.html> NYT:

A senior vice president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, Steve Baas, had a thought. “Do we need to start messaging ‘widespread reports of election fraud’ so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number?” he wrote in an email<http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3105957-Prosser.html#document/p6/a317546> on April 6 to conservative strategists. “I obviously think we should.”

Scott Jensen, a Republican political tactician and former speaker of the State Assembly, responded<http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3105957-Prosser.html#document/p6/a317546> within minutes. “Yes. Anything fishy should be highlighted,” he wrote. “Stories should be solicited by talk radio hosts.”

That email exchange, part of documents published by The Guardian on Wednesday with a report<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2016/sep/14/john-doe-files-scott-walker-corporate-cash-american-politics> on Governor Walker’s political operations, was followed by a spate of public rumors of vote-rigging. A month later, legislators passed a state law requiring Wisconsin voters to display one of five types of approved photo IDs before casting ballots.

The Wisconsin statute was part of a wave of voter <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/politics/29vote.html> I<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/politics/29vote.html>D<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/politics/29vote.html> laws<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/us/politics/29vote.html> enacted in the last six years, mostly by Republican-controlled legislatures whose leaders claimed that cheating at the ballot box is a routine occurrence.

Yet academic studies and election-law experts broadly agree that voter fraud is not a widespread problem <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/us/voter-id-laws-donald-trump.html> in American elections. Rather, they say, it is a widespread political tactic used either to create doubt about an election’s validity <http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/2012fraud.asp> or to keep one’s opponents — in most cases, Democratic voters — from casting ballots.

In unguarded moments, some Republican supporters of the laws have been inclined to agree.

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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>

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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