[EL] quote of the day

[Smith, Brad]

Linda Greenhouse asks:

Would it be unseemly to suggest that only Justice Scalia’s death has preserved democracy in North Carolina?

Answer: yes. But par for the course.

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 29, 2016, at 11:21 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:

“Wisconsin Is Systematically Failing to Provide the Photo IDs Required to Vote in November”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86979>
Posted on September 29, 2016 8:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86979> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ari Berman:<https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsin-is-systematically-failing-to-provide-the-photo-ids-required-to-vote-in-november/>

Nine percent of registered voters in Wisconsin don’t have a valid voter-ID and many are still struggling to get the documents they need to vote in November. It appears that Wisconsin is violating multiple court orders by not promptly giving eligible citizens free IDs or certificates for voting. This is particularly concerning since early voting<http://host.madison.com/wsj/ap/state/early-voting-begins-in-madison-milwaukee/article_6f4ab162-b750-5f54-ae6b-8b8e9b7c5836.html> began this week in cities like Madison and Milwaukee and thousands of Wisconsinites are casting ballots. …

Wisconsin claims they are doing this. In a legal filing on September 22, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel cited a press release from the Department of Transportation stating, “DMV will now be issuing photo identification receipts no later than six business days from receipt of the petition application.” The Wisconsin Election Commissions issued a similar press release saying, “Free Photo ID for Voting Now Available with One Trip to DMV.” The Wisconsin Attorney General said, “DMV is carefully administering the process to ensure that anyone who is eligible for the IDPP will have a valid ID for the November general election.”

But recordings from the DMV clearly show this is not the case. Molly McGrath, the national campaign coordinate for VoteRiders<http://www.voteriders.org/>, which helps people get voter-IDs, accompanied Moore to the DMV and recorded the trip. Read this exchange between her and DMV employees:

Molly: If you initiate the petition process do you get an ID for voting?

DMV Employee 1: No, you don’t get anything.

DMV Employee 2: No, you don’t get anything right away.

Molly: Ok, so even if we start the petition process, and it takes 8 weeks, he wouldn’t be able to vote.

DMV Employee 1: Right, right, right.

DMV Employee 2: Well, I don’t know, they’re working on that. It’s kind of up in the air right now.

…Molly: I thought you could get an ID, like the sign says over there: ‘No birth certificate, no problem.’ You can get an ID to vote.

DMV Employee 3: You can. It just takes the time.

Molly: So even if we just start the petition process, he wouldn’t get anything temporarily that says you can vote?

DMV Employee 3: Nope. Nope.

Yup, softening of harsh voter id laws in theory does mean they are actually softened in practice.<http://wisconsinlawreview.org/softening-voter-id-laws-through-litigation-is-it-enough/>
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86979&title=%E2%80%9CWisconsin%20Is%20Systematically%20Failing%20to%20Provide%20the%20Photo%20IDs%20Required%20to%20Vote%20in%20November%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“Dems Seek Reversal on Voter Registration Hurdle”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86977>
Posted on September 29, 2016 8:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86977> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Zack Roth:<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/dems-seek-reversal-voter-registration-hurdle-n656026>

High-ranking congressional Democrats are raising more serious concerns about a move by the director of a federal voting agency that made it easier for several red states to require documentary proof of citizenship from people registering to vote.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Rep. Robert A. Brady and Rep. James E. Clyburn urged the Election Assistance Commission in a letter sent Wednesday to formally rescind a change made in January to the instructions on the federal voter registration form for Kansas, Georgia and Alabama, which allowed those states to require citizenship proof….

In their letter, the Democrats lay out the following findings from the investigation they conducted into Newby’s move:

— They say Newby conducted no written analysis or cost-benefit analysis of the move, to ensure that it would result in more ineligible voters being blocked than eligible ones.

— They say that between them, Kansas, Alabama and Georgia offered just one ineligible voter to support their claim that the change was necessary to protect against illegal voting. (Arizona did not seek to have the form changed).

— They say Newby told investigators in an August hearing that he had been unaware until recently that proof of citizenship laws disproportionately impact minority voters — though there’s mountains of evidence<https://lawyerscommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/0019.pdf> to support that conclusion.

— They say Newby told investigators that he was aware that the EAC had twice denied the states’ requests to change the form, but that he “needed to have a point of view” and did not want to “rubber stamp” past precedent.

— They say Newby told investigators that he believed the move to be legal when he carried it out, but that he’s no longer sure.

— They note that on his personal blog, Newby wrote in 2012: “No election administrator has been more in favor of closing the EAC than me.” The letter then notes that he wrote in 2014, “[T]he EAC is now a ‘was,'” thought it does not note that Newby added, “There are a lot of good people doing good work at the EAC.” The following year, he would accept a job as the agency’s executive director. The posts, the lawmakers appear to suggest, potentially raise questions about Newby’s commitment to running an effective and independent agency.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>


“How Russia Wants to Undermine the U.S. Election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86975>
Posted on September 29, 2016 8:14 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86975> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TIME reports<http://time.com/4512771/how-russia-wants-undermine-us-election/>:

The leaders of the U.S. government, including the President and his top national-security advisers, face an unprecedented dilemma. Since the spring, U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies have seen mounting evidence of an active Russian influence operation targeting the 2016 presidential election. It is very unlikely the Russians could sway the actual vote count, because our election infrastructure is decentralized and voting machines are not accessible from the Internet. But they can sow disruption and instability up to, and on, Election Day, more than a dozen senior U.S. officials tell TIME, undermining faith in the result and in democracy itself.

The question, debated at multiple meetings at the White House, is how aggressively to respond to the Russian operation. Publicly naming and shaming the Russians and describing what the intelligence community knows about their activities would help Americans understand and respond prudently to any disruptions that might take place between now and the close of the polls. Senior Justice Department officials have argued in favor of calling out the Russians, and that position has been echoed forcefully outside of government by lawmakers and former top national-security officials from both political parties….

All of which makes Donald Trump’s repeated insertion of himself into the U.S.-Russia story all the more startling. Trump has praised Putin during the campaign, and at the first presidential debate, on Sept. 26, he said it wasn’t clear the Russians were behind the DNC hack. But the U.S. intelligence community has “high confidence” that Russian intelligence services were in fact responsible, multiple intelligence and national security officials tell TIME. Trump was informed of that assessment during a recent classified intelligence briefing, a U.S. official familiar with the matter tells TIME. “I do not comment on information I receive in intelligence briefings, however, nobody knows with definitive certainty that this was in fact Russia,” Trump told TIME in a statement. “It may be, but it may also be China, another country or individual.”
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Donald Trump Pushes Debunked Theory That Google Suppressed Rival’s Bad News”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86973>
Posted on September 29, 2016 8:09 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86973> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/us/politics/google-trump-clinton.html?ref=politics>
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86973&title=%E2%80%9CDonald%20Trump%20Pushes%20Debunked%20Theory%20That%20Google%20Suppressed%20Rival%E2%80%99s%20Bad%20News%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Judge dismisses contest of school board election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86971>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:47 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86971> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A follow up<http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20160927/judge-dismisses-contest-of-school-board-election> from earlier coverage on the blog:

Former Tuscaloosa City Board of Education member Kelly Horwitz has lost her court battle contesting the 2013 election results.

Horwitz claimed that opponent Cason Kirby was unfairly elected by members of the University of Alabama’s Greek organizations that practice bloc voting in campus and local elections….

Some of the people who cast illegal votes and didn’t testify could face felony charges, he said. Of the dozens of people that her legal team subpoenaed to appear in court Tuesday, 41 showed up to testify. Twenty-two testified that they voted for Kirby and six testified that they probably did, saying that they were “85 or 90 percent sure.” A few said they didn’t remember at all, and some invoked their Fifth Amendment right to not provide incriminating testimony….

One woman said that an executive committee member of her sorority asked members to register to vote and encouraged them to vote for Kirby. She said she can’t remember how she voted.

“I genuinely do not remember,” she said. “We were asked to by our sorority and we were told that we were voting for Cason Kirby. I wouldn’t have known anything about the election if they hadn’t said anything. I know I was fed up with being told what to do, it’s possible that I went and voted for the other person. I honestly can’t remember.”

A man who voted for Kirby testified that he and several friends registered to vote using a friend’s address on University Avenue.
“It was stupid and ignorant, and I regret doing it,” he said. “We all filed from his house, I didn’t know it was against the law, but obviously it was.”
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86971&title=%E2%80%9CJudge%20dismisses%20contest%20of%20school%20board%20election%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, recounts<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>


“Big business continues trend toward political transparency”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86969>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86969> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CPI:<https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/09/28/20276/big-business-continues-trend-toward-political-transparency>

Monster Energy’s slogan may be “unleash the beast<http://beginningandend.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Monster-Energy-Drinks-unleash-the-beast.jpg>,” but its parent company appears to suffer from scaredy-cat syndrome when it comes to political transparency.

Corona, California-based Monster Beverage Corp. isn’t alone: about one-in-10 of the nation’s largest companies volunteer almost no information about their politicking, according to a new study on corporate political transparency<http://files.politicalaccountability.net/index/2016_Index.pdf>by the Center for Political Accountability<http://www.politicalaccountability.net/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/870/pid/870>, a nonpartisan transparency advocacy group, and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research<https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/research/research-centers/the-carol-and-lawrence-zicklin-center-for-business-ethics-research/> at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Well-known companies such as Advance Auto Parts Inc., Expedia Inc., M&T Bank Corp., Netflix Inc., Paychex Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc., United Rentals Inc. and Berkshire Hathaway, billionaire Warren Buffett’s holding company, also received zero points on the annual index’s 70-point scale that measures companies’ political disclosure practices and published accountability policies.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Investigators may probe Cascade Mall suspect’s citizenship status, voting record”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86966>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:36 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86966> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

KING5:<http://www.king5.com/news/local/investigators-may-probe-cascade-mall-suspects-citizenship-status-voting-record/327490798>

The Cascade Mall shooting suspect, Arcan Cetin, may face an additional investigation related to his voting record and citizenship status.

Federal sources confirm to KING 5 that Cetin was not a U.S. citizen, meaning legally he cannot vote. However, state records show Cetin registered to vote in 2014 and participated in three election cycles, including the May presidential primary.

Cetin, who immigrated to the United States from Turkey as a child, is considered a permanent resident or green card holder. While a permanent resident can apply for U.S. citizenship after a certain period of time, sources tell KING his status had not changed from green card holder to U.S. citizen.

While voters must attest to citizenship upon registering online or registering to vote at the Department of Licensing Office, Washington state doesn’t require proof of citizenship. Therefore elections officials say the state’s elections system operates, more or less, under an honor system.

“We don’t have a provision in state law that allows us either county elections officials or the Secretary of State’s office to verify someone’s citizenship,” explained Secretary of State Kim Wyman. “So, we’re in this place where we want to make sure we’re maintaining people’s confidence in the elections and the integrity of the process, but also that we’re giving this individual, like we would any voter, his due process. We’re moving forward, and that investigation is really coming out of the investigation from the shootings.”

The penalty for voting as a non U.S. citizen could result in five years of prison time or a $10,000, according to Secretary of State’s Office.
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86966&title=%E2%80%9CInvestigators%20may%20probe%20Cascade%20Mall%20suspect%E2%80%99s%20citizenship%20status%2C%20voting%20record%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>


“Evan Bayh’s Shadow Lobbying”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86964>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:33 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86964> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico reports.<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/how-evan-bayh-lobbied-but-was-never-a-lobbyist-228870>


<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86964&title=%E2%80%9CEvan%20Bayh%E2%80%99s%20Shadow%20Lobbying%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>


“If Trump Disputes the Election, We Have No Good Way Out”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86962>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86962> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ned Foley <http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/donald-trump-2016-rigged-election-214304> for Politico:

But this is not to say that American democracy is immune to allegations of ill-willed vote rigging. Even if Trump said in Monday’s debate that he would support Hillary Clinton “if she wins,” he and his supporters could very well be convinced in their own minds that she did not. Then what happens? Consider Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state and the one I worry most about this year, since it uses electronic voting machines without paper backup. Suppose that on Election Night, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state announces that Clinton has won the state, and with it the presidency, but Trump says, “Prove it.” The secretary of state responds, “That’s what the machines tell us.” Trump responds, “Well, how do I know that the machines weren’t hacked?” What is the secretary of state supposed to say then?

“Trust me” won’t work. Pennsylvania’s secretary of state is a Democrat, appointed by the Democratic governor. We can’t expect any Republican candidate, not just Trump, to trust a Democrat to administer a state’s elections fairly. Remember Katherine Harris, Florida’s secretary of state in 2000? She was a Republican ally of Jeb and George W. Bush, and Democrats back then would not have trusted her to say what time the sun would rise. It would be the height of hypocrisy, with the shoe on the other foot, for Democrats now to claim that a partisan secretary of state was perfectly trustworthy.


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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“How Mitch McConnell Won the Supreme Court Fight”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86959>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:23 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86959> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Joan Biskupic<http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/29/politics/mitch-mcconnell-merrick-garland-scotus/index.html> for CNN.
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86959&title=%E2%80%9CHow%20Mitch%20McConnell%20Won%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20Fight%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“Donald Trump attacks ‘biased’ Lester Holt and accuses Google of conspiracy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86957>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86957> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ben Jacobs<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/29/donald-trump-attacks-biased-lester-holt-and-accuses-google-of-conspiracy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other> for The Guardian:

Trump also introduced a new conspiracy theory to the campaign on Wednesday night when he accused Google of somehow colluding with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. “Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton,” the Republican told a cheering crowd of supporters in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Neither Google nor the Trump campaign responded to requests for comment on this accusation, which seems to stem from a report in Sputnik News, a Russian state propaganda outlet. The reference to Google did not appear to be ad libbed as it was in Trump’s prepared remarks.

Sputnik News is a Kremlin propaganda site.<https://twitter.com/blakehounshell/status/781465995504390144>

Add to this the Florida GOP citing<https://twitter.com/MarcACaputo/status/781342829410971648> to InfoWars on the claim that Hillary Clinton was wearing a secret earpiece during the debate.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


Quote of the Day<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86955>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:20 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86955> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

  I Would it be unseemly to suggest that only Justice Scalia’s death has preserved democracy in North Carolina?

There, I just did.

Linda Greenhouse, NYT, Pondering the Supreme Court’s Future<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/opinion/pondering-the-supreme-courts-future.html>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>


“Trump Fundraising Not All It Appears”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86953>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:17 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86953> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vogel:<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-fundraising-record-not-all-it-appears-228879>

Donald Trump’s campaign was desperate to change the subject after his shaky debate performance on Monday, and it found just the story to do it — a record fundraising surge that Trump says was powered by small donors, proving he actually got a boost from the debate.

But a closer examination of the claims around Trump’s fundraising surge — which the campaign says yielded $18 million in the 24 hours<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-post-debate-fundraising-228805> after the debate through online donations and a big-donor phone bank — suggests the haul might not be quite as significant to Trump as he and his campaign have made it out to be.


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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“Ralph Who?”: “Hillary Clinton Struggles to Win Back Young Voters From Third Parties”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86951>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86951> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/us/politics/hillary-clinton-millennials-third-party.html?_r=0>

The vast majority of millennials were not old enough to vote in 2000, when Ralph Nader ran as the Green Party nominee and, with the strong backing of young voters, helped cost Vice President Al Gore the presidency.

“Ralph who?” said David Frasier, a junior at Charleston Southern University.

“Didn’t he kind of come in at the last minute and kind of alter the votes or something?” Mr. Frasier, 26, asked, his memory barely jogged. “I was too young to remember.”

The Clinton campaign’s biggest problem with young voters could be summed up by Mr. Frasier. He is liberal-minded and voted for Mr. Sanders in the South Carolina primary. But he is not likely to vote for either Mrs. Clinton or Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, both of whom he called “pawns and puppets.”

See my earlier USA Today piece<https://t.co/cefLMbX9xU> on the topic of millenials, third parties, and spoilers.
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Posted in ballot access<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, third parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>


Tweet of the Day: Karl Rove Edition<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86949>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:13 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86949> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here<https://twitter.com/HaLachmaAnya/status/733327336645533697>:
<https://twitter.com/HaLachmaAnya>
 Follow<https://twitter.com/HaLachmaAnya>
<image002.jpg>Anya Gelernt-Dunkle @HaLachmaAnya<https://twitter.com/HaLachmaAnya>

Karl Rove on my NYC-DC @Amtrak<https://twitter.com/Amtrak> train last night. He saw my at OpenSecretsDC<https://twitter.com/OpenSecretsDC> laptop sticker & said "you people are a pain in my ass."

Success.
9:03 AM - 19 May 2016<https://twitter.com/HaLachmaAnya/status/733327336645533697> · Washington, DC, United States<https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A01fbe706f872cb32>
·         <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=733327336645533697>


·         <https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=733327336645533697>
 9797 Retweets<https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=733327336645533697>

·         <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=733327336645533697>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>


“How Unregulated Dark Money Is Reshaping State Politics”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86947>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:11 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86947> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Alan Greenblatt<http://www.governing.com/topics/elections/gov-dark-money-campaign-finance-state-politics.html> for Governing:

Electoral politics has been all but overrun in the past couple of years by 501(c)(4)s and other vehicles that enfeeble the idea of contribution limits and free up outside groups to influence the course of campaigns with virtual anonymity. Now they are being used heavily between election years as well. Incumbent officeholders are finding that 501(c)(4)s, inelegantly named after a section of the tax code, are excellent ways to advance their personal agendas. They may not meet the definition of slush funds, but some of them come close.

Most of these nonprofit groups set up by elected officials outside the election process operate under an entirely different set of rules from those that apply during a campaign. They officially list themselves as social welfare organizations, and most 501(c)(4)s indeed used to be charities set up to advance a specific mission of public benefit — the Sierra Club promoting environmental policies, for instance.

But it turns out that the definition of social welfare can be stretched by these groups to serve purely political purposes. The only formal requirement is that political activity not make up the majority of their work. But that rule is almost never enforced. The IRS not only doesn’t ask 501(c)(4)s for the identities of their contributors, but it also isn’t curious about what the groups are up to. That’s why the media has dubbed such operations as “dark money.”
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86947&title=%E2%80%9CHow%20Unregulated%20Dark%20Money%20Is%20Reshaping%20State%20Politics%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Think you’d never vote for Trump? Think again”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86945>
Posted on September 29, 2016 7:09 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86945> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Debra Saunders:<http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/saunders/article/Think-you-d-never-vote-for-Trump-Think-again-9387956.php?t=d7529f1540&cmpid=twitter-premium>

The political press corps has known Bob Stern as the straight-arrow president of Los Angeles’ Center for Governmental Studies who helped Jerry Brown create the Fair Political Practices Commission in 1974. Since the center closed its L.A. offices in 2011, Stern seems to have developed a devious side — or was it there all along? I ask, because in his November Election course at UCLA extension, Stern managed to set up a scenario wherein a substantial majority — he thinks two-thirds of the class of westside liberals; his wife, Joan, says three-quarters — raised their hands when asked if they could vote for Donald Trump <http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Donald-Trump-and-the-GOP-Primary-of-Horrors-6378015.php> in November.

Cruz or Trump is a great reality check for liberals. To me this is an exceptionally easy choice. But I’ll let you guess where I’d come out.
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86945&title=%E2%80%9CThink%20you%E2%80%99d%20never%20vote%20for%20Trump%3F%20Think%20again%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“Brown should sign campaign bills, strengthen democracy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86943>
Posted on September 28, 2016 3:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86943> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Kathay Feng and Trent Lange SacBee oped<http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article104504126.html>:

California has led the way in a parade of democratic reforms in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that set back voting rights and clean elections.

But two campaign finance reform bills have languished on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. The measures to enhance disclosure of political spending and allow citizen-funded elections should be quickly signed into law, not left to twist in the wind.
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86943&title=%E2%80%9CBrown%20should%20sign%20campaign%20bills%2C%20strengthen%20democracy%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“SEC Secret Money Rider Included in Spending Bill”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86941>
Posted on September 28, 2016 3:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86941> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Common Cause:<http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/sec-secret-money-rider.html>

Corporate shareholders have a right to know how managers are spending their money, especially when it comes to political contributions. And voters have a right to know who is influencing their democracy.

Sen. Mitch McConnell is the obstacle to Americans knowing more about who is buying influence, access, and power in our government. By using must-pass legislation, like funding bills, to prohibit the SEC from even discussing requiring disclosure of corporate political contributions, he personifies the worst in politics – by protecting the interests of wealthy special interests over the people.

While we applaud the inclusion of disaster relief funds for those who desperately need them, we strongly condemn the irresponsible brinksmanship and the forced compromises required when working outside of normal legislative process, all just to keep voters in the dark about corporate political spending. Voters must choose candidates committed to reform, regardless of party, and can learn more about where congressional candidates stand on these democracy reforms atWhoWillFightBigMoney.org<http://www.whowillfightbigmoney.org/>.
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86941&title=%E2%80%9CSEC%20Secret%20Money%20Rider%20Included%20in%20Spending%20Bill%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


Unanimous First Circuit Affirms Ruling that New Hampshire Ballot Selfie Ban Unconstitutional<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86939>
Posted on September 28, 2016 1:14 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86939> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The opinion is here<http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000157-723f-de4f-a777-7b7fd5a80000>.

As I’ve written,<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/08/17/why-the-selfie-is-a-threat-to-democracy/> I strongly disagree with this ruling because I think the ban is narrowly tailored to prevent vote buying and coercion.<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=86873> And there are lots of ways to express oneself besides a photo of a document that can be used to so easily facilitate illegal conduct.

To the Supreme Court?
<image001.png><https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D86939&title=Unanimous%20First%20Circuit%20Affirms%20Ruling%20that%20New%20Hampshire%20Ballot%20Selfie%20Ban%20Unconstitutional&description=>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
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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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