[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/24/17

[Rick Hasen]

"Trump, Pence allies rake in millions as new Washington lobbyists"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92198>
Posted on April 24, 2017 7:12 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92198> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today reports.
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Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>


Supreme Court Does Nothing Today in North Carolina Voting Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92196>
Posted on April 24, 2017 7:01 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92196> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

No word on the cert petition, the motion to dismiss the cert petition by NC's governor and AG, and the motion to intervene from the NC legislature.

It will probably be relisted for a third time for the next conference, on Friday, with a possible announcement next Monday.

What does the delay mean?  Impossible to say.


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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


Supreme Court Declines to Hear Alabama Campaign Finance Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92194>
Posted on April 24, 2017 6:59 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92194> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Today without noted dissent the Supreme Court denied cert<https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/042417zor_c1o2.pdf>. in Alabama Democratic Conference v. Marshall, a First Amendment campaign finance challenge to Alabama law brought by Democrats (unusual these days). The cert petition (signed by Bob Bauer, Rick Pildes, John Tanner, Ed Still and others is here<http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/16-832-cert-petition.pdf>.)

My theory<https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/election-laws-path-in-the-roberts-courts-first-decade/> is that the Court gets more than enough campaign finance cases coming up on direct appeal from three judge court that it usually is disposed not to take on more that come up from cert. (Decisions not to hear a three-judge court appeal are decisions on the merits, while cert. denials are not.)
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


FL Ethics Board Clears AG Bondi Over Trump Contribution<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92192>
Posted on April 22, 2017 3:54 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92192> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Palm Beach Post:<http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local/ethics-panel-clears-florida-official-over-trump-contribution/3M7c7fQHBWEnn4bTkGIOxL/>

After conducting a probe that included a face-to-face interview with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, the state's ethics commission is throwing out complaints related to Bondi's decision to seek a $25,000 campaign contribution from Donald Trump nearly four years ago.

Bondi asked for - and got - money from Trump's charitable foundation about the same time her office was being asked about a New York investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University. She also received a $500 contribution from his daughter Ivanka Trump the same month.

During a closed-door meeting Friday, the Florida Commission on Ethics concluded there was no probable cause that Bondi violated any state laws, according to Mark Herron, a Tallahassee attorney who represented one of the people who filed a complaint against her.
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Posted in ethics investigations<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42>


Quote of the Day: Donald Trump Voter Fraud Edition<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92190>
Posted on April 21, 2017 6:12 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92190> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

"OK and if anything happens you have my power of attorney and you be sure to vote for Donald Trump for me'."

--Woman's instructions<http://redspringscitizen.com/news/9987/audit-finds-5oo-cases-of-illegal-votes-in-nc> to her daughter in North Carolina to vote her absentee ballot for Trump if she died.
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Posted in absentee ballots<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


"Audit finds 5oo cases of illegal votes in NC; Undermines GOP claims of widespread fraud"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92188>
Posted on April 21, 2017 6:10 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92188> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<http://redspringscitizen.com/news/9987/audit-finds-5oo-cases-of-illegal-votes-in-nc>

North Carolina elections officials found that about 500 ineligible voters cast ballots in the 2016 general election - but not enough to change the outcome of any race, according to an audit released Friday.

The State Board of Elections report said the 508 cases - the vast majority active felons - represented a small fraction of the 4.8 million ballots cast. The report didn't include any evidence of coordinated fraud, and many of the voters claimed to be confused about their eligibility.

The audit's findings contradict Republican claims that voter fraud runs rampant in North Carolina.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


--
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
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

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