[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/3/17

Wed Aug 2 20:18:10 PDT 2017

AZ Supreme Court Rejects Chamber of Commerce Attempt to Get Court to Apply Single Subject Rule to Voter Initiatives<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94157>
Posted on August 2, 2017 3:53 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94157> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
From the opinion:<http://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Supreme/2017/CV-16-0314-SA%20CORRECTED.pdf>
This Court has long recognized that the Single Subject Rule applies only to acts by the legislature; it does not apply to initiatives. See Citizens Clean Elections Comm’n v. Myers, 196 Ariz. 516, 525 ¶ 36 (2000); Iman v. Bolin, 98 Ariz. 358, 365 (1965); Barth v. White, 40 Ariz. 548, 555-56 (1932). Initiative petitions are governed by the Arizona Constitution, article 4, part 1, § 1, which, as relevant here, requires only that a proposed measure have some title and some text. See Ariz. Const. art. 4, pt. 1, § 1(9); Iman, 98 Ariz. at 365; Barth, 40 Ariz. at 556.
Petitioners ask us to reconsider our prior decisions. They point out that Barth, the genesis for the line of precedent, involved an initiative–proposed constitutional amendment, and other states now favor applying provisions similar to the Single Subject Rule to such initiatives. We decline to revisit our decisions.
The Barth line of cases did not turn on the substance of the initiatives at issue. Indeed, the initiative measures at issue in Citizens Clean Elections Commission and Iman proposed statutory amendments, not constitutional amendments. See Citizens Clean Elections Comm’n, 196 Ariz. at 518 ¶ 2; Iman, 98 Ariz. at 362. This Court’s prior decisions are further supported by the Single Subject Rule’s language and placement within the constitution. The Rule applies to “act[s],” which are enacted by the ARIZONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY, ET AL. V. KILEY (STATE, ET AL.) Opinion of the Court 15 legislature, and does not address initiative or referendum petitions. Cf. Barth, 40 Ariz. at 556 (recognizing that an initiative petition is not an “act”). And the Single Subject Rule is set forth in article 4, part 2 of the constitution, which addresses “The Legislature.”
The Single Subject Rule does not apply.
More at Arizona Capitol Times<http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/08/02/az-supreme-court-gives-citizen-initiatives-wide-berth/>.
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Posted in direct democracy<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>

Federal Court Orders Utah to Include New Political Party Candidate on Congressional Ballot to Replace Jason Chaffetz<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94153>
Posted on August 2, 2017 3:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94153> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Read the order and opinion here<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/utah-tro.pdf>.
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Posted in ballot access<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, third parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>

“Elections watchdog group seeks answers after Georgia drops 590,000 from voter rolls”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94151>
Posted on August 2, 2017 3:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94151> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Mic:<https://mic.com/articles/183253/elections-watchdog-group-seeks-answers-after-georgia-drops-590000-from-voter-rolls?utm_campaign=ckatz+twitter&utm_content=buffer780fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com#.g2uhrestJ>
A watchdog group is pushing the state of Georgia to explain why more than 591,000 people were struck from the voter rolls.
“Each of the 591,548 voters affected by the move had already been on the state’s ‘inactive’ registration list,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<http://www.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-cancels-registration-more-than-591-500-voters/ozSuX227UpNe18YGQ0hYUJ/> reported this week. That means those voters had not cast a ballot, updated their registration or address or responded to efforts to contact them for at least three years.
Let America Vote, an advocacy group run by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, wrote in a Wednesday letter<https://www.letamericavote.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/8-2-17-Public-Records-Request-to-GA-SOS-Kemp.pdf> to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp that federal law doesn’t permit the purge of voters simply for not voting.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Kobach had duty to publicize new voting schedule; it appears that he didn’t”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94149>
Posted on August 2, 2017 3:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94149> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lawrence Journal-World:<http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/aug/01/kobach-drops-ball-publicizing-new-voting-schedule/>
 Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach does not appear to have conducted any public information campaign, as required by law, to publicize the fact that the state recently shifted the election cycle for municipal elections from the spring to the fall of odd-numbered years.
Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew cited that as one possible explanation for why voter turnout in the county was lower than expected on Tuesday, when the first municipal elections took place in Kansas under the new cycle.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

10th Circuit Rejects Kobach Request to Block ACLU Deposition of Him in Voting Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94147>
Posted on August 2, 2017 1:17 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94147> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Order<http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015d-a473-dd39-a75d-aff3bc3a0001> (via Josh Gerstein<http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/08/02/kris-kobach-trump-voter-registration-deposition-241257>).
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Personal Info of 650,000 Voters Discovered on Poll Machine Sold on Ebay”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94145>
Posted on August 2, 2017 7:14 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=94145> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Gizmodo:<http://gizmodo.com/personal-info-of-650-000-voters-discovered-on-poll-mach-1797438462?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow>
When 650 thousand Tennesseans voted in the Memphis area, they probably didn’t expect their personal information would eventually be picked apart at a hacker conference at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.
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Posted in 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
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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