[EL] “In Virginia, a 11,608-to-11,607 Lesson in the Power of a Single Vote” was Re: ELB News and Commentary 12/20/17

[Robbin Stewart]

I wonder if there are 1 or more Voter-ID provisional ballots that could
swing this the other way. If so, who would bring it up? The GOP might not
want to argue voter ID might have cost them the election. The democrats
might not want to risk losing the seat. As applied to these ballots, does
virginia's voter ID hold up, or could an as-applied challenge to have a few
more votes get counted, go anywhere?


>
> *“In Virginia, a 11,608-to-11,607 Lesson in the Power of a Single Vote”
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96501>*
>
> Posted on December 19, 2017 5:10 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96501>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Trip Gabriel
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/19/us/virginia-house-of-delegates-single-vote.html?_r=0>for
> the NYT:
>
> *The Democratic wave that rose on Election Day in Virginia last month
> delivered a final crash on the sand Tuesday when a Democratic challenger
> defeated a Republican incumbent by a single vote, leaving the Virginia
> House of Delegates evenly split between the two parties.*
>
> *The victory by Shelly Simonds, a school board member in Newport News, was
> a civics lesson in every-vote-counts as she won 11,608 to 11,607 in a
> recount conducted by local election officials.*
>
> *Ms. Simonds’s win means a 50-50 split in the State House, where
> Republicans had clung to a one-seat majority after losing 15 seats last
> month in a night of Democratic victories up and down the ballot, which were
> widely seen as a rebuke to President Trump. Republicans have controlled the
> House for 17 years….*
>
> *It was one of several recounts Democrats pursued after narrow Republican
> victories in House races on Election Day. Before Tuesday, the others had
> broken for Republicans, but Democrats are still contesting one race with an
> 82-vote margin in a district where 147 people received the wrong ballots. A
> lawsuit requesting a new election is in the courts. If the Democratic
> candidate, Joshua Cole, somehow ends up the victor, that would give his
> party a 51-49 majority in the House.*
>
> [image: are]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D96501&title=%E2%80%9CIn%20Virginia%2C%20a%2011%2C608-to-11%2C607%20Lesson%20in%20the%20Power%20of%20a%20Single%20Vote%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *FEC Commissioner Weintraub Statement on Ongoing Litigation to Stop FEC
> from Revealing Identity of Those Found to Have Illegally Hid Names of
> Contributors <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96495>*
>
> Posted on December 19, 2017 4:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96495>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Troubling:
> <http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/ELW-SOR-MUR-6920.pdf>
>
> COVER LETTER TO THE STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER ELLEN L. WEINTRAUB IN MUR
> 6920 (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION)
>
> DECEMBER 19, 2017
>
> *Due to pending litigation, I must take the unprecedented step of
> releasing the attached statement with the identities of certain persons and
> entities redacted. As can be seen from my statement and the third General
> Counsel’s Report, these were not incidental witnesses swept up in the
> agency’s probe, but rather key players in the scheme the Commission
> unanimously found to have violated the law against making contributions in
> the name of another.*
>
> *After engineering an intricate plot to defeat the public’s interest in
> knowing who was actually behind a $1.7 million political contribution, the
> plaintiffs are now taking the extraordinary step of suing the Commission to
> force us to continue to hide their identities.1 I am looking forward to the
> expeditious resolution of this litigation with a ruling in the FEC’s favor
> that will allow me to reissue my statement unredacted.*
>
> *The public has the right to know as much as this agency was able to
> determine about who was trying to influence the election with this huge
> contribution. Likely the beneficiaries of their largesse already do.*
>
> [image: are]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D96495&title=FEC%20Commissioner%20Weintraub%20Statement%20on%20Ongoing%20Litigation%20to%20Stop%20FEC%20from%20Revealing%20Identity%20of%20Those%20Found%20to%20Have%20Illegally%20Hid%20Names%20of%20Contributors>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal
> election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Every Vote Counts Dept: Democrat Ahead by One Vote in Va. House of
> Delegates Recount, Creating Possibility of 50-50 Legislative Split
> <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96493>*
>
> Posted on December 19, 2017 12:51 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96493>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
>
>
> [image: ttps://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1506880668/TOP_bigger.jpg]*Max
> Smith*@amaxsmith <https://twitter.com/amaxsmith>
>
> NEW: Final tally submitted to 3-judge panel would see #HD94
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/HD94?src=hash> flip to Dem, mean 50-50 split
> in Va House https://wtop.com/virginia/2017/12/recount-set-
> begin-virginias-tightest-house-race/ … <https://t.co/tNEqiEpjkM>
> https://twitter.com/jwpascale/status/943220922508509184 …
> <https://t.co/o9PdNOid8D>
>
> 12:47 PM - Dec 19, 2017
> <https://twitter.com/amaxsmith/status/943221344224804865>
>
> [image:
> ttps://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/943178899252375553/8Pj01J76?format=jpg&name=144x144_2]
> <https://t.co/tNEqiEpjkM>
>
> *Recount set to begin for Virginia's tightest House race - WTOP
> <https://t.co/tNEqiEpjkM>*
>
> Election officials in Newport News on Tuesday will rescan ballots cast in
> the 94th District. It's one of four recounts that were scheduled following
> extremely close House races this year. <https://t.co/tNEqiEpjkM>
>
> wtop <https://t.co/tNEqiEpjkM>[image: are]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D96493&title=Every%20Vote%20Counts%20Dept%3A%20Democrat%20Ahead%20by%20One%20Vote%20in%20Va.%20House%20of%20Delegates%20Recount%2C%20Creating%20Possibility%20of%2050-50%20Legislative%20Split>
>
>
>
>
>
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