[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/9/17

Thu Feb 9 08:02:44 PST 2017

“Gorsuch Scores Points by Distancing Himself From Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90992>
Posted on February 9, 2017 7:50 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90992> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Tony Mauro<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/home/id=1202778785835?kw=Gorsuch%20Scores%20Points%20by%20Distancing%20Himself%20From%20Trump&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20170209&src=EMC-Email&pt=Daily%20Headlines&slreturn=20170109104659> for the NLJ.
I made similar points last night in this post.<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90981>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90992&title=%E2%80%9CGorsuch%20Scores%20Points%20by%20Distancing%20Himself%20From%20Trump%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Citizens United Lawyer Targets Texas Campaign Finance Laws”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90990>
Posted on February 9, 2017 7:44 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90990> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP reports.<http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/citizens-united-lawyer-targets-texas-campaign-finance-laws-45315857>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90990&title=%E2%80%9CCitizens%20United%20Lawyer%20Targets%20Texas%20Campaign%20Finance%20Laws%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Republican state lawmakers push for restrictions on voting”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90987>
Posted on February 9, 2017 7:34 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90987> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
As predictable<http://wkrn.com/2017/02/09/republican-state-lawmakers-push-for-restrictions-on-voting/> as is it disheartening and demoralizing:
As President Donald Trump hurls unfounded allegations of colossal fraud in last fall’s election, lawmakers in at least 20 mostly Republican-led states are pushing to make it harder to register or to vote.
Efforts are underway in places such as Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska and Indiana to adopt or tighten requirements that voters show photo ID at the polls. There is a move in Iowa and New Hampshire to eliminate Election Day registration. New Hampshire may also make it difficult for college students to vote. And Texas could shorten the early voting period by several days.
Supporters say the measures are necessary to combat voter fraud and increase public confidence in elections. But research has shown that in-person fraud at the polls is extremely rare, and critics of these restrictions warn that they will hurt mostly poor people, minorities and students — all of whom tend to vote Democratic — as well as the elderly.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90987&title=%E2%80%9CRepublican%20state%20lawmakers%20push%20for%20restrictions%20on%20voting%E2%80%9D>
Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Georgia bill would allow ‘scarlet letter’ marking of non-citizen driver’s licenses”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90985>
Posted on February 9, 2017 7:33 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90985> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Guardian<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/09/georgia-non-citizen-drivers-license-immigration> reports.

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90985&title=%E2%80%9CGeorgia%20bill%20would%20allow%20%E2%80%98scarlet%20letter%E2%80%99%20marking%20of%20non-citizen%20driver%E2%80%99s%20licenses%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“As Trump Warns Against Fraud, GOP Votes To Eliminate Election Commission”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90983>
Posted on February 8, 2017 8:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90983> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pam Fessler<http://www.npr.org/2017/02/08/514161156/as-trump-warns-against-fraud-gop-votes-to-eliminate-election-commission?sc=tw> for NPR.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90983&title=%E2%80%9CAs%20Trump%20Warns%20Against%20Fraud%2C%20GOP%20Votes%20To%20Eliminate%20Election%20Commission%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

Judge Gorsuch’s Smart Political Move in Distancing Himself–Just a Bit—from President Trump<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90981>
Posted on February 8, 2017 8:10 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90981> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
In a meeting with Senator Blumenthal, Judge Gorsuch said <http://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/020817.html#070490> he was “demoralized” and “disheartened” by the President’s attack on the judiciary (presumably not only in relation to the current dispute over the executive order on immigration). The statement was not in public, but confirmed by a spokesperson.
This is a smart political move by Judge Gorsuch, and I have little doubt this was strategized and vetted with the team seeking to secure his nomination.
Here’s the calculus: Democrats are going to hammer away at Judge Gorsuch’s hearings on what he thinks of Trump and the rule of law. Simply stonewalling on the issue would not be well received, not only by Democrats on the committee by by the American people. He’s got to give some response.
And this is the perfect response politically. It expresses disappointment with restraint. It is not, as some have said, that the president’s attacks on the judiciary are “dangerous” or “unprecedented” or poised to precipitate a constitutional crisis. This is about the least he could get away with saying while still criticizing. And any more could undermine his standing with the President. So it puts him in the sweet spot.
Now you might say that why would Republicans care about what Democrats and the public think? They have enough votes to force him through, potentially using the “nuclear option” (as urged by the President himself) to eliminate the filibuster.
That’s true, but Republicans would much rather hold their fire. It would look much better if they get some Democratic votes of a Joe Manchin or others. And the nuclear option would make the difficult conditions in the Senate more toxic. There will be more Senate business to conduct, and lots of judgeships and other things coming through the pike. Democrats have little power but they can still make noise and potentially muck with the workings of the Senate.
At the hearings, I expect regardless of how many ways and how many times Democrats ask, Judge Gorsuch will not go much beyond “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” I’m sure those are correct sentiments, but I guess, like most who care about the federal judiciary he feels more strongly than that, and has been counseled to hold his fire.
There is someone else who should speak up for an independent judiciary, and that’s the Chief Justice. I don’t think he will (he did not say anything after the attack on Judge Curiel), but it is the right thing to do.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90981&title=Judge%20Gorsuch%E2%80%99s%20Smart%20Political%20Move%20in%20Distancing%20Himself%E2%80%93Just%20a%20Bit%E2%80%94from%20President%20Trump>
Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“NC voters accused of voter fraud file defamation lawsuit”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90979>
Posted on February 8, 2017 1:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90979> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
News & Observer:<http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article131483254.html>
Four voters in Guilford County have filed a defamation suit against a man who accused them of voter fraud after the November 2016 elections.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Guilford County Superior Court, accuses William Clark Porter IV, a committee chairman for the Guilford Republican Party, with filing post-election protests with the Guilford County elections board that contained inaccurate and defamatory statements. Efforts to reach Porter, a Greensboro resident, were not immediately successful.’
You can read the complaint here<http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=VKAA6jcjimpH7GQU6c%2BJ03eoe12AiHWJKDSwnz%2Bngl2igmNNikfuGVPqCuUSTjk7cbKdu9eGcTF9Vth%2BgIXlY9a4QOOuGDWY&G=0&R=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FVoterDefamation&I=20170208173320.000004c3da00%40mail6-21-ewr&X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjU4OWI1NTY0MmEwNTg3Y2VhODA2NzNlYzs%3D&S=u8bXh5RBDpbDJIOWlHBNof0cdkZx__vyX0FEVIIBf_k>.

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90979&title=%E2%80%9CNC%20voters%20accused%20of%20voter%20fraud%20file%20defamation%20lawsuit%E2%80%9D>
Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

--
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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