[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/13/17

Thu Jan 12 21:11:13 PST 2017

“Lawmakers Racing to Fix Gaping Hole in Utah Election Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90473>
Posted on January 12, 2017 9:05 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90473> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Utah Policy:<http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/features/today-at-utah-policy/11997-lawmakers-racing-to-fix-gaping-hole-in-utah-election-law>
A fight over Utah election law could roil the first few weeks of the 2017 Utah Legislature.
Speculation is swirling that Rep. Chris Stewart could be named Secretary of the Air Force in the Donald Trump administration. If that comes to pass, Stewart would have to resign his seat in Congress, leaving a vacancy.
Here’s where that becomes a problem. Utah has no procedure for filling a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. State law only says in the case of a vacancy in that body<http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title20A/Chapter1/20A-1-S502.html>, “When a vacancy occurs for any reason in the office of a representative in Congress, the governor shall issue a proclamation calling an election to fill the vacancy.” That’s it. The law does not specify how soon he has to call the election, and how that election will be conducted.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90473&title=%E2%80%9CLawmakers%20Racing%20to%20Fix%20Gaping%20Hole%20in%20Utah%20Election%20Law%E2%80%9D>
Posted in legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>

“Wichita lawmaker seeks to rein in Kobach’s prosecution powers”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90471>
Posted on January 12, 2017 9:03 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90471> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Wichita Eagle:<http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article125310489.html>
A Wichita state representative has filed a bill to strip Secretary of State Kris Kobach of his authority to prosecute election crimes.
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said allowing Kobach to bring criminal cases has not uncovered evidence of illegal immigrant voting fraud, which was a big part of Kobach’s pitch when the Legislature granted him prosecutorial power in 2015.
“Since that time, he has commenced approximately 10 of those prosecutions, all of them against United States citizens and in virtually every instance, against folks who made mistakes in casting their ballots,” Carmichael said. “Some of these cases have since been dismissed … as unfounded, and a handful more have resulted in minimal fines against otherwise law-abiding citizens….
“Evidently Mr. Carmichael thinks people who vote twice should not be penalized,” Kobach said in the statement. “He is wrong.”
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90471&title=%E2%80%9CWichita%20lawmaker%20seeks%20to%20rein%20in%20Kobach%E2%80%99s%20prosecution%20powers%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Trump Tweet About L. L. Bean Underscores Potential Danger for Brands”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90469>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:59 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90469> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/linda-bean-ll-bean-boycott.html?ref=politics>
With a single tweet on Thursday, President-elect Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per> pulled L. L. Bean, the Maine retailer known for its boots, jackets and preppy New England aesthetic, back into a political crossfire.
The company was already facing a boycott from liberal customers after reports that Linda Bean, a granddaughter of the company’s founder, had donated thousands of dollars to a political action committee that supported Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. The donations turned out to be illegal.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90469&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%20Tweet%20About%20L.%20L.%20Bean%20Underscores%20Potential%20Danger%20for%20Brands%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Alexandria voter registration worker convicted of submitting fake names”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90467>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:56 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90467> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<http://www.richmond.com/news/national-world/ap/article_660e7856-cb6a-5d56-a2dc-85f678f4f171.html>
An Alexandria man has been convicted of submitting bogus voter-registration forms while working for a progressive advocacy group….Porter said the chances that the bogus applications could have enabled actual voter fraud were minimal because the submitted names were fabricated.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90467&title=%E2%80%9CAlexandria%20voter%20registration%20worker%20convicted%20of%20submitting%20fake%20names%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“First New Yorker prosecuted for voter fraud since 1873 exonerated in 20-year legal battle”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90465>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:49 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90465> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYDN:<http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/n-y-attorney-exonerated-voter-fraud-charges-brooklyn-article-1.2945041>
The first New Yorker prosecuted for voter fraud since Susan B. Anthony in 1873 was exonerated of all charges Thursday to end a bitter 20-year legal battle.
“It feels great,” said attorney John O’Hara as he left Brooklyn Supreme Court. “When you’re a convicted felon, it’s like you’re a second-class citizen. We are going to go have a chicken quesadilla.”
O’Hara’s protracted fight for vindication ended when the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit looked at his case and reversed his voter fraud conviction.
O’Hara, a political outsider and thorn in the side of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, long claimed that his prosecution by then-DA Charles J. Hynes was politically motivated.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90465&title=%E2%80%9CFirst%20New%20Yorker%20prosecuted%20for%20voter%20fraud%20since%201873%20exonerated%20in%2020-year%20legal%20battle%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

Potentially Good News in Iowa: “Voter ID plan isn’t aimed at election fraud, Pate says”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90463>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:46 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90463> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Des Moines Register<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/12/voter-id-plan-isnt-aimed-election-fraud-pate-says/96504508/>:
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on Thursday defended his new voter identification proposal as an effort to improve administrative efficiency — not to prevent fraud or disqualify voters.
And he said he’d oppose any efforts by state lawmakers to expand the plan to include a more controversial photo-ID requirement for voters….
Iowa voters would be required to show a state-issued driver’s license, a passport or military ID card when they vote, allowing poll workers to scan a bar code on that document to accurately call up each voter’s file in the state database.
Should the law be enacted, election officials would identify all currently registered voters and new registrants who do not have appropriate ID and provide them a free, permanent, driver’s license-quality voter card containing the necessary bar code. The card would not include a photo.
No currently registered voters would risk disqualification under the plan, Pate said, and all new registrants without other ID would receive a free card. Voters who come to the poll without an ID card would vote a provisional ballot.
Pate said he’s abandoned a campaign pledge to enact photo identification requirements for voters and would fight legislative efforts to expand his proposal to include it.
“I have evolved,” Pate said. “What I want at the end of the day is the cleanest and best list to make sure everybody is eligible without imposing a lot of burden on the voter
Huh.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90463&title=Potentially%20Good%20News%20in%20Iowa%3A%20%E2%80%9CVoter%20ID%20plan%20isn%E2%80%99t%20aimed%20at%20election%20fraud%2C%20Pate%20says%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“FEC Deadlocks on New Rules Against Foreign Campaign Money”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90461>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90461> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg BNA<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=103315560&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0k7g8f8e3&split=0>:
Proposals to write new Federal Election Commission rules aimed at preventing foreign campaign money from influencing U.S. elections led to a deadlock between Democratic and Republican commissioners at the FEC’s first meeting in 2017.
FEC Democrats said the agency should clamp down on a possible threat of foreign campaign money, in a contentious debate set against a backdrop of wider concerns about foreign interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Republican commissioners responded that recent intelligence reports of Russian involvement in computer hacking and online campaign messaging had nothing to do with the campaign finance rules administered by the FEC.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90461&title=%E2%80%9CFEC%20Deadlocks%20on%20New%20Rules%20Against%20Foreign%20Campaign%20Money%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Justice Dept. Seeks to Join Suit Over 117,000 Purged Brooklyn Voters”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90459>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:28 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90459> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/nyregion/board-of-elections-brooklyn-votes.html?hpw&rref=nyregion&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well>
The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it had filed a motion to join a lawsuit against the New York City Board of Elections, alleging that the board’s Brooklyn office violated federal voter registration law by erasing more than 117,000 Brooklyn voters<https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/nyregion/routine-voter-purge-is-cited-in-brooklyn-election-trouble.html> from the rolls before the primary election simply because they had not voted in previous elections.
The filing accused the board of failing to take several steps that are normally required before a voter’s name is removed, and also raised concerns about how the board oversaw the Brooklyn office’s handling of the voter rolls.
Interesting timing. As I told Newsweek,<http://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-shift-priorities-voting-rights-act-elections-541987> I expect a lot of DOJ reversals on voting litigation decisions come the new administration.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90459&title=%E2%80%9CJustice%20Dept.%20Seeks%20to%20Join%20Suit%20Over%20117%2C000%20Purged%20Brooklyn%20Voters%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, NVRA (motor voter)<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>

“Election Data and Science Lab Launches at MIT”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90456>
Posted on January 12, 2017 1:47 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90456> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<http://electionlab.mit.edu/news/election-data-and-science-lab-launches-mit>
The MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) will generate, advance, and disseminate scientific knowledge in an effort to develop a comprehensive evidence base about the conduct of elections in order to improve their performance.
Founded by Charles Stewart III, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science, the Lab will address multiple audiences of academic researchers, election practitioners, and the general public.  It will serve a unique and independent role as it applies scientific principles to empirical questions about the administration of American elections.
“My hope for this Lab is that it will serve as an international, non-partisan resource for housing the expertise and evidence necessary to inform improvements of elections,” said Professor Stewart. “In the midst of a policy area that has become hyper-politicized, we hope to provide a counterbalance of hard evidence and analytical thinking.   And, we look forward to bringing together communities in the election administration debate who often talk past each other, by offering an evidence-rich focal point of discussion.“
Good luck Charles and Co.!
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90456&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20Data%20and%20Science%20Lab%20Launches%20at%20MIT%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Trump Justice Department Likely to Shift Approach to Voting Rights”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90454>
Posted on January 12, 2017 1:29 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90454> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Newsweek reports.<http://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-shift-priorities-voting-rights-act-elections-541987>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90454&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%20Justice%20Department%20Likely%20to%20Shift%20Approach%20to%20Voting%20Rights%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Department of Justice<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

Profs Amicus Brief Seeking #SCOTUS Review in Independence Institute Campaign Disclosure Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90452>
Posted on January 12, 2017 8:36 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90452> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Prominent<http://www.campaignfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/II-Amicus_-Law-Profs.pdf> conservative and libertarian profs on this one.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D90452&title=Profs%20Amicus%20Brief%20Seeking%20%23SCOTUS%20Review%20in%20Independence%20Institute%20Campaign%20Disclosure%20Case>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

--
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/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20170113/a4a3abe1/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2021 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20170113/a4a3abe1/attachment.png>