[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/15/17

Sun Jan 15 08:40:48 PST 2017

“Democrats already are trying to get out the vote for 2020”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90498>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:37 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90498> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ariane de Vogue<http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/14/politics/voting-wars-democrats-2020/index.html> for CNN:
Even before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, top Democrats — including President Barack Obama — are already launching efforts to reshape the electoral landscape.
Faced with a stinging loss at the polls, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court and an incoming attorney general who testified this week about the dangers of voter fraud, Democrats are starting early to change the legal terrain in four years.
On Thursday, former Attorney General Eric Holder vowed, jokingly, “to make redistricting sexy.” The comments came at a news conference held to launch a new group called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Holder said Obama has told him that he wants to dedicate a part of his post administration life to the issue.
The plans discussed are two-fold: a comprehensive redistricting strategy ahead of the 2020 census and new efforts to combat laws that progressives believe are veiled attempts to suppress the vote.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“‘All Talk, No Action,’ Says Trump, in Twitter Attack on a Civil Rights Icon”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90496>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:33 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90496> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/us/politics/john-lewis-donald-trump.html?ref=politics>
 On Friday, Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, declared that he did not view Donald J. Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/donald-trump?inline=nyt-per> as a “legitimate president.” Mr. Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, said he planned to boycott the inauguration, the first he will skip in three decades.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump hit back.
“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results,” Mr. Trump said in a pair<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820251730407473153> of early morning Twitter posts<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820255947956383744>.
“All talk, talk, talk — no action or results,” he added. “Sad!”
While some questioned Mr. Lewis’s assertion, many others expressed indignation about Mr. Trump’s outburst, pointing out the unseemliness of attacking a civil rights leader on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mr. Lewis was one of the original Freedom Riders, beaten by police officers while marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.
WaPo: Trump-Lewis feud could be harbinger of new round of hyper-partisanship<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-lewis-feud-could-be-harbinger-of-new-round-of-hyper-partisanship/2017/01/14/f72db5a2-da8d-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html?utm_term=.312280fe6e1b>
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Republican group makes record $5 million bet on Virginia governor’s race”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90494>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90494> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/republican-group-makes-record-5-million-bet-on-virginia-governors-race/2017/01/14/44ea236a-d9e5-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html?utm_term=.203637892fa2>
The Republican Governors Association just wrote a $5 million check — the largest single political donation in Virginia’s history — with the goal of putting a Republican in the governor’s mansion.
The whopping contribution suggests Republicans like their odds in the commonwealth, one of just two states to hold governor’s races this year. But the structure of the donation would allow the RGA to take the money back if that outlook changes.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Trump aide Reince Priebus warns ethics chief to ‘be careful’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90492>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:25 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90492> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/15/trump-aide-reince-priebus-to-ethics-chief-be-careful/?utm_term=.9270bd5bf131>
Donald Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff warned the director of the Office of Government Ethics on Sunday to “be careful” about criticizing Trump’s handling of his business conflicts.
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Posted in conflict of interest laws<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>, ethics investigations<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42>

“Few cases, many questions characterize Kobach’s war on voter fraud”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90490>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90490> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports.<http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-01-14/few-cases-many-questions-characterize-kobach-s-war-voter-fraud>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Is 2017 The Year New York Election Law Makes The Grade?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90488>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:18 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90488> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WNYC<http://www.wnyc.org/story/2017-year-new-york-election-makes-grade/>:
The way New York runs its elections is facing scrutiny. One day after the Justice Department intervened in a lawsuit<http://www.wnyc.org/story/justice-department-board-of-elections-violated-viting-rights> against the New York City Board of Elections for breaking federal law, a good government group is grading New York on the health of its state election law.
In report to be released Friday, Common Cause New York gave the state a D-minus for election administration — not quite a failing grade, but barely a passing one.
The grade is based on the group’s analysis of how well the state meets the reform recommendations made by a bipartisan presidential commission<https://www.supportthevoter.gov/> appointed after the 2012 election. It also compares New York to other states and examines what bills state legislators have introduced — and how many fail to make it out of committee.
“[Lawmakers] are not at all dealing with the demands of 21st century elections,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

Read Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Motion to Dismiss in Alabama Felon Disenfranchisement Case<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90486>
Posted on January 15, 2017 8:02 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90486> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The case is Thompson v. Alabama<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/case/thompson-v-alabama> and the brief is here<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/sites/default/files/Thompson%20v.%20Alabama%20Brief%20-%20Opposition%20to%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf>.
Keep your eye on this suit.
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Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

“FEC Deadlocks on Case of 501(c)(4) Group Touting Rubio”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90484>
Posted on January 13, 2017 6:40 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90484> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg BNA:<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/display/link_res.adp?linktype=email&fname=a0k7h8h5p2&emc=mpdm:mpdm:che>
A nonprofit organization that sponsored more than $1 million worth of television ads highlighting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in early presidential primary states won’t be subjected to enforcement action by the Federal Election Commission after the commissioners deadlocked in a party-line vote on an enforcement complaint.

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

Election Experts’ Letter to Senator Graham on Investigating Cyberhacking<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90482>
Posted on January 13, 2017 6:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90482> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Some important folks in the field signing this letter<https://www.scribd.com/document/336463904/Experts-Letter-to-Lindsey-Graham-20170113>:
 We enthusiastically support your dedicated leadership efforts to investigate thec ybersecurity vulnerabilities in our country’s 2016 election process. We are a group of volunteer election systems technical experts and citizen advocates for secure and transparent elections. The purpose of our letter is to encourage you to expand the scope of your inquiries to include vulnerable elements of the election system that are being overlooked in the public discussions.
There is a very common misunderstanding that voting systems are not vulnerable and that it would be difficult to alter election outcomes. This meme has been repeated in
many public forums….
The significant cybersecurity weaknesses in our election system are well known to many computer security professionals as well as unfriendly nations and domestic criminals. Yet federal, state, and private monitoring, analysis, and oversight to protect the very foundation of our democracy is minimal.Even while the Department ofHomeland Security made its services available to election jurisdictions nationwide in the  pre-election period, to our knowledge they were not examining voting and vote tallyingsystems for vulnerabilities, but rather scanning voter registration databases and systems for breaches.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

Supreme Court, Granting 16 Cases, Says Nothing About Texas Voter ID Case: Tea Leaves<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90480>
Posted on January 13, 2017 11:44 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90480> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here <https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011317zr_q8l1.pdf> is today’s Court’s order.
What does it mean that there was no order on Texas, despite the fact that the cases was considered and then relisted from last week?
It could mean that as early as Tuesday (when the Court is expected to issue more orders), there will be an order denying hearing in the case. That would keep the case on track in the district court, to both consider whether Texas acted with racially discriminatory intent and to fashion a more permanent remedy in the case.
But sometimes cases are relisted multiple times before the Court does something (that something could be an eventual grant, a denial, a denial with a dissent, etc.)
One possibility is that the Court delayed so that there’s less chance the case would be heard by an 8-Justice Court, where the Court could well divide 4-4 in a case like this.
So we will have to wait and see.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

Ned Foley Comes Out Big for Instant Runoff Voting in Presidential Elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90477>
Posted on January 13, 2017 8:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90477> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
New column:<http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/election-law/article/?article=13377>
            It is greatly regrettable that states did not adopt this electoral change previously. But as there is no constitutional obstacle to their doing so, we can only hope that they muster the political will to make this change sometime soon—preferably before 2020. For anyone concerned about the health of American democracy in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, this reform is worth rallying around. Given the power of the presidency, and thus the importance of the office, we should make sure that the candidate who wins the Electoral College is the one actually preferred by a majority of voters in each state necessary for that Electoral College victory.
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Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Ryan Calls Trump Lobbying Ban Proposal ’Dangerous’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90475>
Posted on January 13, 2017 7:59 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=90475> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Roll Call reports. <http://www.rollcall.com/news/ryan-calls-trump-lobbying-ban-proposal-dangerous?utm_name=newsletters&utm_source=rollcallheadlines&utm_medium=email>
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Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

--
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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