[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/19/17

Sun Jun 18 20:35:07 PDT 2017

“Trump’s silence on Russian hacking hands Democrats new weapon”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93197>
Posted on June 18, 2017 8:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93197> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico:<http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/17/trump-russia-hacking-silence-democrats-239656>
Democrats are uniting behind a simple message about Russian hacking during the 2016 election: Donald Trump doesn’t care.
Even as the president lashes out<http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/16/trump-response-fbi-investigation-239637> at the series of Russia-related probes besieging his administration, Democrats say Trump has yet to express public concern about the underlying issue with striking implications for America’s democracy — the digital interference campaign that upended last year’s presidential race….
And while the White House received bipartisan praise for a cybersecurity executive order Trump signed<http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/11/trump-cyber-executive-order-238273> in May, administration officials said the directive is aimed at broadly upgrading the government’s digital defenses, not thwarting future Russian election hacking.
Instead, Trump tapped<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud.html?_r=0> a commission led by Vice President Mike Pence to investigate an issue that elections experts call vastly overblown — voter fraud, something the the president has baselessly alleged resulted in millions of illegal voters casting ballots for Hillary Clinton in November.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93197&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20silence%20on%20Russian%20hacking%20hands%20Democrats%20new%20weapon%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

What to Watch for in WI Supreme Court Partisan Gerrymandering Order: Order on a Stay<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93195>
Posted on June 18, 2017 8:14 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93195> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
As early as Monday morning, the Court may announce whether it will hear the appeal in Gill v. Whitford, concerning the constitutional challenge to Wisconsin legislative districting as a partisan gerrymander.
I’ll be writing more if/when the Court grants a hearing in the case (and I expect the grant of the hearing almost certainly, though not necessarily Monday).
But once the Court grants a hearing, the question will be whether the Court stays a lower court order requiring the WI legislature to redistrict by November so that there will be new districts ready for 2018. WI has asked for that lower court order to be put on hold until resolution of the case at the Supreme Court, and given the likely timing of things, granting the stay would almost certainly mean the old districts would have to be used for the 2018 elections no matter what the Supreme Court does, as there would be no chance to create new districts.
The granting or denial of a stay requires the Court to weigh many factors, but one of the biggest factors is likelihood of success on the merits. In other words, granting of a stay is a good (but not necessarily great) indication that the Supreme Court would be likely to reverse. That means the stay is a good indication the partisan gerrymander finding of the lower court would be reversed. And a decision to deny the stay (and require WI to draw new districts in the interim) would be a good indication that the lower court finding of a partisan gerrymander will stand (even if the Court does not agree with the particular analysis of the lower Court).
As with many of these things, I expect this comes down to what Justice Kennedy wants to do (assuming he is not retiring at the end of this term)
More tomorrow, if there is an order.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93195&title=What%20to%20Watch%20for%20in%20WI%20Supreme%20Court%20Partisan%20Gerrymandering%20Order%3A%20Order%20on%20a%20Stay>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing: US Election Security: Russian Interventions and the Outlook for 2018 and Beyond<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93193>
Posted on June 18, 2017 7:35 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93193> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Advisory:
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today announced that the Committee will hold an open hearing on June 21st to further examine Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.  The hearing will feature two panels and will focus closely on Russia’s cyber efforts against our election systems in 2016, our response efforts, potential threats to our 2018 and 2020 elections, and how we are postured to protect against those threats.  The first panel will include expert witnesses from DHS and FBI to discuss the intelligence community’s unclassified assessment of the Russian intervention and US Government efforts to mitigate the ongoing threat.  The second panel will include witnesses from the Illinois State Board of Elections, the National Association of State Election Directors, and an expert on election security.

Details
Hearing: US Election Security: Russian Interventions and the Outlook for 2018 and Beyond
Witnesses:

  *   Dr. Sam Liles, Acting Director, Office of Intelligence and Analysis Cyber Division, DHS
  *   Brandon Wales, Director, National Protection and Programs Directorate Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis, DHS
  *   Bill Priestap, Assistant Director, Counterintelligence Division,  FBI
  *   Michael Haas, Midwest Regional Representative, National Association of State Election Directors
  *   Dr. J. Alex Halderman, Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Michigan
  *   Steve Sandvoss, Executive Director, Illinois State Board of Elections

When: Wednesday June 21st, 2017 at 9.30 am Eastern.
Where: Hart Senate Office Building Room 216
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93193&title=Senate%20Intelligence%20Committee%20Hearing%3A%20US%20Election%20Security%3A%20Russian%20Interventions%20and%20the%20Outlook%20for%202018%20and%20Beyond>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“As court scoldings pile up, will Texas face a voting rights reckoning?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93191>
Posted on June 16, 2017 4:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93191> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Texas Tribune considers<https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/16/voter-wars-kickoff/> whether the redistricting and voter id cases will lead to federal courts putting Texas’s voting rules back under federal supervision.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93191&title=%E2%80%9CAs%20court%20scoldings%20pile%20up%2C%20will%20Texas%20face%20a%20voting%20rights%20reckoning%3F%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

NC Appeals Court Rejects Temporary Stay of Change of Elections Board Structure Sought by Gov. Cooper<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93189>
Posted on June 16, 2017 1:49 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93189> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Order.<https://twitter.com/RaleighReporter/status/875814057592442881>
Next stop the state Supreme Court (which has a new Democratic majority)?
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93189&title=NC%20Appeals%20Court%20Rejects%20Temporary%20Stay%20of%20Change%20of%20Elections%20Board%20Structure%20Sought%20by%20Gov.%20Cooper>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“FBI joins investigation at Karen Handel’s house”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93187>
Posted on June 16, 2017 11:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93187> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Despicable<http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/north-fulton-county/breaking-suspicious-package-shuts-down-street-where-karen-handel-lives/533890723>:
Authorities were called to the neighborhood where [GA06 congressional candidate] Karen Handel lives in Roswell after suspicious envelopes were found in mailboxes Thursday afternoon.
Police say Roxburg Drive off Old Alabama Road was shut down for several hours while crews investigated.
At least five homes in the neighborhood received an envelope with a “white powdery substance” in it.
The FBI was called in to take the lead on the investigation.

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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“The Invisibles: The cruel Catch-22 of being poor with no ID”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93184>
Posted on June 16, 2017 8:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93184> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
This important article <https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/what-happens-to-people-who-cant-prove-who-they-are/2017/06/14/fc0aaca2-4215-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.346da5fa02f3> in the Washington Post magazine is not primarily about voter id, but it shows the special burdens faced by some of our poorest citizens in obtaining id.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

--
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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