[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/21/17

Wed Jun 21 09:07:28 PDT 2017

Corrected link for my Texas Standard interview on partisan gerrymandering: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/supreme-courts-partisan-gerrymandering-case-could-have-texas-implications/

From: Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 9:32 PM
To: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: ELB News and Commentary 6/21/17

“Is North Carolina the Future of American Politics?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93251>
Posted on June 20, 2017 9:25 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93251> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Jason Zengerle<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/magazine/is-north-carolina-the-future-of-american-politics.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront> for NYT magazine:
In just a few years, North Carolina Republicans have not just run quickly through the conservative policy checklist; they’ve tried to permanently skew the balance of power in the state in their favor, passing some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country and drawing some of the most egregiously gerrymandered congressional and state legislative districts in modern American politics (though their moves have repeatedly failed to pass muster with the courts). Cooper’s victory, and the blowback to H.B. 2 that preceded it, seemed to suggest a chastening of the party — until Republicans contested the election results with a series of baseless allegations of voter fraud and legal challenges that left the state in limbo for four weeks before McCrory finally conceded.
Then, before Cooper was even sworn in, the General Assembly — in which Republicans had retained their decisive majority in November — tried to strip him of many of his executive powers. Cooper, in turn, sued the Republican leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives to gain back those powers. What began as a grudge match now looks more like a free-for-all — and nobody’s partisans, as the Air Horn Orchestra informed Cooper in March, are in the mood for compromise. “It’s more polarized and more acrimonious than I’ve ever seen,” Carter Wrenn, a veteran North Carolina Republican political consultant, told me. “And I’ve seen some pretty acrimonious politics,” he hastened to add. “I worked for Jesse Helms.”
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93251&title=%E2%80%9CIs%20North%20Carolina%20the%20Future%20of%20American%20Politics%3F%E2%80%9D>
Posted in The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Some States Beat Supreme Court to Punch on Eliminating Gerrymanders”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93249>
Posted on June 20, 2017 7:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93249> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/us/politics/some-states-beat-supreme-court-to-punch-on-eliminating-gerrymanders.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront>
California is the largest of a handful of states that are trying to minimize the partisanship in the almost invariably political act of drawing district lines. California has handed that task to the independent and politically balanced California Citizens Redistricting Commission, and Arizona has a somewhat similar commission. Florida has amended its Constitution to forbid partisanship in drawing new districts. Iowa has offloaded the job to the nonpartisan state agency that drafts bills and performs other services for legislators.
The trend has gained momentum in states like Oregon and Ohio, where voters have approved a new commission for redistricting for state seats — but not those in the House of Representatives — in 2021….
But if the impact of partisan gerrymandering is disputed, few doubt that the naked political calculations common in many states can be improved. In California, boundaries are drawn in open meetings, not behind closed doors, and are explained in a handbook. And the line drawers are not politicians but citizens who must write four essays, ace a 90-minute interview and clear a gantlet of background checks and ethics prohibitions to be considered for a seat.
The result, Mr. Forbes said, is that “there aren’t any crazy districts that grab a population that makes no sense.”
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93249&title=%E2%80%9CSome%20States%20Beat%20Supreme%20Court%20to%20Punch%20on%20Eliminating%20Gerrymanders%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Court may rule on partisan gerrymandering – but maybe not”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93247>
Posted on June 20, 2017 1:05 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93247> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lyle Denniston:<http://lyldenlawnews.com/2017/06/19/court-may-rule-partisan-gerrymandering-maybe-not/>
Although the court did not explain its willingness to schedule a hearing at the same time that it voted to block the lower court ruling in the meantime, its actions on Monday were not favorable to the challengers of the Wisconsin plan.
One of the factors that the court considers in putting a lower court ruling on hold is whether there is a fairly good chance that the lower court will be overturned, when a decision is made by the Justices.  It takes five votes to issue such a postponement.   On Monday, it was clear that these Justices favored that action, although the order did not name them explicitly; Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas….
In postponing until its hearing the issue of whether the court actually has jurisdiction to make a final decision for or against the partisan claim, the Justices did not say what that procedural hurdle might be.
Among the possibilities is that the question of whether a partisan gerrymander lawsuit can efen be filed is a question of whether the issue is “justiciable” – that is, capable of being decided by a court.  A non-justiciable dispute is beyond court authority.
There also are questions, in this particular case, on whether a court may hear a challenge to a redistricting plan based upon a claim of partisan gerrymandering if the challenge is statewide, and not district-by-district, and on whether the state’s Republican leaders had been denied any chance to defend their plan under the formula that the lower court had only disclosed in announcing its final decision.  Whether those are questions of “jurisdiction” is unclear.
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93247&title=%E2%80%9CCourt%20may%20rule%20on%20partisan%20gerrymandering%20%E2%80%93%20but%20maybe%20not%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

Mississippi: “Gaming the system: Absentee votes often pivotal in local elections”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93245>
Posted on June 20, 2017 12:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93245> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Interesting phenomenon<http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=58734>; misleading headline.
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93245&title=Mississippi%3A%20%E2%80%9CGaming%20the%20system%3A%20Absentee%20votes%20often%20pivotal%20in%20local%20elections%E2%80%9D>
Posted in absentee ballots<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“How 2 academics got the Supreme Court to reexamine gerrymandering”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93243>
Posted on June 20, 2017 12:53 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93243> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Vox<https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/19/15831640/supreme-court-gerrymandering-wisconsin> on McGhee/Stephanopoulos’s efficiency gap.
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93243&title=%E2%80%9CHow%202%20academics%20got%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20to%20reexamine%20gerrymandering%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Supreme Court’s Partisan Gerrymandering Case Could Have Texas Implications”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93240>
Posted on June 20, 2017 11:35 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93240> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here’s a radio interview <http://www.npr.org/2017/06/20/533637643/despite-nsa-claim-election-vendor-denies-system-was-compromised-in-hack-attempt?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social> I did with Texas Standard.
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93240&title=%E2%80%9CSupreme%20Court%E2%80%99s%20Partisan%20Gerrymandering%20Case%20Could%20Have%20Texas%20Implications%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Despite NSA Claim, Elections Vendor Denies System Was Compromised In Hack Attempt”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93238>
Posted on June 20, 2017 11:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93238> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pam Fessler for NPR<http://www.npr.org/2017/06/20/533637643/despite-nsa-claim-election-vendor-denies-system-was-compromised-in-hack-attempt?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social>.

[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93238&title=%E2%80%9CDespite%20NSA%20Claim%2C%20Elections%20Vendor%20Denies%20System%20Was%20Compromised%20In%20Hack%20Attempt%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

Talking Partisan Gerrymandering with Josh Douglas on Bloomberg Law Radio<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93236>
Posted on June 20, 2017 7:34 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93236> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Listen<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2017-06-20/bloomberg-law-brief-high-court-takes-on-voting-case-audio> with hosts June Grasso and Greg Stohr.
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93236&title=Talking%20Partisan%20Gerrymandering%20with%20Josh%20Douglas%20on%20Bloomberg%20Law%20Radio>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“I voted against ranked-choice voting. But I don’t support repealing the law.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93234>
Posted on June 20, 2017 7:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93234> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Michael Carpenter oped.<http://bangordailynews.com/2017/06/20/opinion/contributors/i-voted-against-ranked-choice-voting-but-i-dont-support-repealing-the-law/?ref=regionstate>
[are]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D93234&title=%E2%80%9CI%20voted%20against%20ranked-choice%20voting.%20But%20I%20don%E2%80%99t%20support%20repealing%20the%20law.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>

--
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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