[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/24/17

Thu Mar 23 19:23:56 PDT 2017

“Democrats Plan to Filibuster to Thwart Gorsuch Nomination”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91782>
Posted on March 23, 2017 7:21 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91782> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/us/politics/democrats-filibuster-neil-gorsuch-nomination.html?ref=politics>
Senate Democrats on Thursday vowed to filibuster<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/filibusters_and_debate_curbs/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> the Supreme Court<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/index.html?inline=nyt-org> nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, signaling an imminent partisan showdown over the nominee’s fate and the future of century-old rules in the chamber.
As committee hearings on Judge Gorsuch concluded on Thursday, it appeared increasingly likely that Republicans hoping to elevate President Trump’s choice for the court would resort to replacing longstanding rules with a simple majority vote on his confirmation.
While a parade of witnesses addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee, trading dueling views of Judge Gorsuch, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/charles_e_schumer/index.html?inline=nyt-per> of New York, went to the Senate floor and announced that he would try to lead Democrats in blocking an up-or-down vote on Judge Gorsuch. The Senate’s “cloture” rule requires a supermajority of 60 votes to overcome such a filibuster.
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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Controversial 197th District special election heading to federal court?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91780>
Posted on March 23, 2017 7:08 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91780> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Philly.com:<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/Controversial-197th-District-special-election-heading-to-federal-court.html>
Tuesday’s controversial special election to fill the state House’s 197th District seat may be moving from the polling place to federal court, as Philadelphia’s City Commissioners prepare to start tallying the votes Friday morning.
Lawyers for Republican nominee Lucinda Little, the only candidate who was listed on the ballot, and Green Party nominee Cheri Honkala, who waged a write-in campaign, sent letters to the Commissioners Thursday, demanding that they seal and preserve the ballots.
Both camps alleged widespread voter fraud in the North Philadelphia district.
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Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Rick Perry challenges election of Texas A&M’s first gay student body president, says it was ‘stolen’ in ‘name of diversity’”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91778>
Posted on March 23, 2017 7:03 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91778> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Odd story.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/23/rick-perry-accuses-texas-ams-first-gay-student-body-president-of-stealing-election/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.8696d9a0cd35>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Party Labels Back for North Carolina Judges”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91776>
Posted on March 23, 2017 6:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91776> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg BNA:<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=107884942&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0m1b5h4x8&split=0>
Starting next year, ballots listing candidates for North Carolina’s superior and district courts will once again include their party affiliations.
Both the state House and Senate garnered enough votes to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) March 16 veto of H.B. 100<http://src.bna.com/m3W>. Both votes were largely along party lines, with Republicans generally supporting the override and Democrats voting against it.
As I understand it, the impetus for this bill was the election of a Democratic state Supreme Court Justice with a “white” sounding name and no party label.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Could Gorsuch Undo Campaign Finance Disclosure Rules?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91774>
Posted on March 23, 2017 6:28 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91774> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg BNA:<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=107884944&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0m1c1r9b7&split=0>
U..S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has observers wondering if he could be a vote to strike down campaign finance disclosure requirements if he winds up with a seat on the high court.
Such rules require candidates and political parties to disclose the source of their contributions, and are one of the few anti-corruption protections remaining after the high court’s decision in Citizens United v. Fed. Election Comm’n<http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Citizens_United_v_Fed_Election_Commn_558_US_310_130_S_Ct_876_175_>, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), Heather McGhee<http://www.demos.org/heather-c-mcghee> of Demos, New York, told Bloomberg BNA March 23.
McGhee testified in opposition to Gorsuch’s nomination on the final day of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Demos works to ensure “all have an equal say in our democracy,” according to the organization’s website.<http://www.demos.org/about-demos>
Gorsuch had an opportunity to clearly state the public benefits of campaign disclosure rules, but instead took the opportunity to suggest that such rules could actually “chill” political speech, McGhee said.
But judicial nominees are limited by ethics rules in what they can say during the confirmation process, so Gorsuch’s comments during the hearing shouldn’t raise alarms, Jeff Brindle<http://www.elec.state.nj.us/aboutelec/Commissioners/jbrindle.htm>, of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, Trenton, N.J., told Bloomberg BNA March 23.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

Private Plaintiffs in Texas Redistricting Case Want Final Maps Approved for 2018 Elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91771>
Posted on March 23, 2017 6:03 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91771> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Motion.<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Plaintiffs-motion-for-injunction-Perez-v.-Perry-3-23-2017.pdf>
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

“Common Cause and Georgia NAACP Appeal Lower Court Ruling Greenlighting Georgia Voter Roll Purge”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91769>
Posted on March 23, 2017 10:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91769> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/common-cause-and-georgia-naacp-voter-roll-purge-voting-rights.html>
Common Cause and the Georgia NAACP filed notice of appeal today with the 11thCircuit Court of Appeals in response to a lower court dismissal of their complaint against Georgia Secretary of State Kemp for violating section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) regarding how voters are purged from the registration rolls.
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Posted in NVRA (motor voter)<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>

“Lacking Evidence of Voter Fraud, Legislatures Target Its Specter”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91767>
Posted on March 23, 2017 10:51 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91767> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Michael Wines in the NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/23/us/election-fraud-voter-ids.html?_r=0>:
Nationwide, Republican state legislators are again sponsoring a sheaf of bills tightening requirements to register and to vote. And while they have traditionally argued that such laws are needed to police rampant voter fraud — a claim most experts call unfounded — some are now saying the perception of fraud, real or otherwise, is an equally serious problem, if not worse.
Given Republicans’ history of raising undocumented claims of fraud, Democrats and voting rights advocates say that citing perceptions of tainted ballots as a reason for voting restrictions is disingenuous at best.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“There’s no there there; NASS releases facts and findings on cybersecurity in 2016 election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91764>
Posted on March 23, 2017 10:46 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=91764> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Electionline:<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>
This week, the National Association of Secretaries of State released the State Election Officials Report Facts & Findings on Cybersecurity and Foreign Targeting of the 2016 U.S. Election<http://www.nass.org/index.php/news-releases-and-statements/release-nass-briefing-cybersecurity-election16-facts-findings-mar17>.
The report is an effort by NASS to help improve voter confidence and show for a fact that the election was not “hacked”.
As Congress examines the impact of Russian involvement in the November 2016 election, it is important to provide the clearest and most accurate public record possible regarding election cybersecurity and foreign targeting of U.S. election infrastructure. The following findings<http://www.nass.org/index.php/news-releases-and-statements/release-nass-briefing-cybersecurity-election16-facts-findings-mar17> are based on all unclassified documentation and evidence available to the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)….
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--
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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