[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/25/17

Thu May 25 07:55:13 PDT 2017

Programming note: ELB will be back on Tuesday May 30. Have a safe, relaxing, and meaningful Memorial Day weekend!

ELB Podcast Episode 16. Bob Bauer: The Danger of Trump’s “Election Integrity” Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92823>
Posted on May 24, 2017 9:26 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92823> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Will earlier work to improve the voters’ experience at the polls be abandoned thanks to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud? Is the “Election Integrity” commission established by President Trump going to undermine efforts to improve voting rights? Is there a future for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, one of whose members is joining the Trump-established commission?

On Episode 16 of the ELB Podcast, we talk with Bob Bauer, former White House Counsel and co-chair of the Obama-established Presidential Commission on Election Administration.

You can listen to the ELB Podcast Episode 16 on Soundcloud<https://soundcloud.com/rick-hasen/elb-podcast-episode-16-bob-bauer-the-danger-of-trumps-election-integrity-commission> or subscribe at iTunes.<https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/elb-podcast/id1029317166?mt=2>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92823&title=ELB%20Podcast%20Episode%2016.%20Bob%20Bauer%3A%20The%20Danger%20of%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9CElection%20Integrity%E2%80%9D%20Commission>
Posted in ELB Podcast<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=116>

“The Shifting Ground of Redistricting Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92821>
Posted on May 24, 2017 12:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92821> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Very important Chris Elmendorf post<https://balkin.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-shifting-ground-of-redistricting-law.html> at Balkinization, with a more negative view of Cooper v. Harris:
How then is a state to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which, as noted above, has long required states to create districts with enough minority voters (a “racial target”) to consistently elect minority “candidates of choice.” One unhappy possibility is that the Court will simply undertake to free redistricters from the latter obligation, holding Section 2 unconstitutional or narrowing it beyond recognition on the basis of an asserted conflict with the anti-sorting equal protection principle.
 …
Of course, all of this is somewhat speculative. Writing at SCOTUSblog<http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/05/symposium-court-clarifies-review-racial-gerrymandering-not-impose-strict-scrutiny-every-intentional-creation-majority-minority-district/>, Kristen Clarke and Ezra Rosenberg argue that Cooper and Bethune Hill, read together, require plaintiffs bringing a racial sorting / equal protection claim to show (as the trigger for strict scrutiny) quite a bit more than the existence of a firm racial-composition target plus the movement of voters to achieve the target. I’m not convinced, but for now, there’s enough looseness in the doctrine for lower courts to go either way on this question.
What is clear is that the Supreme Court, unhappy about racial sorting, is on guard against pretextual justifications for the practice. As Justice Kennedy for the Court remarked in Bethune Hill, “Traditional redistricting principles . . . are numerous and malleable . . . . By deploying those factors in various combinations and permutations, a State could construct a plethora of potential maps that look consistent with traditional, race-neutral principles. But if race for its own sake is the overriding reason for choosing one map over others, race still may predominate.”
Going forward, any redistricters who undertake to draw districts with a racial-composition target (majority-minority or otherwise) would do well to announce that the target is merely one objective to be considered and balanced alongside many others, rather than a categorical command. The crossing of fingers is also recommended.

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92821&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Shifting%20Ground%20of%20Redistricting%20Law%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“A letter sent to some L.A. voters sought to shame them for their voting records — and no one knows who sent it”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92819>
Posted on May 24, 2017 12:19 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92819> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LA Times reports.<http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-voter-shaming-mailer-20170516-htmlstory.html>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92819&title=%E2%80%9CA%20letter%20sent%20to%20some%20L.A.%20voters%20sought%20to%20shame%20them%20for%20their%20voting%20records%20%E2%80%94%20and%20no%20one%20knows%20who%20sent%20it%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

Alabama SOS Defends Against Argument that State Felon Disenfranchisement Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92817>
Posted on May 24, 2017 12:17 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92817> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Kira Lerner<https://thinkprogress.org/alabama-voting-restoration-86d82cc1c2d0> for Think Progress:

The law still imposes what can be considered a poll tax because former felons have to be able to afford to pay their fines and fees to restore their right to vote. “Wealth should not be a factor in deciding who can vote,” Lang said.

The list of felonies included in the bill also does not include things like public corruption and fraud, crimes which are “typically considered to be the crimes closely associated with voting eligibility,” she said. Unsurprisingly, those crimes generally have less of a racial slant than others.

Merrill, Alabama’s Republican secretary of state, was not accepting of arguments that the bill will not go far enough.

“If we had a stand in Anytown, U.S.A. and in that stand on Main Street we’re giving out ice cream,” he said. “Anybody can come. They can only get one cone and it’s vanilla. There’s going to be some people who are gonna cry because they can’t get but one scoop, and there’s gonna be some people who are gonna cry because we don’t have chocolate.”

“I don’t worry about the people who want two scoops and I don’t worry about the people who want a different flavor,” he said.

Voting, unlike receiving free ice cream, is a constitutional right.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92817&title=Alabama%20SOS%20Defends%20Against%20Argument%20that%20State%20Felon%20Disenfranchisement%20Bill%20Doesn%E2%80%99t%20Go%20Far%20Enough>
Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

“Here’s why modernizing the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) should be on top of the congressional to-do list”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92815>
Posted on May 24, 2017 11:48 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92815> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Issue One report.<https://www.issueone.org/heres-modernizing-office-government-ethics-oge-top-congressional-list/>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92815&title=%E2%80%9CHere%E2%80%99s%20why%20modernizing%20the%20Office%20of%20Government%20Ethics%20(OGE)%20should%20be%20on%20top%20of%20the%20congressional%20to-do%20list%E2%80%9D>
Posted in conflict of interest laws<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

Politifact Rates as “Mostly False” Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s Claim that WI Voter ID Law Caused 200,000 Vote Drop in WI Voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92811>
Posted on May 24, 2017 9:16 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92811> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Read.<http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2017/may/24/tammy-baldwin/photo-id-law-caused-200000-drop-wisconsin-voter-tu/?hootPostID=d30ea83d6c2d296186daa5a147165af6>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92811&title=Politifact%20Rates%20as%20%E2%80%9CMostly%20False%E2%80%9D%20Sen.%20Tammy%20Baldwin%E2%80%99s%20Claim%20that%20WI%20Voter%20ID%20Law%20Caused%20200%2C000%20Vote%20Drop%20in%20WI%20Voting>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Talking to Sen. Bernie Sanders About Voter Fraud, Campaign Finance, and Gerrymandering<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92809>
Posted on May 24, 2017 9:15 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=92809> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The live video with Bernie Sanders interviewing me cut out yesterday after 8 minutes because of an internet outage at the Senate. But they’re broadcasting the whole thing today, and you can watch it any time here (29 minutes):

[link will be updated]

or listen here as a podcast:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bernie-sanders-show/id1223800705?mt=2#<https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bernie-sanders-show/id1223800705?mt=2>

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D92809&title=Talking%20to%20Sen.%20Bernie%20Sanders%20About%20Voter%20Fraud%2C%20Campaign%20Finance%2C%20and%20Gerrymandering>
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
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/20170525/558b82d7/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/20170525/558b82d7/attachment.png>