[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/23/17

[Rick Hasen]

ELB Podcast Episode 19. Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein: Trumpism, and America, After Trump<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95567>
Posted on October 20, 2017 10:52 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95567> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
What is the connection between Republican Party extremism before Trump and the rise of Trump? What kinds of economic and political reforms can best preserve American democracy? What will life after Trump, and Trumpism, look like in the United States?
On Episode 19 of the ELB Podcast, we talk with Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein, co-authors with E.J. Dionne of the new book, One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported<https://www.amazon.com/One-Nation-After-Trump-Disillusioned-ebook/dp/B06XW24YY6>.
You can listen to the ELB Podcast Episode 19 on Soundcloud<https://soundcloud.com/rick-hasen/elb-podcast-episode-19-tom-mann-and-norm-ornstein-trumpism-and-america-after-trump> 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%3D95567&title=ELB%20Podcast%20Episode%2019.%20Tom%20Mann%20and%20Norm%20Ornstein%3A%20Trumpism%2C%20and%20America%2C%20After%20Trump>
Posted in ELB Podcast<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=116>, political parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political polarization<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>


Friday’s First Amendment Law Review Symposium on Fake News to Be Webcast<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95618>
Posted on October 23, 2017 8:03 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95618> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Great event<https://falrunc.wordpress.com/symposium/> coming up, but you’ve got to sign up by Wed. to watch.  Details<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/distorting-the-truth-fake-news-free-speech-2017-falr-symposium-tickets-36524924031>.
I’ll be presenting my paper, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy)<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3017598>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95618&title=Friday%E2%80%99s%20First%20Amendment%20Law%20Review%20Symposium%20on%20Fake%20News%20to%20Be%20Webcast>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“Examining How A Russian ‘Troll Factory’ Pushed Texas Secession”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95616>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95616> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Texas Public Radio:<http://tpr.org/post/examining-how-russian-troll-factory-pushed-texas-secession>
The fantasy of Texas national independence has been stoked for decades but in recent years it has found an ally with Russia. An investigation into a popular pro-Texas secession Facebook page found that it was run by Russians.<https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/09/20/russian-controlled-facebook-accounts-organized-trump-events/>
“The Heart of Texas” Facebook page was operated by an online “troll factory” called the Internet Research<http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-facebook-group-ads-texas-secession-secede-trump-clinton-2017-9> Agency based in St Petersburg, Russia. The operation produced thousands of memes with the intent to juice right wing paranoia.  The posts were populated with fake news and grammatically flawed diatribes on illegal immigration, refugees and Islamophobia. Along with attacks on Hilary Clinton and imaginary voter fraud….

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95616&title=%E2%80%9CExamining%20How%20A%20Russian%20%E2%80%98Troll%20Factory%E2%80%99%20Pushed%20Texas%20Secession%E2%80%9D>
Posted in chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


“Voter rights advocates push Illinois to exit multistate database over accuracy, security”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95614>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95614> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Chicago Tribune:<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-illinois-voter-database-questions-20171023-story.html>
Voter rights advocates are pushing Illinois election officials to withdraw from a longtime multistate voter registration database over questions of accuracy, security and voter suppression.
The Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program is aimed at cleaning voter records and preventing voter fraud. States voluntarily provide their voter lists and the program searches for duplicates.
While a few states have quietly exited over data quality concerns, advocates in Democrat-leaning Illinois are taking it a step further with fresh claims about lax security, discrimination against minorities and questions about the role of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a contentious Republican who oversees the program and is vice chairman of President Donald Trump<http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/politics-government/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html>‘s election fraud commission.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95614&title=%E2%80%9CVoter%20rights%20advocates%20push%20Illinois%20to%20exit%20multistate%20database%20over%20accuracy%2C%20security%E2%80%9D>


Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“A Tale Of Two Efforts To Improve Confidence In U.S. Elections”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95612>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:51 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95612> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pam Fessler<http://www.npr.org/2017/10/23/559002709/a-tale-of-two-efforts-to-improve-confidence-in-u-s-elections> for NPR:
Efforts to boost public confidence in U.S. elections are proceeding on two parallel tracks right now. One is moving slowly, but steadily. The other is hardly moving at all.
Most of the attention has gone to a commission set up by President Trump to look into allegations of voter fraud and other electoral problems. The panel — called the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity — has been mired in controversy ever since it was formed earlier this year. Its work now appears stalled amid internal divisions and outside legal challenges.
But as that panel limps along, several other efforts to address threats to U.S voting are making progress.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95612&title=%E2%80%9CA%20Tale%20Of%20Two%20Efforts%20To%20Improve%20Confidence%20In%20U.S.%20Elections%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Homegrown ‘fake news’ is a bigger problem than Russian propaganda. Here’s a way to make falsehoods more costly for politicians.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95610>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:46 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95610> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brendan Nyhan and Yusaku Horiuchi for the Monkey Cage<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/10/23/homegrown-fake-news-is-a-bigger-problem-than-russian-propaganda-heres-a-way-to-make-falsehoods-more-costly-for-politicians/?utm_term=.0b9e91967f38>:
One promising approach is summary fact-checking — an increasingly<http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/> popular<https://i.redd.it/xa6h82s4pakx.jpg> format that presents an overview of fact-checking ratings for a politician. This is distinct from focusing on whether a single statement is true or false; rather, it evaluates a group of such statements, assessing a speaker’s overall truthfulness and reliability as a source. Though the statements in question are of course not randomly chosen, the format may be an effective way to increase the costs of repeatedly making false statements.
One of us (Nyhan) investigated<http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nyhan/summary-fact-checking.pdf> the effect of this format in three experimental studies conducted in 2016 and 2017 in collaboration with different undergraduate co-authors at Dartmouth. Compared with respondents who saw fact-checks of individual statements by politicians, participants in the studies who instead saw summary fact-check ratings viewed the legislators in question less favorably and rated their statements as less accurate.
Summary fact-checking won’t persuade everyone, of course. But if we can make politicians fear the political costs of a pattern of false claims a little bit more, there may be less misinformation to report in the first place.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95610&title=%E2%80%9CHomegrown%20%E2%80%98fake%20news%E2%80%99%20is%20a%20bigger%20problem%20than%20Russian%20propaganda.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20a%20way%20to%20make%20falsehoods%20more%20costly%20for%20politicians>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


“Mueller Now Investigating Democratic Lobbyist Tony Podesta”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95608>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95608> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NBC:<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mueller-now-investigating-democratic-lobbyist-tony-podesta-n812776?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma>
The sources said the investigation into Podesta and his company began as more of a fact-finding mission about the ECMU and Manafort’s role in the campaign, but has now morphed into a criminal inquiry into whether the firm violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95608&title=%E2%80%9CMueller%20Now%20Investigating%20Democratic%20Lobbyist%20Tony%20Podesta%E2%80%9D>
Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>


“He Didn’t Vote in a Few Elections. In the Next One, Ohio Said He Couldn’t.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95606>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:28 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95606> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Adam Liptak’s Sidebar column<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/us/politics/supreme-court-ohio-voter-purge.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0> on the upcoming Husted oral argument at the Supreme Cour.t
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95606&title=%E2%80%9CHe%20Didn%E2%80%99t%20Vote%20in%20a%20Few%20Elections.%20In%20the%20Next%20One%2C%20Ohio%20Said%20He%20Couldn%E2%80%99t.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, NVRA (motor voter)<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Congress’s New Bill Can’t Eliminate Russian Influence Online”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95604>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:25 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95604> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Wired reports.<https://www.wired.com/story/congresss-new-bill-cant-eliminate-russian-influence-online/>
See my earlier Politico piece, Why Banning Russian Facebook Ads Might Be Impossible<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/26/russian-facebook-ads-regulation-215647>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95604&title=%E2%80%9CCongress%E2%80%99s%20New%20Bill%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Eliminate%20Russian%20Influence%20Online%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Why the Fact-Checking at Facebook Needs to Be Checked”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95602>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:20 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95602> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brendan Nyhan<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/upshot/why-the-fact-checking-at-facebook-needs-to-be-checked.html?_r=0> for NYT’s The UpShot:
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Facebook has taken a number of actions to prevent the continued distribution of false news articles on its platform, most notably by labeling articles rated as false or misleading by fact checkers as “disputed.”
But how effective are these measures?
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95602&title=%E2%80%9CWhy%20the%20Fact-Checking%20at%20Facebook%20Needs%20to%20Be%20Checked%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, social media and social protests<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


“Louisiana hires controversial law firm to block fix for racist judicial elections”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95600>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:17 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95600> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Facing South reports.<https://www.facingsouth.org/2017/10/louisiana-hires-controversial-law-firm-block-fix-racist-judicial-elections>
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95600&title=%E2%80%9CLouisiana%20hires%20controversial%20law%20firm%20to%20block%20fix%20for%20racist%20judicial%20elections%E2%80%9D>
Posted in judicial elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>


Bloomberg View: Honest Ads Act “Whole Inadequate” but “Entirely Necessary”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95598>
Posted on October 23, 2017 7:14 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95598> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Editorial<https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-10-23/defend-u-s-democracy-with-digital-transparency>.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95598&title=Bloomberg%20View%3A%20Honest%20Ads%20Act%20%E2%80%9CWhole%20Inadequate%E2%80%9D%20but%20%E2%80%9CEntirely%20Necessary%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


The North Carolina Gerrymandering Trial<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95579>
Posted on October 22, 2017 9:54 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95579> by Nicholas Stephanopoulos<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=12>
While the world waits for the Supreme Court’s decision in Whitford, another partisan gerrymandering trial wrapped up last week in Greensboro, North Carolina. This case, LWVNC v. Rucho<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/case/league-women-voters-north-carolina-v-rucho>, involves North Carolina’s congressional map, and is just the second of its kind to make it to trial. The case also differs in some notable respects from Whitford, which I thought I’d briefly highlight.
1. While discriminatory intent had to be inferred in Whitford, it was essentially admitted by the State in LWVNC. The “Adopted Criteria” used to design the map (and reproduced below) stated outright that “the partisan makeup of the congressional delegation . . . is 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats.” The Adopted Criteria added that “the only data . . . to be used to construct congressional districts shall be election results.”
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/1-300x178.png]2. While the Whitford plaintiffs focused on the efficiency gap, the LWVNC plaintiffs introduced evidence about several measures of partisan asymmetry: the efficiency gap, partisan bias, and the mean-median difference. As the charts below show, these metrics agree that North Carolina’s 2016 plan (like its 2011 plan) is one of the most asymmetric congressional maps in modern American history.
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2-269x300.png]
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/3-300x235.png]3. Because North Carolina has just thirteen congressional districts, it was possible for the LWVNCplaintiffs to demonstrate cartographically how this enormous asymmetry was generated. Throughout the State, clusters of Democratic voters were either split between Republican districts (as in Asheville and Greensboro) or packed into overwhelmingly Democratic districts (as in Charlotte and the Triangle).
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/4-300x233.png]
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/5-231x300.png]4. District map simulations showed that the 2016 Plan’s asymmetry cannot be explained by North Carolina’s political geography. Among thousands of simulated maps, all matching or surpassing the Plan’s performance in terms of the (nonpartisan) Adopted Criteria, not one had an efficiency gap as large as the Plan. The modal simulated map had an efficiency gap of exactly zero.
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/6-300x274.png]5. Unlike in Whitford, there were two sets of plaintiffs. The LWVNC plaintiffs (whom I help represent) advocated a three-part test requiring (1) discriminatory intent; (2) a large and durable discriminatory effect; and (3) no legitimate justification for this effect. Common Cause also recommended an intent-only standard similar to the one proposed by Justice Stevens in Vieth<http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/541/267.html> and the appellants in LULAC<http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/548/399.html>. The trial court thus has a menu of options to choose from.
Interestingly, the trial court denied the State’s motion to stay the case pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Whitford. It’s thus possible that the trial court will add its voice to the legal conversation about partisan gerrymandering, even before Whitford is handed down.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95579&title=The%20North%20Carolina%20Gerrymandering%20Trial>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Trump’s secretive voter fraud panel is keeping own members in the dark”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95595>
Posted on October 22, 2017 12:31 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95595> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/22/trumps-secretive-voter-panel-is-keeping-own-members-in-the-dark?CMP=share_btn_tw>
A commissioner from Alabama, Jefferson County probate judge Alan L King, said he sent a similar letter late last week. He said the only information he had received since the September meeting was an email informing him of the death of another commissioner, former Arkansas state lawmaker David Dunn.
“Here I am on this high-level government committee and I don’t know when the next meetings are or how many meetings there will be,” he said. “I am in the dark on what will happen from this point on, to tell you the truth.”
King and Dunlap are two of four Democrats on the 11-member commission. J Christian Adams, a commission member who was a justice department attorney under George W Bush, said in an email all commissioners received the same information.
“Once upon a time election integrity was bipartisan,” Adams wrote. “Apparently not all agree. That’s a shame.”
Requests for comment sent to Kossack and the commission’s vice-chairman, the Kansas secretary of state, Kris Kobach, were not returned. The commission is chaired by Vice-President Mike Pence….
The lack of openness even applies to members of Congress. Democratic senators have filed at least five requests for information with the commission since June. A 12 September follow-up letter noted that none of those had received a response.
“The commission has not responded to a single letter from senators with oversight jurisdiction over the commission and continues to be rebuked for its questionable activities,” said the letter, written by Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95595&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20secretive%20voter%20fraud%20panel%20is%20keeping%20own%20members%20in%20the%20dark%E2%80%9D>
Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


NAACP, with New President, to Switch to 501c4 to Become More Political<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95593>
Posted on October 22, 2017 11:41 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95593> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/10/21/us/politics/ap-us-naacp.html?_r=0>
Johnson has been the face of the NAACP since then as the organization has refocused its work on supporting its local chapters and tried to retool in the face of rising organizations like Black Lives Matter.
Currently as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the NAACP can only engage in insubstantial lobbying efforts. So it will reorganize as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, similar to its local affiliates, which will allow it to conduct unlimited lobbying and promotion of political candidates and issues.
The change will happen “so we can have the collective voice and impact that a civil rights organization in 2017 and forward should have,” said Johnson, former president of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95593&title=NAACP%2C%20with%20New%20President%2C%20to%20Switch%20to%20501c4%20to%20Become%20More%20Political>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>


“Does Chief Justice Roberts fear gobbledygook? Or is that just baloney?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95591>
Posted on October 22, 2017 11:38 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95591> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nice Bob Barnes<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/does-chief-justice-roberts-fear-gobbledygook-or-is-that-just-baloney/2017/10/22/966c137c-b5ab-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.621a5be5937f&wpmk=MK0000200> at WaPo.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95591&title=%E2%80%9CDoes%20Chief%20Justice%20Roberts%20fear%20gobbledygook%3F%20Or%20is%20that%20just%20baloney%3F%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“States Take On Election Hacking. Washington Ignores It.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95589>
Posted on October 20, 2017 10:13 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95589> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT editorial.<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/opinion/states-election-hacking.html?_r=0>

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95589&title=%E2%80%9CStates%20Take%20On%20Election%20Hacking.%20Washington%20Ignores%20It.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Financial disclosure shows unusual campaign setup for Pence chief of staff”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95587>
Posted on October 20, 2017 5:01 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95587> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
 Politico:<http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/20/mike-pence-nick-ayers-campaign-finance-disclosure-244005>
Nick Ayers, a senior adviser to Pence during the presidential race and now his chief of staff, joined the 2016 team as a volunteer and never took a dime in salary from the Trump-Pence campaign even as he crisscrossed the country with Pence, then the Indiana governor. He served as one of Pence’s top aides and prepared him for critical events, including his debate with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
But Ayers’ Georgia-based political consulting firm, C5 Creative Consulting, did receive a payment of nearly $75,000 on Aug. 25 from Pence’s gubernatorial reelection campaign, 40 days after Pence had been selected as Trump’s running mate and withdrawn from the governor’s race.
In addition to the compensation from Pence’s gubernatorial campaign, Ayers received significant payments from the campaign of Eric Holcomb, Pence’s lieutenant governor, who sought and won the Indiana governorship after Pence joined the national ticket. Holcomb’s campaign paid Ayers’ firm nearly $40,000 between August 2016 and March 2017. Ayers also received payments of more than $30,000 from Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ campaign.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95587&title=%E2%80%9CFinancial%20disclosure%20shows%20unusual%20campaign%20setup%20for%20Pence%20chief%20of%20staff%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“Election Security Task Force to Hold Second Public Forum”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95576>
Posted on October 20, 2017 12:51 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95576> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Details <https://democrats-cha.house.gov/news/press-releases/election-security-task-force-hold-second-public-forum> on Oct. 24 meeting.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95576&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20Security%20Task%20Force%20to%20Hold%20Second%20Public%20Forum%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>



“Issue One raises concerns about Democratic Party’s new mega joint fundraising committee”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95565>
Posted on October 20, 2017 10:03 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95565> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<https://www.issueone.org/issue-one-raises-concerns-democratic-partys-new-mega-joint-fundraising-committee/>
On Thursday, Politico reported<http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/politico-influence/2017/10/19/comcast-hires-ogilvy-222899> the formation of a new mega joint fundraising committee called the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund. This joint fundraising committee will solicit contributions<http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00658476/1188193/> to benefit the Democratic National Committee, as well as state parties in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Because of its structure, the new Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund appears to be able to solicit more than $540,000 per individual donor per year — or about $1.1 million per year from married couples. Some couples may be able to donate more than $2 million to this group before the 2018 election. These figures could increase even more — by hundreds of thousands of dollars — if the Democratic National Committee also uses this joint fundraising operation to raise money for its building and recount funds.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95565&title=%E2%80%9CIssue%20One%20raises%20concerns%20about%20Democratic%20Party%E2%80%99s%20new%20mega%20joint%20fundraising%20committee%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, political parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>


“Facebook and Google Helped Anti-Refugee Campaign in Swing States”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95563>
Posted on October 20, 2017 10:00 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95563> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bloomberg:<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-18/facebook-and-google-helped-anti-refugee-campaign-in-swing-states>
In the final weeks of the 2016 election campaign, voters in swing states including Nevada and North Carolina saw ads appear in their Facebook feeds and on Google websites touting a pair of controversial faux-tourism videos, showing France and Germany overrun by Sharia law. French schoolchildren were being trained to fight for the caliphate, jihadi fighters were celebrated at the Arc de Triomphe, and the “Mona Lisa” was covered in a burka.
 “Under Sharia law, you can enjoy everything the Islamic State of France has to offer, as long as you follow the rules,” intoned<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJVoumWYtQ> the narrator of one ad.
Unlike Russian efforts to secretly influence the 2016 election via social media, this American-led campaign was aided by direct collaboration with employees of Facebook and Google. They helped target the ads to more efficiently reach the intended audiences, according to internal reports from the ad agency that ran the campaign, as well as five people involved with the efforts.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95563&title=%E2%80%9CFacebook%20and%20Google%20Helped%20Anti-Refugee%20Campaign%20in%20Swing%20States%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


Text of (House Version of) Honest Ads Act Now Available<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95561>
Posted on October 20, 2017 8:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95561> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Find it here.<https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr4077/BILLS-115hr4077ih.pdf>

[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95561&title=Text%20of%20(House%20Version%20of)%20Honest%20Ads%20Act%20Now%20Available>
Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>



--
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/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0001.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/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0007.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 85512 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0008.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 76719 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0009.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 74464 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0010.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 189777 bytes
Desc: image005.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0011.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.png
Type: image/png
Size: 204271 bytes
Desc: image006.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0012.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image007.png
Type: image/png
Size: 116191 bytes
Desc: image007.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20171023/24f1a8c3/attachment-0013.png>