[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/27/17

[Rick Hasen]

“Justice Department Settles With Tea Party Groups After I.R.S. Scrutiny”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95714>
Posted on October 26, 2017 8:56 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95714> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/us/politics/irs-tea-party-lawsuit-settlement.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront>
 The Justice Department settled two lawsuits with conservative groups that claimed the Internal Revenue Service had unfairly scrutinized them during applications for tax-exempt status, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Thursday.
The government agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement to resolve one lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of 428 groups, said Edward Greim, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. The government will not pay damages to the 41 groups in the second lawsuit, but the I.R.S. acknowledged its conduct was wrong.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D95714&title=%E2%80%9CJustice%20Department%20Settles%20With%20Tea%20Party%20Groups%20After%20I.R.S.%20Scrutiny%E2%80%9D>
Posted in tax law and election law<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>


“Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Russia probe, thinks Americans are too ‘savvy’ for Russian ads to work”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95711>
Posted on October 26, 2017 8:53 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95711> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Weird thing for (especially him) to say.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/26/rod-rosenstein-who-oversees-russia-investigation-thinks-americans-are-too-savvy-for-russian-ads-to-work/?utm_term=.029b4bbb3bac>

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


“‘Nothing Going On’ With Trump Voter Fraud Commission Due To Multiple Lawsuits”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95709>
Posted on October 26, 2017 8:52 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95709> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pam Fessler:<http://www.npr.org/2017/10/26/560089042/nothing-going-on-with-trump-voter-fraud-commission-due-to-multiple-lawsuits>
The work of President Trump’s commission studying voter fraud and other voting problems has been stalled by the eight lawsuits filed against it, according to one commission member.
Indiana’s Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson says the suits, which seek release of all of the commission’s correspondence, among other things, have had a “chilling” effect.
Some Democrats on the 11-member panel have complained in recent weeks that they’re being kept in the dark about its activities and plans.
But Lawson says she doesn’t think anybody’s being shut out because “right now, there’s nothing going on.”
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Kobach transcript: Changes to US election law discussed”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95707>
Posted on October 26, 2017 8:49 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95707> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/kobach-transcript-changes-to-us-election-law-discussed/2017/10/26/67855e66-ba7d-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html?utm_term=.7018724ef5f3>
The vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s election fraud commission says he wants to change U.S. election law so states have an incentive to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, according to a deposition unsealed Thursday.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a leading advocate of tighter voting laws, gave the testimony in a deposition made public as part of a federal lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union challenging a Kansas voter registration law that requires documents such as a birth certificate, U.S. passport or naturalization papers.
The deposition in August is the result of an ACLU court filing after Kobach was photographed holding a document with the words on one page facing out as he entered a meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump to talk about immigration. The ACLU asked a court to force Kobach to release the document. A federal judge said there was a pattern of Kobach misleading the court in that suit, fined him $1,000 and ordered him to submit to questioning under oath by the ACLU about that document and a proposed draft amendment to the National Voter Registration Act.
“To me, they really confirmed what we always suspected: that there is this ready-made plan to gut the core voting rights protections of federal law and Kobach has been lobbying Trump and his top team from day one to execute that scheme,” said ACLU lawyer Orion Danjuma….
During his deposition, Kobach acknowledged he has talked about documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration with the members and staff of the election fraud commission.
Kobach also testified that GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa has agreed to introduce legislation amending U.S. election law to allow states to impose proof-of-citizenship requirements if Kansas loses a federal lawsuit brought by the ACLU in Kansas.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Will Politics Tarnish the Supreme Court’s Legitimacy?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95705>
Posted on October 26, 2017 8:47 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95705> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Linda Greenhouse <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/opinion/politics-supreme-court-legitimacy.html?_r=0> on CJ Roberts, Gill, and the voter id cases, making points similar to those I made<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95181>after the oral argument in Gill.
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Posted in Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


Congressional Accountability Office, At Sen. Bennet’s Request, Will Investigate Pence-Kobach Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95703>
Posted on October 26, 2017 2:00 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95703> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
But don’t expect anything soon<http://www.newsweek.com/trump-voter-fraud-panel-coming-under-investigation-feds-694111>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Federal Court Appoints Nate Persily as Special Master to Assist, Possibly Redraw NC Legislative Districts<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95699>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:54 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95699> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Court order.<http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Special-master.pdf>
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


“Hillary for America, DNC Failed to Disclose Legally Required Information about Funding of Trump-Russia Dossier”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95696>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:46 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95696> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/press-releases/hillary-america-dnc-failed-disclose-legally-required-information-about-funding>
Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/document/fec-complaint-hillary-clinton-america-dnc-failure-disclose> with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign committee violated campaign finance law. They failed to accurately disclose the purpose and recipient of payments for the dossier of research alleging connections between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia, effectively hiding these payments from public scrutiny, contrary to the requirements of federal law.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


“This is the best first step to stop Russian meddling in our politics”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95693>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95693> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Timothy Roemer and Zachray Wamp<http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/357238-this-is-the-best-first-step-to-stop-russian-meddling-in-our>:
The newly introduced Honest Ads Act<https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=2CB2867F-A620-4ECC-B60B-440750E40B6D> aims to finally address the deficiencies in political disclosure law that allow foreign actors to attack the United States anonymously. The carefully crafted, bipartisan, bicameral legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Rules Committee Ranking Democrat Amy Klobuchar<http://thehill.com/people/amy-klobuchar> (D-Minn.), Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner<http://thehill.com/people/mark-warner> (D-Va.), and Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain<http://thehill.com/people/john-mccain> (R-Ariz.). It in the House by Reps. Derek Kilmer<http://thehill.com/people/derek-kilmer> (D-Wash.) and Mike Coffman<http://thehill.com/people/mike-coffman> (R-Colo.).
The bill would address the critical problem that our 20th century laws are out of date and overmatched by the 21st century reality of political campaigns. Our current regime has us fighting cyber warfare with the equivalent of telegrams and the Pony Express. The Honest Ads Act would modernize our technological arsenal to combat foreign influence by ensuring that paid political ads on the largest online platforms are treated similarly to paid political advertisements on television and radio.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Investigator: Arizona secretary of state violated law, but faces no penalties”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95691>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:37 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95691> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Arizona Republic:<https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/10/26/investigator-arizona-secretary-state-violated-law-but-faces-no-penalties/800415001/>
Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan broke the law when her office failed to mail publicity pamphlets to hundreds of thousands of voters in time for the May 2016 special election, a state-appointed investigator has concluded.
But, the investigator found, there is no provision in state law to punish anyone for not delivering the pamphlets on time and Reagan and her staff did not act criminally.
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Posted in direct democracy<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>, election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“A con-con is a check on legislative corruption”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95689>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:35 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95689> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
J.H. Snider<http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/A-con-con-is-a-check-on-legislative-corruption-12306114.php> for the Albany Times Union.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


More Reasons for Concern About the Integrity of Georgia’s Election Administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95687>
Posted on October 26, 2017 10:29 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=95687> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP:<https://www.apnews.com/877ee1015f1c43f1965f63538b035d3f?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP_Politics>
A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was quietly wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.
The server’s data was destroyed July 7 by technicians at the Center for Elections Systems at Kennesaw State University, which runs the state’s election system. The data wipe was revealed in an email — sent last week from an assistant state attorney general to plaintiffs in the case — that was obtained by the AP. More emails obtained in a public records request confirmed the wipe.
The lawsuit, filed by a diverse group of election reform advocates, aims to force Georgia to retire its antiquated and heavily criticized election technology. The server in question, which served as a statewide staging location for key election-related data, made national headlines<https://apnews.com/b96f4825faa7439ab85af1d2459673c4> in June after a security expert disclosed a gaping security hole that wasn’t fixed six months after he reported it to election authorities.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>


--
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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