[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/20/18

Fri Apr 20 07:34:26 PDT 2018

“Arizona lawmakers at odds over a bill that could keep a McCain successor off the ballot this year”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98757>
Posted on April 20, 2018 7:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98757> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/arizona-lawmakers-at-odds-over-a-bill-that-could-keep-a-mccain-successor-off-the-ballot-this-year/2018/04/20/e1a82496-4482-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?utm_term=.24e76a9a37ed>

State lawmakers in Arizona are sparring over legislation that would give a Republican successor to Sen. John McCain a pass on having to stand for election in November if the ailing six-term senator resigns or dies by the end of next month.

Leaders of the Republican-controlled state Senate say they plan a vote next week on the measure, which could have implications for control of the U.S. Senate and has intensified the spotlight on the health of McCain (R-Ariz.), who is battling brain cancer.

Democrats have cried foul and are vowing to block the bill, which they argue reflects how worried Republicans are about defending GOP-held seats, even in a red state like Arizona, where the state’s other U.S. Senate seat is also on the ballot in November. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is not seeking reelection.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“‘Ranked choice voting is the law of Maine;’ It’s time for legislators to start appealing to voters, not judges”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98755>
Posted on April 20, 2018 7:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98755> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Mike Parsons writes.<http://www.fairvote.org/_ranked_choice_voting_is_the_law_of_maineit_s_time_for_legislators_to_start_appealing_to_voters_not_judges>
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Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>

“America Continues to Ignore the Risks of Election Hacking”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98753>
Posted on April 19, 2018 7:57 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98753> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sue Halpern<https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/america-continues-to-ignore-the-risks-of-election-hacking?reload=true> for the New Yorker.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Seeking Foreign Money, G.O.P. Donor Pushed for Trump to Golf With Malaysian Premier”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98751>
Posted on April 19, 2018 4:14 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98751> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/world/asia/elliott-broidy-trump-malaysia-china-guo.html>
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Posted in conflict of interest laws<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

FEC Commissioner Weintraub Says It Is Time to “Pull the Fire Alarm” and Have Complainants Bypass the FEC and Go to Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98748>
Posted on April 19, 2018 4:11 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98748> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Statement from Commissioner Weintraub:<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-04-19-ELW-statement.pdf>

Fire alarms are sometimes housed in boxes labeled “Break glass in case of emergency.” The Federal Election Campaign Act has such a box; it’s the provision that allows complainants to sue respondents directly when the Federal Election Commission fails to enforce the law itself (52 USC § 30109(a)(8)(C)). In the 44-year history of the FEC, this provision has never been fully utilized. Today, I’m breaking the glass.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint in June 2012 –nearly six years ago – alleging that the American Action Network spent millions of dollars on advertising designed to influence elections, was therefore a political committee, and should be thus required to disclose its donors. In the years that have followed, several of my colleagues, over my objections, have repeatedly acted to shield the sources of American Action Network’s millions of dollars in dark money from public view. The Commission has been hauled into U.S. District Court twice and has twice been told in no uncertain terms that these colleagues’ approach is “contrary to law.”

Most recently, in a sharply worded March 20, 2018 opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper found the arguments of the controlling bloc of commissioners to be unserious, granted CREW’s motions for summary judgment against the Commission, laid out the correct path for analyzing American Action Network’s political advertising, and ordered the Commission to conform within 30 days. By the terms of the Court’s order: “If the FEC does not timely conform with the Court’s declaration, CREW may bring ‘a civil action to remedy the violation involved in the original complaint’” (citing 52 USC § 30109(a)(8)(C)).

Over a difficult and frustrating decade at the Commission, I have seen colleagues with a deep ideological commitment to impeding this country’s campaign-finance laws erode the public’s right to free, fair, and transparent elections. These commissioners have rejected the Supreme Court’s conclusion that transparency in campaign finance “enables the electorate to make informed decisions” and to hold elected officials accountable (Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310, 371 (2010)). Their actions in this matter – and over the past decade – have convinced me that despite two clear defeats before the District Court, they will eventually find a way to block meaningful enforcement of the law in this and any other dark-money matter that comes before us.

This matter holds real promise of shining a bright light on a significant source of dark money. It’s time to break the glass and let this matter move forward unimpeded by commissioners who have fought every step of the way to keep dark money dark. I fully support the sound reasoning of the Court’s March 20 opinion. That is why I believe CREW can and should pursue its complaint directly against American Action Network, as Congress provided for under the Federal Election Campaign Act. My goal here, as always, is to enforce America’s campaign-finance laws fairly and effectively. Placing this matter in CREW’s hands is the best way to achieve that goal.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Rick Scott Super PAC Donations Challenge Federal Anti-Corruption Rule”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98746>
Posted on April 19, 2018 11:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98746> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Capital and Main:<https://capitalandmain.com/rick-scott-super-pac-donations-challenge-federal-anti-corruption-rule-0419>
 A super PAC led by Florida Gov. Rick Scott raked in donations from two private equity executives after Scott’s administration directed lucrative state pension investments to their firms, according to government records reviewed by MapLight and Capital & Main.

The donations were made to a committee that’s now supporting Scott’s U.S. Senate bid, despite a federal rule designed to prevent financial firms from bankrolling the election campaigns of public officials who oversee state pension investments.

….A 2010 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule<https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2010/ia-3043.pdf> prohibits firms from receiving investment fees from public pension systems if their executives donate campaign cash to pension overseers like Scott. SEC officials aimed to prevent investment decisions from being shaped by political influence.

But the commission didn’t explicitly bar donations to “independent” political groups, unless the donations were deliberately designed to circumvent the restrictions. And it hasn’t addressed whether a state official can lead a super PAC that received donations from firms with pension business and later be supported by the super PAC.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

Recap of William & Mary Election Law Program War Game on Election Security Issue<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98744>
Posted on April 19, 2018 10:55 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98744> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Over at Electionline.<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

I Talked on the Yale Press Podcast about My New Book on Justice Scalia’s Legacy<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98742>
Posted on April 19, 2018 10:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98742> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can listen here.<http://blog.yalebooks.com/2018/04/19/ep-54-antonin-scalia/>
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Posted in Scalia<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=123>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

--
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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