[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/2/18

[Rick Hasen]

“Facebook Grapples With a Maturing Adversary in Election Meddling”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100420>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:38 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100420> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/facebook-trolls-midterm-elections.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront>

They covered their tracks, using software to camouflage their internet traffic. They created Facebook pages for anti-Trump culture warriors, Hispanic activists and fans of alternative medicine. And they organized protests in coordination with real-world political groups.

The people behind an influence campaign ahead of this year’s elections, which Facebook disclosed on Tuesday, copied enough of the tactics used by Russians in the 2016 races to raise suspicion that Russia was at it again. But the new efforts also revealed signs of a maturing adversary, adapting and evolving to better disguise itself, while also better imitating real activists.

The coordinated activity — a collection of memes, photos and posts on issues like feminist empowerment, indigenous rights and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — show the enormity of the challenge ahead of Facebook, as it tries to weed out impersonators. As the forces behind the accounts become harder to detect, the company is left to separate the ordinary rants and raves of legitimate users from coordinated, possibly state-backed attempts to sway public opinion.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“How Fake Influence Campaigns on Facebook Lured Real People”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100418>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:37 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100418> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/technology/facebook-fake-accounts.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront>

Facebook has been under intense pressure since the 2016 presidential election for failing to detect foreign meddling<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/technology/indictment-russian-tech-facebook.html> on its platform. The company did not identify who was behind the latest influence campaign, but it said the activity mimicked the manipulation of social media in 2016 by the Russian-backed Internet Research Agency. Facebook also said there were connections between the latest fake accounts and pages and some that it had terminated in a previous purge of Russian fakes.

But even as Facebook moved more quickly this time to limit meddling, some said the company has become heavy-handed. The activists working on the counterprotest, which is scheduled for Aug. 10 to 12, said Facebook went too far by removing videos and messages that real people had posted. That essentially is forcing them to start over in gathering followers and building momentum to stage an effective protest, they said.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Senators: Trump ‘not paying attention’ to Russian threats in 2018”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100416>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:31 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100416> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN:<https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/02/politics/james-lankford-amy-klobuchar-election-security/index.html>

Two leading senators are asserting that President Donald Trump has not focused on the clear threat the Kremlin poses in the 2018 elections, with one Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee contending that Russian hackers may have already targeted most — if not all — sitting US senators.
Ratcheting up the push for a more robust US response to Russian interference in the midterms and 2020 elections, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are now slated to get a committee vote this month on a bipartisan bill is aimed at shoring up the nation’s election system. But the two senators said their plan has run into hurdles for months — and say the Russian threat is real headed into the midterms.
In a joint interview as the primary season wraps up and with the November midterms less than 100 days away, the senators told CNN Wednesday that there is far more that has to be done — from the White House on down to the states.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Republicans block $250 million to beef up election security”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100413>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:25 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100413> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today:<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/01/republicans-block-money-election-security/884438002/>

Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic push Wednesday that would have provided $250 million to beef up election security.

The money would have been doled out in grants through the Federal Election Assistance Commission and helped, among other things, replace outdated voting equipment and increase cybersecurity efforts.

But the amendment failed Wednesday on a 50-49 vote, 10 votes shy of the 60 needed for it to pass. The votes fell almost entirely on party lines as only one Republican — Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) — voted for the grant. …

Congress had allocated $380 million in election security grants in March after intelligence assessments detailed a coordinated and continued effort by Russia to interfere in U.S. elections.

The blocked $250 million would have covered the fiscal year 2019, which starts Oct. 1, just ahead of the midterm elections.

Republicans have argued it is too soon to allocate new money for the following year and want to see how states use the $380 million already set aside for election security efforts.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Corporate donations are new test for Democratic candidates”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100411>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:19 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100411> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://apnews.com/083e6eb0169f407480f11c3c54e94aa4>

Long considered a peripheral issue in midterm elections, money in politics is emerging as a new litmus test for Democratic candidates. In ads, stump speeches and debates, scores of politicians are pledging to reject corporate PAC donations. Their ranks include a handful of Democrats, including Harris, who are widely rumored to be exploring presidential bids: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Joining them is Vermont’s independent senator, Bernie Sanders.

In total, more than federal 170 candidates have said they’re not accepting corporate PAC donations, according to a tally by the group End Citizens United, a political action committee dedicated to campaign finance reform.

The groundswell of opposition to corporate PACs has developed quickly as Democrats aim to tap into the anti-establishment sentiment that President Donald Trump successfully harnessed in 2016. When Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., started the “NO PAC Caucus” in July 2017, only two members joined his cause — Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who’s now challenging Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas, and Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, the party’s gubernatorial nominee in Colorado.

“There wasn’t a lot of interest. I was told it would unnecessarily ruffle feathers,” said Khanna. “But now it has really caught people’s imagination across the country.”

The pledge may be more symbolic than financial: In a world of dark money and super PACs, corporate donations make up only a small percentage of the total dollars flooding into the political system.

“Corporate PACs making contributions is not where the major campaign finance action is these days,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California at Irvine. “If you asked me to name the top 10 things wrong with campaign finance, I’m not sure corporate PAC money would be among them.”
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Democrats must fight harder for voting rights and fair elections”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100409>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:16 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100409> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Paul Waldman for WaPo.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/08/01/democrats-must-fight-harder-for-voting-rights-and-fair-elections/?utm_term=.4053ab21e702>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Inmates Are Getting Registered To Vote In One Of The Country’s Biggest Jails”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100407>
Posted on August 2, 2018 8:13 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100407> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

HuffPost:<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cook-county-jail-voter-registration_us_5b6203ece4b0fd5c73d5c099>

Cook County jail<https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/us/18cook.html> is one of the largest jails in the country. It’s had its share of civil rights violations<https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/us/18cook.html>, though in recent years the jail has undergone major changes<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/16/nyregion/rethinking-rikers.html>, with the reduction of on-site violence being one major achievement.

Another achievement is re-enfranchising thousands of potential voters.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (D) began granting activists access to the jail to register people to vote in the months leading up to the 2016 general election. So far the group, which visits the jail monthly, has registered more than 1,800 detainees and wants to get hundreds more on the rolls ahead of this year’s midterms.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“A Census Question That Could Change How Power Is Divided in America ‘Is this person a citizen?’ The answer could mean less representation for populous states and big cities.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100405>
Posted on August 1, 2018 5:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100405> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Analysis<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/upshot/Census-question-citizenship-power.html> at NYT’s The Upshot.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Federal Court Awards Over $26,000 in Attorneys Fees and Costs to ACLU in Going After Kobach for Contempt<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100403>
Posted on August 1, 2018 4:04 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100403> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Court ruling<https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4627227/Fee-Ruling.pdf> (via Jessica Huseman<https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/1024790192467705856>).
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Federal Court Strikes Down Michigan Law Banning Straight-Ticket Voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100397>
Posted on August 1, 2018 11:17 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100397> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Common Cause<https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/federal-court-strikes-down-michigan-law-banning-straight-ticket-voting/>:

Today a federal judge struck down a 2015 bill passed by the Michigan legislature and signed by Governor Snyder to ban straight-ticket voting. Common Cause joined the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Democratic Party of Michigan, and Michigan voters challenging the case in court.

In his 103 page opinion<https://www.commoncause.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MI-Straight-Ticket-Voting-Ruling-8-1-18.pdf>, U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain found the legislature “intentionally discriminated against African Americans” by trying to eliminate straight-ticket voting.

From the opinion:

There is no evidence of racial animus. It is unmistakable, however, that Michigan’s Republican-dominated legislature enacted PA 268 to win elections—especially down-the-ticket contests—through suppressing African-Americans’ reliably Democratic votes. Accordingly, the Court concludes that the Plaintiffs have prevailed on their intentional discrimination claim under the Equal Protection Clause.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


--
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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