[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/9/18

Wed Aug 8 20:51:22 PDT 2018

North Carolina: “Roy Cooper sued election board. Instead of fighting, the board’s lawyer took his side.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100516>
Posted on August 8, 2018 8:37 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100516> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News and Observer:<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article216304475.html>

Gov. Roy Cooper sued the state elections board and Republican legislative leaders over two constitutional amendments planned for the fall ballot. Rather than fighting Cooper, the state lawyer representing the elections board has jumped in on Cooper’s side.

The state Republican Party is calling out state Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, for supporting the Democratic governor’s position on the lawsuit without getting election board members’ approval.

“It is highly unusual for an attorney to make a decision of this magnitude without a formal request or vote from his client board,” the state GOP said in a statement. “It is illegal for any member of the board to take a public stance on a ballot question.”

In an email, a spokeswoman for Stein said the office is confident it is properly representing the board.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Foreign interests have spent over $530 million influencing US policy, public opinion since 2017”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100514>
Posted on August 8, 2018 5:50 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100514> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Open Secrets<https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/08/foreign-interests-fara-lobby-watch-exclusive/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=twitt-foreign-interests-fara-080818>:

Foreign lobbyists and agents acting on behalf of foreign interests have reported hundreds of millions of dollars in payments since January 2017, an analysis of OpenSecrets’ exclusive new Foreign Lobby Watch<https://www.opensecrets.org/fara/> data reveals.

Today we’re making available, for the first time, a searchable database of foreign interests spending on lobbying and influence in the United States.

Foreign lobbyists and other operatives acting on behalf of foreign interests wield a significant amount of power, impacting economic and diplomatic policies as well as public opinion.

The law that governs most foreign influence disclosure requirements, the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), requires any foreign agent or lobbyist representing a foreign principal to register with the U.S. Department of Justice and file detailed public disclosures.

These reports may include details that are not found in the more familiar lobbying reports submitted to Congress under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, including names of U.S. officials with whom the lobbyist had contact and copies of materials disseminated, such as ads, press releases, or flyers.

While FARA reports are publicly available through the Justice Department, following the money can be difficult, requiring laborious research and records sleuthing. With Foreign Lobby Watch, anyone can quickly learn what foreign interests are spending on lobbying or to influence policy in the United States and how much they are spending.
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Posted in lobbying<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

“PA James Announces Legislation to Close Loophole Allowing Foreign Contributions to NYC Political Campaigns”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100512>
Posted on August 8, 2018 5:47 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100512> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Press release:<https://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/news/articles/pa-james-announces-legislation-close-loophole-allowing-foreign-contributions-nyc>

Public Advocate Letitia James announced major new legislation designed to prevent foreign entities from circumventing New York City’s strict campaign finance laws through a loophole created by Citizens United. Introduced in the wake of substantial new evidence of a coordinated Kremlin effort to illegally funnel money through the NRA to benefit Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, this legislation will help ensure that New York City elections are free from corrupt foreign influence.

New York City’s Campaign Finance Laws are already a national model, but the intelligence community consensus of ongoing efforts by hostile foreign powers to illegally subvert American elections has highlighted unforeseen dangers.

In order to protect the integrity of our New York City elections, the bill would strengthen the existing prohibition on direct foreign and corporate campaign contributions by extending the ban to American corporations under substantial foreign ownership or control.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“US judge voids part of North Carolina election law”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100509>
Posted on August 8, 2018 5:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100509> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/us/article/US-judge-voids-part-of-North-Carolina-election-law-13142178.php>

A federal judge invalidated part of North Carolina elections law that allows one voter to challenge another’s residency, a provision that activist groups used to scrub thousands of names from rolls ahead of the 2016 elections.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs said in an order signed Wednesday that the residency challenges are pre-empted by the 1993 federal “motor voter” law aimed at expanding voting opportunities.

You can find the court’s order at this link.<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/NORTH_CAROLINA_STATE_CONFERENC_1471.pdf>
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Posted in NVRA (motor voter)<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>

“A Senator Claims That Russian Hackers Are In Florida’s Voter Systems. Local Officials Are Skeptical.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100507>
Posted on August 8, 2018 5:41 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100507> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BuzzFeed:<https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kevincollier/russia-hackers-election-security-florida-nelson>

Florida Senator Bill Nelson claimed Wednesday that Russian hackers “right now” are “in (the) records” of county election offices, prompting confusion from Florida state and county officials who said they are unaware of such an attack.

Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, Nelson said that the hackers “have already penetrated certain counties in the state and they now have free rein to move about.”

In an email to Florida’s 67 county supervisors shared with BuzzFeed News, Florida’s secretary of state, Ken Detzner, said he “has received zero information from Senator Nelson or his staff that support his claims.”

“Additionally, the Department has received no information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that corroborates Senator Nelson’s statement and we have no evidence to support these claims. If Senator Nelson has specific information about threats to our elections, he should share it with election officials in Florida,” Detzner said.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Georgia election officials knew system had ‘critical vulnerabilities’ before 2016 vote”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100505>
Posted on August 8, 2018 5:21 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100505> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

McClatchy:<https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article216031450.html>

Georgia election officials got a friendly warning in August 2016 that their electronic voting system could be easily breached.

But less than a month before the November election, a state cybersecurity official fretted that “critical vulnerabilities” persisted, internal emails show.

The emails, obtained through a voting security group’s open records request, offer a glimpse into a Georgia election security team that appeared to be outmatched even as evidence grew that Russian operatives were seeking to penetrate state and county election systems across the country.

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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Pa.’s absentee-ballot problem: Votes come in late because of tight deadline”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100503>
Posted on August 8, 2018 2:17 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100503> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jonathan Lai<http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/politics/pennsylvania-absentee-ballot-voting-deadline-missed-uncounted-20180808.html> in the Philly Inquirer:

In 2010, election officials reported 2,162 absentee ballots were rejected for coming in too late; 2,030 were rejected in 2014. And given all the cuts endured by the postal service in recent years, election officials say that if lawmakers don’t act, the problem is going to get worse.

The numbers might not be enormous, state and county election officials say, but it matters that thousands of voters end up disenfranchised — and without their knowledge. And who knows — in especially close elections those votes might just make a difference.

Pennsylvania, with deadlines more restrictive than many other states<https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot-deadlines/>, is a national leader in absentee ballots invalidated because of missed deadlines.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

--
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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