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

Thu Aug 9 21:14:41 PDT 2018

Kobach Says He’s Going to Recuse Himself—Let’s See If/How That Happens<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100549>
Posted on August 9, 2018 9:04 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100549> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

KC Star:<https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article216423305.html>

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said in a cable news interview Thursday night that he plans to recuse himself from the vote tally process in the face of pressure from Gov. Jeff Colyer and mounting confusion over vote totals.

Kobach said that he would recuse himself in an interview with CNN hours after Colyer had sent a letter demanding that Kobach refrain from instructing county election officials on the counting of ballots in the primary race for governor on a day when the vote total narrowed to roughly 100 votes as multiple counties reported that vote totals were incorrect.

“I’ll be happy to recuse myself. But as I say, it really doesn’t make any difference. My office doesn’t count the votes. The counties do,” Kobach said in an interview with host Chris Cuomo.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

Don Blankenship Sues to Get on the West Virginia Ballot for U.S Senate as the Constitution Party Candidate<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100547>
Posted on August 9, 2018 8:55 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100547> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ballot Access News has the details<http://ballot-access.org/2018/08/09/constitution-party-files-west-virginia-ballot-access-lawsuit/> and the brief<http://ballot-access.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Blankenship-Petition-for-Mandamus.pdf>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Tulare County farmer asking court to make Devin Nunes stop calling himself one, too”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100545>
Posted on August 9, 2018 8:52 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100545> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fresno Bee:<https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/political-notebook/article216371730.html>

Several residents within California’s 22nd Congressional District filed a petition in Sacramento Superior Court on Thursday morning, asking the court to remove “farmer” from Rep. Devin Nunes’ description on California ballots….

“I don’t believe (Nunes) has had any income from farming for at least 10 years,” Buxman said. “He has some interest in a few wineries, but he’s distanced himself from those and says he has no involvement in their day-to-day management.”

Here is the writ petition<https://www.scribd.com/document/385870354/Writ-Petition-Nunes-Ballot-Designation-00353904xAEB03>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Kobach’s Office Apparently Made the Error Awarding Him 100 More Votes than He Deserved<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100543>
Posted on August 9, 2018 4:10 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100543> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Oh my:<http://amp.kansascity.com/latest-news/article216397410.html>

The hotline announcement coincided with the discovery of 100 votes for Colyer in Thomas County near the Colorado border.

Thomas County Clerk Shelly Harms confirmed that Colyer received 522 votes on election day rather than the total of 422 that had been reported by the secretary of state’s office.

She shared a scan of the form she submitted to Kobach’s office, which clearly showed 522 votes for the governor, and said the secretary of state’s office was responsible for the discrepancy, not the county.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Automatic Voter Registration In Mass. To Begin By 2020, Galvin Says”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100541>
Posted on August 9, 2018 3:31 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100541> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WBUR:<http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/08/09/automatic-voter-registration-law-massachusetts>
Massachusetts on Thursday became the 14th state in the country to adopt an automatic voter registration system, according to Secretary of State William Galvin and advocates who backed the measure.
Galvin announced that Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a bill that would automatically register eligible voters when they interact with the Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassHealth, unless they opt out.
Galvin said he was “excited to begin preparations today” and expected to have the necessary systems in place on Jan. 1, 2020, “just in time for the next Presidential Primaries.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Kansas Gov. Colyer Says Kobach Giving Wrong Guidance to County Election Officials, Urges Recusal<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100539>
Posted on August 9, 2018 3:19 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100539> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
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Daniel Strauss<https://twitter.com/DanielStrauss4>
✔@DanielStrauss4<https://twitter.com/DanielStrauss4>

<https://twitter.com/DanielStrauss4/status/1027679993894264832>

Kansas Gov. Colyer wants Secretary of State Kobach to recuse himself from giving election advice to local election officials. Here’s the letter:
3:16 PM - Aug 9, 2018<https://twitter.com/DanielStrauss4/status/1027679993894264832>

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

EAC Commissioner Christy McCormick Recommended DOJ Person to Work on Trump Voter “Fraud” Commission Because “he is conservative (and Christian too)”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100537>
Posted on August 9, 2018 3:07 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100537> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Amazing<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4635516-PROD001-0007082.html#document/p105> (not that Commissioner McCormick would think that, but that she would put that in writing).
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

Today’s Must Read: “Inside The Trump Voter Fraud Commission’s Weird, Wild Attempt To Prove The Untrue”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100535>
Posted on August 9, 2018 3:05 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100535> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sam Levine for HuffPo:<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-voter-fraud-commission_us_5b6c8944e4b0bdd062078ae4?u2k>

One morning in June last year, just before 3 a.m., Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/kris-kobach> emailed White House officials with an editing suggestion for a draft letter they were preparing on behalf of President Donald Trump<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/donald-trump>’s voter fraud commission. In addition to requesting a boatload of voter information, the letter asked state election officials to answer questions about evidence of voter fraud and to offer recommendations for preventing voter disenfranchisement and intimidation.

Kobach, the effective head of the commission, took issue with the order of the questions. The Republican didn’t want the inquiry about voter intimidation to come before the inquiry about voter fraud, because voter fraud was what the commission was really interested in.

“I don’t think voter intimidation should be listed before voter fraud. That is a secondary or tertiary concern of the commission,” Kobach wrote<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4635501-PROD001-0005992.html#document/p367/a444751>. White House officials appear to have heeded Kobach’s advice and put the question about voter fraud first in the letter<https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/information-requests-to-states-06282017.pdf> it sent out that day.

The email was among thousands of documents publicly released last week by the watchdog group American Oversight and Democratic commission member Matthew Dunlap, Maine’s secretary of state. The controversial panel was abruptly disbanded in January. These emails provide the most in-depth look to date at its work, which was hidden from both the public and the Democrats who served on the commission.

Taken together, the documents show how the White House and Republican commission members sought to bolster the false narrative that voter fraud is a widespread problem in the U.S., despite no evidence that’s true.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Irony Alert: Kobach Challenger Sets Up “Voting Integrity Hotline” as Kansas Governor’s Race Remains Too Close to Call<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100533>
Posted on August 9, 2018 11:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100533> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
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"TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s lead in GOP governor primary cut in half after vote mistake discovered."

MEANWHILE: Jeff Colyer has set up a voter integrity hotline.
11:42 AM - Aug 9, 2018<https://twitter.com/DanielStrauss4/status/1027626280827662337>

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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Ohio race just got closer after county finds hundreds of uncounted votes”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100531>
Posted on August 9, 2018 11:57 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=100531> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Cincinnati Enquirer:<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/08/ohio-midterm-uncounted-votes-danny-oconnor-troy-balderson/941603002/>

The tight race between Democrat Danny O’Connor and Republican Troy Balderson just got tighter.

Election officials in Franklin County found 588 previously uncounted votes in a Columbus suburb. The result: O’Connor had a net gain of 190 votes, bringing the race’s margin down to 1,564.<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/08/08/ohio-12-th-congressional-there-recount/932789002/>

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

--
Rick Hasen
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UC Irvine School of Law
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