[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/21/18

Wed Feb 21 08:40:05 PST 2018

Wisconsin: “Burns says his approach to Supreme Court race most honest way to run”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97649>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97649> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WisPolitics:<https://www.wispolitics.com/2018/burns-says-his-approach-to-supreme-court-race-most-honest-way-to-run/>

Middleton attorney Tim Burns said he has not started to process whether his approach to the Supreme Court primary was a mistake.

But he believes it is the most honest way to run.

“I am still just 100 percent, wholly committed to the idea that judges need to run this way and they need to behave this way,” said Burns, who ran as an unabashed progressive. “They’re nominated for the court. We can’t just let these guys go controlling our society without demanding what their values are.”

With nearly three-fourths of precincts in, Burns was a distant third in the three-way race, according to unofficial returns collected by The Associated Press.

Patrick Marley:<https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/20/wisconsin-supreme-court-primary-michael-screnock-rebecca-dallet-advance-april-3-out-tu-3-esdays-wisc/352693002/>

Burns said he was surprised by the results because people had responded so well when he talked to them about his liberal viewpoint. He said he would spend a couple of days deciding whether to endorse Dallet or stay out of the general election campaign. He said there was no way he would back Screnock.

“I obviously have been pretty vocal about my concerns about the right wing of the Republican Party,” he said. “I just disagree so much with (Screnock’s) political views. I believe it will impact him as a judge.”

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Posted in judicial elections<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>

Losing Kentucky Candidate Claims Voter Fraud, But It May Be That Eligible Voters Were Incorrectly Purged from Voter Rolls<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97646>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:28 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97646> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Courier-Journal:<https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/02/20/dan-johnsons-widow-claims-voter-fraud-after-losing-seat-linda-belcher-district-49-race/357334002/>

An hour after being defeated by Linda Belcher<https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/02/20/linda-belcher-defeats-dan-johnsons-widow-reclaim-district-49-seat/356202002/> in a special election in Bullitt County Tuesday night, a spokesman for Rebecca Johnson said she is claiming voter fraud.

“The big story out of Bullitt County appears to be voter fraud,” David Adams, Johnson’s campaign manager said in a text message.

Belcher secured 68.45 percent of the vote, according to the Bullitt County Clerk’s office. Rebecca Johnson, Dan Johnson’s widow, secured 31.55 percent. There were 4,947 votes cast.

Johnson, however, claims that numerous people were turned away as being ineligible to vote at their local polling place.

“I’ve heard from people all day long saying they went to vote for me at the correct polling place and were refused the opportunity to vote,” Johnson said in a statement. “It’s like we are in a third world country.”

The Bullitt County Clerk’s Office did not respond to a request for comment after the election results were announced.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Wealthy donors ramp up political giving for 2018 midterms”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97643>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:21 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97643> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/02/20/wealthy-donors-ramp-up-political-giving-for-2018-midterms/?utm_term=.18451900a0ae>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Republican challenge to Pennsylvania map likely to fail; For Republicans, it’s not clear yet what legal avenue they plan to proceed with first, or the relief for which they will ask”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97639>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:15 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97639> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico reports.<https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/20/pennsylvania-elections-redistricting-map-midterms-356522>

UPDATE:  Looks like<http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2018/02/21/Republicans-file-federal-challenges-supreme-court-new-Pennsylvania-redistricting-gerrymandering-congressional-map/stories/201802210128> Pa Republican leaders opposed to the state Supreme Court redistricting remedy will file a SCOTUS petition AND a new separate federal district court lawsuit. Here’s why<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97581>both are likely to fail.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

Wisconsin: “Voters upset after discovering they were removed from voter rolls”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97637>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:12 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97637> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Gannett:<https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/2018/02/20/voters-upset-after-discovering-they-were-removed-voter-rolls/356226002/>

Dozens of active Green Bay area voters went to cast their ballot in Tuesday’s primary election only to find they had been removed from voter rolls.

Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney attributed many problems voters experienced on Tuesday to a multistate electronic tracking system the state started using in 2016 to update its statewide voter rolls.

He said the system sent postcards in November to close to 400,000 voters the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, identified as people who moved and would need to either confirm their details or register with updated information.

“When somebody tells the Social Security office or DMV or the Post Office that they have a new address, then ERIC looks at that and other criteria to determine whether or not they think someone has moved,” Magney said. “Some voters reporting problems Tuesday were declared inactive after failing to respond to a postcard they received asking them if they were still an active voter (residing there.)”…

Magney said WEC will refine the criteria ERIC uses to identify voters to remove from active rolls prior to 2019, the next year that the agency will review the state’s voter rolls

“We apologize if people were incorrectly removed from the active list. We apologize for any inconvenience it caused them,” Magney said. “This was the first ERIC mailing that we’ve done. Based on our experience with this, the next time we’d do it, in 2019, we’re going to work with ERIC to refine the criteria.”

He added that some callers who complained to WEC accused the commission of executing a purge of voter rolls based on political preferences. He said it was a bipartisan problem.

“In some of the phone calls, it was suggested this is an effort to disenfranchise Republicans or Democrats,” Magney said. “When you register to vote, you don’t register by party. We don’t keep track of which party’s primary you vote in. We have no idea what political preference is for any individual voter based on WEC records. We have no way of knowing (political affiliations) and have no interest in disenfranchising anyone.”

Remember, ERIC is supposed to be the better system (compared to Cross Check) in terms of false positives leading to disenfranchisement.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Files Motion Seeking Relief in the 2018 Midterm Election Cycle For Georgia Voters Impacted By Unlawful Gerrymandering”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97635>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:09 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97635> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release via email:

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction<http://lccrul.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d94589%26JDG%3c%3b28493%3e%26SDG%3c90%3a.&RE=MC&RI=4572568&Preview=False&DistributionActionID=13093&Action=Follow+Link> in its lawsuit against the Georgia Secretary of State that seeks to remedy an unlawful racial gerrymander.

The lawsuit concerns Atlanta metro area Georgia House of Representatives Districts that were redrawn in 2015 for the sole purpose of helping white incumbents get reelected.  The Motion filed late Tuesday powerfully demonstrates how race was used as a proxy to further partisan political interests in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.  The Motion seeks an expedited hearing, allowing the federal court enough time to provide for a remedy before the 2018 elections.

“Georgia’s mid-decade redistricting is an egregious example of the kind of racial gerrymandering that has no place in our democracy today,” said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “In swing districts where margins of victory were close, Georgia lawmakers reopened legislative maps for the sole purpose of locking in favored non-minority incumbents.  Georgia is a place that provides a textbook example of the kind of the unlawful racial gerrymandering that infects too many states today. Our action seeks to fight back against the unlawful actions of Georgia legislators who have put their thumb on the scale of democracy at the expense of minority voters.”
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“Transparency and Corruption: A General Analysis”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97633>
Posted on February 21, 2018 8:06 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97633> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Gilbert has posted this draft<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3123301> on SSRN (forthcoming, University of Chicago Legal Forum). Here is the abstract:

This essay makes two claims: transparency in government causes the very corruption it aims to prevent, and the problem is universal. Some scholars, mostly philosophers and social scientists, appreciate the first point, but it has not caught on in law. Legal debates — on campaign finance, for example — proceed almost universally on the assumption that transparency deters corruption. Few people, if any, seem to appreciate the second point. Scholars see the corruptive potential of transparency in specific settings, like open ballots. In fact, the problem is general, extending from campaign finance to FOIA and beyond. Efforts to dampen corruption with transparency usually threaten to promote it. The source of the problem is easy to explain. Corruption requires bargaining. By sharing information, transparency lowers the transaction costs of corrupt bargaining.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Into the Redistricting Woods”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97631>
Posted on February 20, 2018 2:20 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97631> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Steve Ansolabehere f<https://blog.harvardlawreview.org/into-the-redistricting-woods/>or the Harvard Law Review blog.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“The Geeks Who Put a Stop to Pennsylvania’s Partisan Gerrymandering”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97629>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97629> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WIRED reports.<https://www.wired.com/story/pennsylvania-partisan-gerrymandering-experts/>
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“Election Security a High Priority — Until It Comes to Paying for New Voting Machines”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97627>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:24 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97627> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

ProPublica<https://www.propublica.org/article/election-security-a-high-priority-until-it-comes-to-paying-for-new-voting-machines>:

A ProPublica analysis of voting machines found that over two-thirds of counties in America used machines for the 2016 election that are over a decade old. In most jurisdictions, the same equipment will be used in the 2018 election. In a recent nationwide survey<https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/nations-voting-infrastructure-outdated-vulnerable-cyberattacks> by the Brennan Center for Justice, election officials in 33 states reported needing to replace their voting equipment by 2020. Officials complain the machines are difficult to maintain and susceptible to crashes and failure, problems that lead to long lines and other impediments in voting and, they fear, a sense among voters that the system itself is untrustworthy….

While election equipment needs to be replaced more often, election administration remains a low funding priority, a ProPublica review of state and local budgets nationwide found.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

Arizona: “Court denies regulator’s request to look at utility’s campaign spending”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97625>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:13 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97625> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Arizona Capitol Times reports.<https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2018/02/19/arizona-maricopa-county-superior-court-bob-burns-aps-campaign-spending-request-denied/>

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Ohio congressional redistricting reform will be Issue 1 on May ballot”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97623>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:12 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97623> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Cleveland.com reports.<http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/02/ohio_congressional_redistricti_1.html>
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“Do low-turnout elections make the electorate more conservative? Not that much.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97621>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:11 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97621> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vladimir Kogan, Stéphane Lavertu and Zachary Peskowitz for the Monkey Cage<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/02/20/do-low-turnout-elections-make-the-electorate-more-conservative-not-that-much/?utm_term=.16094843c14f>.
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Posted in voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

“DOJ & FEC Complaints Filed Against President Trump, His Campaign & American Media Inc. for Illegal, Unreported $150K Coordinated Expenditure to Former Playboy Playmate”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97619>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:06 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97619> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release:<http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/doj-fec-complaints-filed-against-trump-his-campaign-and-american-media-inc-for-illegal-unreported-150K-coordinated-expenditure-to-former-playboy-playmate.html>

Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that American Media, Inc.’s August 2016 payment of $150,000 to former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, to buy and bury her story of an affair with Donald J. Trump, was for the purpose of influencing the 2016 election and was coordinated with Donald Trump’s attorney and agent Michael Cohen—making it an illegal corporate in-kind contribution to the 2016 Trump campaign. Additionally, the payment was never reported as an in-kind contribution received, and an expenditure made, by the campaign as required by campaign finance law.

The New York Times broke the story Sunday<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news> of American Media, Inc. (AMI) contacting Cohen in 2016 before the company paid McDougal for exclusive rights to her story of an affair with Donald Trump, which the paper then killed reportedly to protect Trump’s candidacy. Cohen was also in contact with McDougal’s attorney, Keith Davidson, who filled him in on the details after the deal was signed. Davidson also represented adult film star Stephanie Clifford (aka “Stormy Daniels”), to whom Cohen has admitted facilitating payment of $130,000 reportedly in hush money shortly before the 2016 election to quash her story of an affair with Trump.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Pennsylvania Republicans to sue as soon as Wednesday to block redistricted map”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97617>
Posted on February 20, 2018 1:05 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97617> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Morning Call reports.<http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-gop-lawsuit-redistricting-20180220-story.html>
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

--
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>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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