[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/27/18

Tue Feb 27 07:43:26 PST 2018

In DC on Tuesday March 6? Join Adam Liptak, Sue Low Bloch and Me to Talk About Justice Scalia's Legacy and Future of the Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97767>
Posted on February 27, 2018 7:39 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97767> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I'm very much looking forward to this lunchtime talk March 6 at Georgetown Law,<https://events.acslaw.org/rsvp?id=a0Y0f00000GDq5yEAD&campaign=a0WG000000DPHSlMAP> sponsored by ACS, talking about Justice Scalia's legacy and the future of the Supreme Court, teeing off my upcoming book, The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption.<https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Contradictions-Antonin-Politics-Disruption/dp/0300228643/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516904231&sr=8-1&keywords=richard+l.+hasen>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D97767&title=In%20DC%20on%20Tuesday%20March%206%3F%20Join%20Adam%20Liptak%2C%20Sue%20Low%20Bloch%20and%20Me%20to%20Talk%20About%20Justice%20Scalia%E2%80%99s%20Legacy%20and%20Future%20of%20the%20Supreme%20Court>
Posted in Scalia<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=123>

"Ryan's Move To Replace Election Commissioner Worries State Officials"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97765>
Posted on February 27, 2018 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97765> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM reports.<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/election-assistance-commissioner-matt-masterson>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D97765&title=%E2%80%9CRyan%E2%80%99s%20Move%20To%20Replace%20Election%20Commissioner%20Worries%20State%20Officials%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

"Eric Holder's group sues Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker over not calling special elections"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97763>
Posted on February 26, 2018 7:58 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97763> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:<https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/26/eric-holders-group-sues-wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-over-not-calling-special-elections/374278002/>

The lawsuit was brought by the National Redistricting Foundation - an affiliate of Holder's group - and the legal team includes Democratic attorney Marc Elias, who served as the general counsel for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

The case will hinge in part on a state law that says<http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/8.pdf#page=13> Walker must promptly call a special election to fill any legislative seat that becomes vacant "before the 2nd Tuesday in May in the year in which a regular election is held."

Walker aide Tom Evenson has said that means Walker doesn't need to hold a special election since the vacancies occurred not in 2018 - the election year - but in 2017.

Democrats argue this reading of the law makes little sense since a vacancy in 2017 leads to the seats sitting vacant for more time, not less. That ought to argue for holding a special election, they say.
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Posted in voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

"Edwards Case Looms Over Payments to Women Alleging Trump Links"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97761>
Posted on February 26, 2018 7:39 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97761> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg BNA<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=128822862&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=00000161d371dec3ab75fffde13c0000&split=0>:

Bradley Smith, a former Republican commissioner on the FEC who now heads the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech, said in a phone interview that it would be "very difficult" to show the payments to women linked to Trump were related to the presidential campaign. Smith noted that Trump had a long history before his candidacy trying to shape his news coverage as a public figure.

Smith said it was likely the FEC would dismiss the Common Cause complaints based on responses from Cohen and others.

Adav Noti, a former FEC staff attorney now with the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, said the timing of payments to Clifford and McDougal raised serious legal questions. He added, however, that "we don't know nearly enough facts" to determine whether the campaign finance law was violated.
Whether the FEC will investigate and determine those facts is doubtful, Noti said.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

"California Democrats agree they have too many candidates for Congress. What to do about them is the problem"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97759>
Posted on February 26, 2018 2:54 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=97759> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT:<http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-democrats-narrowing-house-fields-20180224-story.html>

There are so many Democrats running for Congress in some districts that they could split the votes in the June 5 primary and send two Republicans to the November election, thanks to California's top-two primary system. Democrats need 24 seats to reclaim the majority in the U.S. House<http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-congressional-race-rankings/> - and are putting money and attention toward 10 California contests. In other words, every race matters.

The volume of Democratic candidates is a particular problem in Issa's 49th Congressional District in San Diego and south Orange County.
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Posted in political parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

--
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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