[EL] more news 1/4/18

Rick Hasen rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Jan 4 12:38:43 PST 2018 

“Trump will still yell about voter fraud, but at least his clownish election commission can’t do any lasting damage”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96747>
Posted on January 4, 2018 12:37 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96747> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I have written this oped <http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-hasen-election-integrity-commission-20180104-story.html> for the Los Angeles Times. It begins:
President Trump<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html>’s precipitous decision<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission.html> Wednesday to shutter his “election integrity” commission — buried<http://mailchi.mp/cnn/rs-jan-3-2018> amid a slew of revelations from Michael Wolff’s new tell-all book about the Trump campaign and presidency — is good news for Americans who care about fair elections in the United States. Though Trump’s tweets<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948872192284155904> Thursday<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948874586006925313> about voter fraud and his announcement that he will shift the commission’s investigation to the Department of Homeland Security<http://www.latimes.com/topic/unrest-conflicts-war/defense/u.s.-department-of-homeland-security-ORGOV0000136-topic.html> means he won’t let go of the issue, the greatest immediate danger to voting rights seems to have passed.
It concludes:
After Trump’s announcement, a White House official told CNN<http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/politics/presidential-election-commission/index.html> that the commission went “off the rails” and Pence distanced himself from it. Kobach tried to put the best face on things Wednesday night, telling Politico:<https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/03/trump-disbands-voter-fraud-commission-322621>“Anyone on the left needs to realize that by throwing the food in the air, they just lost a seat at the table.” He said he expected Immigration and Customs Enforcement<http://www.latimes.com/topic/social-issues/u.s.-immigration-customs-enforcement-ORGOV0000136156-topic.html> officials in the Department of Homeland Security to take up where the commission left off.
But it is not clear that ICE would be able to accomplish more than this doomed commission. Privacy rules require<https://twitter.com/_justinlevitt_/status/948743608898699264> federal agencies to disclose the use of voter data. If the Homeland Security Department actually does something to please Trump, it will undermine its reputation, and thus its work advising state election officials about how to combat foreign hacking. There will be more lawsuits. Without a commission, there will no longer be a veneer<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93553> of “bipartisanship,” which could be used to sell new restrictive voting legislation.
Trump will still yell about voter fraud. But the commission was bankrupt before Trump officially yanked its charter, and perhaps with its clownish demise the country can get on to the serious business of improving our election system and protecting it from external hacking and other threats. That remains a desperate need<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/opinion/sunday/dont-let-our-democracy-collapse.html>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Today’s Humor Section: Kobach Tells Breitbart Action by DHS to Continue Voter Fraud Witch Hunt Won’t Be Stalled Through Litigation<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96745>
Posted on January 4, 2018 12:15 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96745> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Breitbart exclusive interview<http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/01/03/exclusive-kris-kobach-voter-fraud-commission-being-handed-off-to-dhs-will-no-longer-be-stonewalled-by-dems/> with Kobach:
“They have absolutely no interest in stopping voter fraud,” Kobach said. “It’s truly extraordinary that one party in our system has made clear that they don’t care.”
“Some people on the Left were getting uncomfortable about how much we were finding out,” Kobach continued.
Thus far, the voter fraud commission has revealed:

  *   938 convictions for voter fraud since the year 2000
  *   Fewer than 1 in 100 cases ends in a conviction
  *   In Kansas, alone, there are 127 known cases of non-citizen aliens registering to vote
  *   In 21 states, there were 8,471 cases of double voting discovered
The commission will now more soundly operate without hold-ups in courts, lawsuits, and political battles, a move that Kobach says Democrats brought onto themselves.
“The investigations will continue now, but they won’t be able to stall if through litigation,” Kobach told Breitbart News.
“The investigation will continue. And it will continue more efficiently and more effectively,” Kobach said. “By throwing their food in the air, they just lost their seat at the table.
To be clear, the Commission made no such findings. There were never any findings adopted by the Commission.
And if DHS tries to do what the Commission did, I expect continued legal action.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Trump’s Voter Fraud Commission Is Gone, But Scrutiny Will Continue”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96743>
Posted on January 4, 2018 11:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96743> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Jessica Huseman<https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-voter-fraud-commission-is-gone-but-scrutiny-will-continue> for ProPublica.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


Trump Press Secretary Says Pence-Kobach Commission Will Forward “Preliminary Findings” to DHS; But There Were No Public Findings…and Now More Grounds for Continued Litigation<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96741>
Posted on January 4, 2018 11:44 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96741> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949002413830098945>

[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_normal.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
If there were any findings they were not made public.

Perhaps the Dunlap or @LawyersComm<https://twitter.com/LawyersComm> lawsuits can get the now-defunct Commission to produce the documentation and argue the Press Secretary's statement means the issue is NOT moot. https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/948999540941709312 …<https://t.co/9Uq5jADvZv>
11:39 AM - Jan 4, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949002413830098945>

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. at PressSec<https://twitter.com/PressSec> says Election Integrity Commission will forward its preliminary findings to DHS who will make decisions about how to act
11:28 AM - Jan 4, 2018<https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/948999540941709312>

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



Dunlap on the President’s Claim of Why Pence-Kobach Ended: “Balderdash”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96739>
Posted on January 4, 2018 11:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96739> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Think Progress:<https://thinkprogress.org/dunlap-commission-end-c3f744bf8545/>
Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap (D) had strong words for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) on Thursday after Kobach tried to lay blame for the failure of President Trump’s Election Integrity Commission at the feet of Dunlap and three other Democratic commissioners.
“[It’s a] bunch of balderdash,” Dunlap told ThinkProgress in an interview….
“The Federal Advisory Committee Act is quite clear that this is supposed to be a transparent, open process that welcomes perspectives from across the political spectrum, and we weren’t doing any of that,” Dunlap said. “When I filed the suit, [Kobach] said the suit was baseless. Well, the federal judge disagreed.”
After the December order, Dunlap said he suspected that Kobach would choose to terminate the commission rather than involve the four Democrats.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Welcome to the Family — Electionline.org becomes a Democracy Fund Project”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96737>
Posted on January 4, 2018 10:58 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96737> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Great news:<http://www.democracyfund.org/blog/entry/electionline-becomes-a-democracy-fund-project>
At Democracy Fund, we believe that Americans deserve modern, voter-centric elections<http://www.democracyfund.org/electionsmap> as a part of a responsive political system. As a grantmaker, this means investing in other organizations, projects, and platforms that support the spread of good information and foster dialogue. At times, it can also mean developing and creating our own internal efforts. In that spirit, we are excited to welcome electionline.org<http://electionline.org/> as a Democracy Fund project and to continue working with Mindy Moretti as the site editor.
Electionline.org is the nation’s only nonpartisan, non-advocacy clearinghouse for election administration news and information. Over the last 17 years, former editor Doug Chapin and current editor Mindy Moretti have provided a unique place where election administrators can find news relevant to their work — apart from political horse races and partisan campaign rhetoric. Daily and weekly content illustrates the routine business of our American elections and features stories ranging from serious issues with ballots to lighthearted moments with poll workers.
Democracy Fund has been a long-time supporter of electionline.org<http://electionline.org/>, providing significant financial support since 2014. As the partnership grew, we had the space to consider what the future could look like for both organizations — and an agreement was made to bring the project within Democracy Fund. Over the next year, Democracy Fund will work with Mindy to manage and grow the site. It will continue to operate through a strictly nonpartisan lens and with a commitment to transparency about the role our organization plays. Our goal is to ensure the site remains a trusted source of the latest news, tools, and best practices for accessible and secure elections.
Over the years, several organizations who care about the quality of American elections have contributed to building and sustaining the electionline.org website, including The Pew Charitable Trusts and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. We value their contributions and they cannot go unthanked for their vision for the site. We also remain so grateful to Doug and Mindy for their pioneering work. Doug explained that the site grew bigger and better than he ever expected. He’d originally hoped that the site would prompt national and local media outlets to take on election administration as a routine beat after a few years, making the site unnecessary over time. That hasn’t happened, but electionline.org has outlasted his initial prediction as a result, becoming a truly one-of-a-kind place for the elections community.
Part of Mindy’s passion for the site is that “there is a story behind every vote cast. There is a story behind every new innovation or piece of equipment purchased.” And while electionline.org<http://electionline.org/> might have started as Doug’s baby, it has been Mindy’s unruly teenager and she’s glad that the site now has a home and “co-parent” with Democracy Fund.
While we’re working on what the future holds, not much is going to change immediately. Regular electionline.org readers will see Democracy Fund’s commitment to disclose when weekly articles cover our grantees or other work in the field. As always, the site will have a curation of daily news and a weekly feature about the election world. And Mindy will work with Democracy Fund’s Elections team to grow the network of readers and enhance the types of information available on the site.
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Posted in election law biz<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>


“The Supreme Court has a chance to redeem itself on voting rights”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96735>
Posted on January 4, 2018 10:56 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96735> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Karen Hobert Flynn WaPo oped<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/states-are-purging-people-from-voter-rolls-for-not-voting-the-supreme-court-should-stop-it/2018/01/04/b5f13458-effc-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html?utm_term=.ae567ce51ca8>:
Nearly 63 million Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2016, and nearly 66 million cast ballots for Hillary Clinton. But the votes for Trump and Clinton fell well short of the number cast for no one at all; more than 95 million<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/12/about-100-million-people-couldnt-be-bothered-to-vote-this-year/?utm_term=.a6c446f49dae> eligible Americans just didn’t vote.
Some of those nonvoters probably just didn’t like Trump or Clinton or any of their minor-party challengers. Some were ill or disabled or out of the country or couldn’t get away from work to vote. Some had no way to get to the registrar’s office before the registration deadline or to the polls on Election Day. And, sad to say, some didn’t vote because they’ve given up on politics and government.
Whatever their reasons, the nonvoters had the same right to vote — guaranteed by our Constitution — as the people who voted. But because they didn’t vote, millions of Americans now face the loss of that right at the hands of state officials who ought to be protecting it.
 This is wrong, and the Supreme Court now has a chance to stop it. Next week, the court will hear a case<http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/husted-v-philip-randolph-institute/>giving the justices a chance to decide whether states can purge people from the voter rolls for not voting. Since 2011, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has wiped about 2 million <https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/23/court-says-ohios-voter-purge-illegal-will-rolls-be-restored-time-election> Ohioans off the books; he wants the high court’s blessing to purge even more.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, NVRA (motor voter)<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Trump’s controversial election integrity commission is gone. Here’s what comes next.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96733>
Posted on January 4, 2018 10:53 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96733> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Charles Stewart <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/04/trumps-controversial-election-integrity-commission-is-gone-heres-what-comes-next/?utm_term=.72807bfcfa3d> for The Monkey Cage.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


Today’s Must-Read: “For Native Americans, a ‘Historic Moment’ on the Path to Power at the Ballot Box”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96731>
Posted on January 4, 2018 10:25 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96731> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Julie Turkewitz <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/native-american-voting-rights.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news> in the NYT:
Fights over indigenous voting rights are playing out in the West and the Midwest, a trend that has the potential to tip tight races in states with large native populations, like Alaska and Arizona, and to influence matters of national importance, like the future of Bears Ears National Monument, a conservation area in this county that is at the center of a fierce debate over public lands.
Today, Native Americans are suing over a new voter identification law in North Dakota<https://www.narf.org/nill/documents/20171213nd-voting-complaint.PDF>, where lawyers say there is not a single driver’s license site on a reservation in a state that requires identification to vote. The outcome of the lawsuit could influence this year’s congressional election, helping to secure or flip the seat of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat with wide Native American support.
In the battleground state of Nevada<https://www.scribd.com/document/323295146/Sanchez-et-al-v-Cegavske-et-al>, the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiutes won a lawsuit in late 2016 that charged that tribal citizens had to travel as many as 100 miles to vote. The suit forced officials to open new polling stations in tribal areas and spurred nine other tribes to request their own election sites.
And in Alaska<https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2016/08/27/newly-enacted-native-language-voting-provisions-rolled-out-at-polls-in-august-alaska-primary/>, where native people make up a fifth of the population, officials recently rolled out election materials in the Yup’ik, Inupiaq and Gwich’in languages, following federal rulings that found the state had failed to provide materials equivalent to those used by English speakers.
After those changes, turnout in villages rose by as much as 20 percent, increasing the political power of the state’s native residents.
Other native voting cases are proceeding or have been recently settled in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. And a second case is open in San Juan County, this one challenging the county’s decision to move to an all-mail ballot. Plaintiffs contend this disenfranchises native people who live far from reliable mail service.
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
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Irvine, CA 92697-8000
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