[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/8/18

Sun Jan 7 20:11:24 PST 2018

“I was on Trump’s voter fraud commission. Its demise was inevitable.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96799>
Posted on January 7, 2018 8:04 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96799> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Matt Dunlap for WaPo.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-was-on-trumps-voter-fraud-commission-its-demise-was-inevitable/2018/01/07/b5c1bec8-f261-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html?utm_term=.514b7d35b883>
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“The Right Not to Vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96797>
Posted on January 7, 2018 7:59 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96797> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Slate Amicus:<http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/amicus/2018/01/ohio_s_voter_purge_comes_before_the_supreme_court.html>
Sometimes the technical stuff is how you get to the crucial stuff. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a case about Ohio’s voter purge, and the case rests on some sticky statutory interpretation questions. Up to 1.2 million voters may have been purged from Ohio’s rolls after they sat out a couple of elections, and in this episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick does a deep dive into the technicalities of the case. Dahlia and her guests also use this moment to take stock of the state of voting rights in the U.S. Dahlia talks with Mayor Joseph Helle of Oak Harbor, Ohio, a veteran who came home to find he’d been purged from the rolls after not voting while on active duty, and the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, Dale Ho. Ho even cites his favorite Justice Antonin Scalia opinion.
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Posted in NVRA (motor voter)<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

Jonah Goldberg: “The Voter-Fraud Commission Dies a Partisan Death” (and My Own Thoughts on Thielen’s Laughable Oped)<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96791>
Posted on January 7, 2018 11:43 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96791> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Jonah Goldberg:<http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/455189/trump-voter-fraud-commissions-partisan-death>
Michael Thielen, the executive director of the Republican National Lawyers Association, is upset that the White House disbanded the “voter-fraud commission.” He writes:
…
President Trump<http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump> has shut down his Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (PACEI)<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-termination-presidential-advisory-commission-election-integrity/>, also called the “vote fraud commission.” Some Democrats and their allies in the liberal election administration community are cheering as if they have won a war. In a sense, they did nuke the field of bipartisanship that existed in the election administration field. No voter should be happy about this.
The left opposed the PACEI when it was only a rumor, before any of its members were announced and its mission was declared. A great example is the source of much election news: a formerly center-left, now full-time Trump resister, Professor Rick Hasen of the Election Law Blog<http://electionlawblog.org/>.   Before this commission even announced its scope or membership, Hasen not only opposed the PACEI but also strongly opposed<http://www.pressherald.com/2017/05/24/commentary-dunlap-badly-mistaken-in-agreeing-to-serve-on-trump-voter-fraud-panel/> any Democrats participating.
This effort went so far as attacking Democratic members of the commission when they were announced and complaining if they did not obstruct the PACEI’s hearings. Hillary Clinton<http://thehill.com/people/hillary-clinton>’s longtime election lawyer Marc Elias even disputed<https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/862772481081389057> that the longest serving secretary of state in the nation, Bill Gardner of New Hampshire, was really a Democrat. Another small example, Hasen blocked<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/907615526200815616> my group from his Twitter account for agreeing with a liberal reporter that the PACEI was acting in a bipartisan fashion.
Why is this hatred so strong? Besides that it is the liberal election administration community’s way of participating in the Trump “resist” movement, they feared the PACEI because the last two presidential election commissions have recommended corrective measures that go against the liberal agenda. (My emphasis)
…
Thielen goes on in this vein for a while. As someone who thinks voter fraud is a real problem, albeit not nearly on the scale some on the right claim, I think it’s regrettable that the issue has become so bogged down in partisanship.

Thielen’s op-ed loses much of its impact and credibility when he doesn’t mention, even in passing, the fact that the commission was created as a backstop to justify President Trump’s claim that a popular-vote victory was stolen from him because 3-5 million illegal voters cast votes for Hillary Clinton — a claim with no evidence behind it.
No doubt many of the partisan motivations Thielen describes played a role in the obstruction of the commission, but failing to provide that context strikes me as a pretty partisan exercise in its own right.

Thielen replied to Goldberg that Trump’s motivations are “not as relevant:”
[http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-01-07-at-11.45.49-AM-1024x311.png]<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2018-01-07-at-11.45.49-AM.png>
I commented in a tweetstorm <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949362616450785280> on Thielen’s incorrect statement that I opposed the earlier commissions (I believe I agreed with every recommendation of the Bauer-Ginsberg commission), and the idea that I opposed Pence-Kobach because I was afraid it would create recommendations which would end the voter fraud I love and crave. I opposed it because it was based on a dangerous lie aimed at disenfranchising people and stacked with the country’s worst voter suppressors who lie about the extent of the problem and use it as an excuse to make it harder for eligible voters to cast a free and fair ballot.
I express my hope that there can be true bipartisan progress now with this commission out of the way.
5 Jan<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949434973748019200>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_bigger.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
Replying to @rickhasen @TheRepLawyer<https://twitter.com/_/status/949362616450785280>
Especially hilarious about this Thielen hit piece is claims I opposed the Pence-Kobach fraud squad because I saw what last commissions found and was afraid of reforms that would stop rampant voter fraud.
In fact, I supported every recommendation of Bauer-Ginsberg commission.
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949435298471075840>

[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/947625143798415360/l_NAmVap_bigger.jpg]Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
Fixing elections fairly is not a zero sum game. It is possible to design election systems to both make it easier for eligible voters to vote and harder to cheat (even though cheating is rare).
My 2012 book, for example, calls for universal voter registation + national voter id
4:19 PM - Jan 5, 2018<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/949435298471075840>

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

“Trump Administration To Fight Order To Give Documents To Democratic Voter Fraud Commissioner”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96787>
Posted on January 6, 2018 2:36 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96787> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Sam Levine:<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-voter-fraud-commission_us_5a50e8bde4b01e1a4b156fd4?p3f>
The Trump administration says it will fight<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4344509-DOJ-Letter-to-Dunlap-lawyers-1-5-2018.html> a court order telling its voter fraud commission to hand over communications and documents to a Democratic member who sued the panel and alleged he was being illegally excluded from its decision-making process.
D.C. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sided with the commissioner, Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, on Dec. 22. She ordered<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-voter-fraud-probe-documents_us_5a3dd7a2e4b025f99e1729f5> the panel to give Dunlap documents, including a draft of the commission’s controversial request for state voter data and communication relating to the planning of the panel’s Sept. 12 meeting in New Hampshire.
But President Donald Trump suddenly dissolved<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-voter-fraud-panel_us_5a4d6ca1e4b0b0e5a7aad716> the commission on Wednesday, and Justice Department lawyers said Friday in a letter that they would ask Kollar-Kotelly to reconsider her order because the panel no longer exists….
“As you know, of course, the Commission has been terminated as of January 3, 2018, and your client is, therefore, no longer a Commission member,” they wrote to Dunlap’s lawyers<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4344509-DOJ-Letter-to-Dunlap-lawyers-1-5-2018.html>. “The Commission’s activities ceased without it ever issuing any report or recommendation, and therefore there is no prospect of future injury, much less future irreparable injury.”…
The Justice Department attorneys also indicated in their letter that the voter data collected by the commission “is not being transferred or utilized.” That comment is at odds with the White House, which has said the Department of Homeland Security would take up the panel’s “preliminary findings.”
MORE in the Portland Press Herald.<http://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/06/trump-administration-resists-turning-over-documents-to-dunlap/>
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“What the demise of Trump’s voter fraud commission teaches Kansans about Kris Kobach”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96785>
Posted on January 5, 2018 4:11 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96785> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Strong KC Star editorial:<http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article193024084.html>
The election integrity group had all the hallmarks of a classic Kobach operation — headline-grabbing allegations, poor legal review, finger-pointing followed by inaction, contradictory claims, and eventually, collapse. Kansans will need to decide if that’s how they want the governor’s office to operate.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Podcast: Gerrymandering and American democracy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96783>
Posted on January 5, 2018 1:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96783> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
National Constitution Center:<https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/podcast-gerrymandering-and-american-democracy>
In the Gill case this year, the Supreme Court might determine the constitutional future of partisan gerrymandering.
Scholars and advocates have been discussing the arguments at the heart of the case – as well as those involved in related cases heading toward the Supreme Court.
At this December event at the National Constitution Center, Caroline Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society, Nolan McCarty, professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University, and David Wasserman, house editor for The Cook Political Report, explored the practical effects of gerrymandering, including its impact on polarization and competitive elections.
Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates this discussion
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“DHS election unit has no plans for probing voter fraud: sources”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96781>
Posted on January 5, 2018 1:50 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96781> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Reuters:<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-dhs/dhs-election-unit-has-no-plans-for-probing-voter-fraud-sources-idUSKBN1EU1YF?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social>
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s election security unit has no immediate plans to probe allegations of electoral fraud, despite President Donald Trump’s announcement this week he was giving the issue to the agency, according to administration officials….
Multiple officials and sources familiar with the matter said they were unaware of plans within DHS, a sprawling agency responsible for a wide array of national security issues, to investigate voter fraud.
State and federal officials said that having DHS pursue voter fraud allegations would undermine efforts to protect voting systems from cyber attacks, a current DHS priority.
Asked whether the DHS has immediate plans to pursue voter fraud issues, agency spokesman Tyler Houlton said it “continues to work in support of state governments who are responsible for administering elections, with efforts focused on securing elections against those who seek to undermine the election system or its integrity.”…
DHS spokesman Houlton added that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a former co-chairman of the White House’s now-disbanded election integrity commission, was not advising DHS.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

NC: “Redistricting hearing signals coming end to map-making saga”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96779>
Posted on January 5, 2018 12:58 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96779> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WRAL:<http://www.wral.com/redistricting-hearing-signals-coming-end-to-map-making-saga/17236747/>
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A long legal saga over North Carolina’s state legislative maps drew near an end Friday as a panel of federal judges heard closing arguments over which version of those maps to use during this year’s statehouse elections.
The panel’s decision should come soon. Filing in state legislative races begins Feb. 12, and without finished maps, a number of incumbents and potential challengers, including some in Wake County, won’t know in which districts they’re running.
There’s also the prospect of another appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could come quickly following the lower court’s decision.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“How cities are bypassing states to explore registering hundreds of thousands to vote”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96777>
Posted on January 5, 2018 12:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96777> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Mic:<https://mic.com/articles/187178/how-cities-are-bypassing-states-to-explore-registering-hundreds-of-thousands-to-vote#.JPd9GhsvX>
National groups, in search of voting rights laws that could be pursued in Republican-controlled states, have taken notice of the potential for city-by-city reforms. The Center for Popular Democracy, a national progressive group connected to advocacy organizations in 38 states, issued a report Friday<http://populardemocracy.org/news/publications/deepening-our-democracy-how-localities-can-expand-voting-rights> geared toward educating potential partners on what voting reforms cities can pursue.
First shared with Mic, the report shows how local reforms in five states<http://populardemocracy.org/news/publications/deepening-our-democracy-how-localities-can-expand-voting-rights> — Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin — could add hundreds of thousands of voters to the rolls through the efforts of city officials and school boards. For example, hundreds of thousands of people could be registered in public agencies across four cities in Texas, and tens of thousands of high school students could be registered annually in Florida, the report found.
Registering voters has been a focus of local organizers for decades. And a few cities, notably New York, have worked for years to pioneer voter registration solutions at the local level.
But lobbying local leaders to make it easier for city and county residents to register to vote is a relatively new push, one gaining steam following the 2016 presidential election as activists became tired of waiting for opportunities to reverse state-level voter suppression laws.
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Posted in voter registration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>

“Kobach is prosecuting this confused Republican cattle rancher with four felony counts of voter fraud”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96775>
Posted on January 5, 2018 11:22 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=96775> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Great reporting <https://thinkprogress.org/kobach-fraud-charge-1eefa6b469d3/> by Kira Lerner, showing what Kobach’s illusion of a voter fraud epidemic looks like up close:
For the past few years, Que J. Fullmer has split his time between Kansas and Colorado. He owns a cattle company and roughly 1,000 acres in Syracuse, Kansas, and his wife lives in Brighton, Colorado, where the couple owns a home and 300 acres.
In November 2016, Fullmer cast ballots in both states. He figured that because he pays taxes in both places, he was entitled to have his voice heard in local and state races in two states. He only voted for president, Donald Trump, in Kansas….
“I didn’t know I had multiple charges,” Fullmer, a registered Republican, told ThinkProgress Friday by phone. “I just voted in state things in both states. In only one of the states I voted in the general.” The 67-year-old small business owner said he was unaware that the law prohibits him from casting ballots in state or local races in multiple states….
While he has heard talk on the news of “voter fraud,” he said he always assumed that term referred to “politicians getting low-lifes to travel around the city and vote multiple times.”
“I figured that’s what double voting was,” he said.
Fullmer said he almost certainly voted for Kobach when he ran for secretary of state in 2010 and 2014. “I’m sure I did,” he said. “He’s a Republican. I’m sure.”
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

--
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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