[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/11/18

[Daniel Tokaji]

Yablon: “Campaigns, Inc.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100013>
Posted on July 11, 2018 8:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100013> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Rob Yablon has posted this article
<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3209466> on SSRN,
forthcoming in *Minnesota Law Review*.  Here’s the abstract:

Election campaigns have become the domain of a thriving industry of paid
political service providers. While leading scholars in other fields regard
the rise of the campaign industry as a defining feature of our nation’s
politics, the industry is strikingly absent from the legal literature. This
Article seeks to bring the campaign industry into election law discourse
and contends that doing so has important practical and theoretical payoffs.

The Article begins by adding legal texture to existing accounts of the
campaign industry’s development. It observes that the industry emerged
partly as an unintended consequence of efforts to reform political parties
and campaign finance. The Article then considers the industry’s
repercussions. For campaigners and political donors, campaign professionals
can provide tremendously valuable services, but they can also generate
substantial countervailing agency costs. Widening the lens, the campaign
industry has significant systemic effects on the pool of candidates who
seek office, on the nature of campaigning, on substantive policy decisions,
and more. Building on this descriptive account, the Article explores the
industry’s implications for ongoing jurisprudential and policy debates
about money in politics and the role of political parties. The Article
concludes by surveying potential public and private interventions to
address the campaign industry’s drawbacks.

I read an earlier version and highly recommend it.
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Posted in campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
CAP Report on Increasing Voter Participation
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100011>
Posted on July 11, 2018 7:58 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100011> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Available here
<https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/07/11/453319/increasing-voter-participation-america/>.
>From the introduction:

This report also outlines the following recommendations to drive voter
participation and make the process of voting more convenient for eligible
Americans:

1. Streamline voter registration with automatic voter registration,
same-day voter registration (SDR), preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds,
and online voter registration

2. Make voting more convenient with in-person early voting, no-excuse
absentee voting, and vote-at-home with vote centers

3. Provide sufficient resources in elections and ensure voting is accessible

4. Restore rights for formerly incarcerated people

5. Strengthen civics education in schools

6. Invest in integrated voter engagement (IVE) and outreach.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
voting
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>
North Carolina’s Early Voting Changes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100009>
Posted on July 11, 2018 7:52 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100009> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Slate
<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/north-carolina-early-voting-midterms-a-diabolical-new-republican-ploy-to-suppress-black-turnout.html>
:

The new measure
<https://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S325v3.pdf>, which
will take effect for the upcoming midterm elections, requires every early
voting site in the state to stay open 12 hours a day each weekday (in
addition to any weekend hours). By mandating such a large number of hours,
the new rule will make it prohibitively expensive for some counties to
operate early voting locations. Because the law was passed very late in the
legislative session, after many counties set their election budgets, many
smaller counties will likely be required to close early voting locations so
they don’t overspend.
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Posted in election administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Latinos Are Bringing A Growing Number Of Voting Rights Cases”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100007>
Posted on July 11, 2018 7:42 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100007> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

NPR
<https://www.npr.org/2018/07/10/627782718/latinos-are-bringing-a-growing-number-of-voting-rights-cases>:
“Often, we talk about the big cases that involve gerrymandering, voter
identification and redistricting, but a lot of legal action around voting
actually happens in small cities and towns. And a growing number of those
cases are being brought by Latino voters. Over the last 10 years, Latinos
have initiated twice as many legal actions as all other groups combined.”
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Posted in Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“How Shelby County v. Holder Broke America”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100005>
Posted on July 11, 2018 6:33 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100005> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The Atlantic
<https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/how-shelby-county-broke-america/564707/>:
“the Court has established that not only are the legacies of Jim Crow no
longer a valid justification for proactive restrictions on states, but the
Court doesn’t necessarily have a role in advancing the spirit of the
franchise.”
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Posted in Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“SC’s 13,000 voting machines unreliable, vulnerable to hackers, lawsuit
alleges” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100003>
Posted on July 11, 2018 6:20 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=100003> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

The State <https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article214612215.html>.
The complaint filed in federal district court alleges:

In South Carolina, the capacity of the state’s election system to record
and count
votes reliably is deeply compromised by the state’s unnecessarily
vulnerable voting system.
Throughout the state, elections are administered using a voting system—the
iVotronic Direct
Recording Electronic (“DRE”) system, manufactured by Election Systems &
Software
(“ES&S”)—that computer science experts have shown to be highly vulnerable
to cyberattack
and malware infections, which can occur whether or not the machine is
directly connected to
the internet.

The complaint is here
<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4594073-Heindel-v-Andino-FINAL-FILED.html>
and exhibits here
<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4594057-All-Exhibits.html>.
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Posted in voting technology
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>
Appellate Briefs in Florida Voting Rights Restoration Case
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99997>
Posted on July 10, 2018 8:14 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99997> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Here are the Appellants’
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Hand-Appellants-Brief.pdf>,
Appellees’
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Hand-Appellees-Brief.pdf>,
and Reply
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Hand-Reply-Brief.pdf> briefs
in *Hand v. Scott*, to be argued before the Eleventh Circuit July 25.
The district
court <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98377> concluded that Florida’s scheme
violated the First Amendment by giving officials unfettered discretion over
whether felons would have their right to vote restored.
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Posted in Uncategorized
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Austin siblings create board game to tackle gerrymandering”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99993>
Posted on July 10, 2018 7:52 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99993> by Dan
Tokaji <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Story and video here
<https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-siblings-create-board-game-to-tackle-gerrymandering/269-571867044>.
One of the creators sends this message:

My name is Josh Lafair, and I am a junior in high school. I have always
believed that America, despite its polarization, is a great democracy.

Then I learned about gerrymandering… I realized that people’s votes, in
districts across the country, are diluted. That Many Democratic and
Republican politicians care more about their own parties and getting
re-elected than about preserving American values.

My siblings and I discovered that our hometown, Austin, TX, is severely
gerrymandered. Our district (District 10) stretches all the way from Austin
to Houston. I vote with people who are a three and a half hour drive away.
(Rather, I *would* vote. I’m currently 17 years old.)

We wanted to teach other families about gerrymandering in a fun, hands on
way, so we invented a board game. *Mapmaker: The Gerrymandering Game* launches
on July 10th via Kickstarter. 1-4 players take turns separating voters into
districts in 30-45 minutes. We plan on sending copies to governors, state
legislators, and Supreme Court justices (who can veto, draw, and rule on
maps). We’re including a “Gerrymandering Is Not a Game” proclamation inside
every box. Before 2022 redistricting, which will affect elections for the
next decade, we hope to add momentum to the anti-gerrymandering movement.

While Mapmaker is a really fun game, gerrymandering is a serious issue. We
want to remind politicians that gerrymandering is not just a game, but
something that affects real voters in real districts. Redistricting is
supposed to enhance our democracy, not break it apart.

During their first game of Mapmaker, when players experience the packing
and cracking mechanics, they often comment: “Oh, *this* is how
gerrymandering works.” Of course, there’s more to gerrymandering than just
cracking and packing. However, the game helps spark a deeper conversation
among players.

My siblings and I hope Mapmaker will start conversations around the country
about a topic that is not discussed enough. Gerrymandering is diluting our
democracy, yet people rarely understand its full implications. For
instance, the Supreme Court recently ruled on major gerrymandering cases in
Wisconsin, Maryland, and my own state of Texas. However, my friends had no
idea about the cases. Neither did most of my brother’s friends, sister’s
friends, or parents’ friends. We didn’t get any notifications about them on
our phones. Other news often overshadows gerrymandering, even though it
affects the rest of our politics.

My siblings and I have created this game because we believe that
Gerrymandering deserves more attention.

Their Kickstarter <http://bit.ly/GerrymanderingGame> is live.  Be sure to
scroll down for a picture of the justices playing!
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Posted in redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


Daniel P. Tokaji

Associate Dean for Faculty | Ebersold Professor of Constitutional Law

The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law

55 W. 12th Ave. | Columbus, OH 43210

614.292.6566 | tokaji.1 at osu.edu
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