[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/14/18

[Rick Hasen]

“Kobach witness can’t support claim that illegal votes helped Hillary Clinton”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98137>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:36 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98137> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CJ Online:<http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180313/kobach-witness-cant-support-claim-that-illegal-votes-helped-hillary-clinton>

Jesse Richman endured a blistering critique Tuesday of his estimate of 18,000 noncitizen voters in Kansas and said he couldn’t support claims by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote because more than 3 million illegal ballots were cast in the 2016 presidential election.

Richman, who teaches political science at Old Dominion University, testified as an expert witness for Kobach in a trial over the state’s voter registration law. Kobach, who is seeking the GOP nomination in this year’s governor’s race, has referred to the 18,000 figure as the best available estimate for showing proof of citizenship is needed to address widespread voter fraud.

American Civil Liberties Union attorneys took aim at shortcomings in Richman’s methods and presented two experts to refute his conclusions.

Varying estimates from Richman are based on small-sample surveys, including one in which six of 37 noncitizens said they tried to register to vote. Under questioning by ACLU attorney Dale Ho, Richman acknowledged he had no way of knowing if those six were successful in their efforts.

In another survey, Richman looked at suspended voters — those who didn’t provide proof of citizenship — and flagged any names that appeared to be foreign. Ho asked if, for example, a name like “Carlos Murguia” would be flagged. When Richman said yes, Ho informed him Murguia is a federal judge in the same courthouse where the trial is taking place.

Eitan Hersh, a political science professor at Tufts University, looked at comparable data and found five examples of people who voted before becoming citizens.

Hersh also discovered 400 people on the voter rolls who registered to vote before their recorded birth dates. In an allusion to voter fraud claims, Hersh said it would be ridiculous to suggest there is a widespread problem with parents registering their unborn children, calling it obvious administrative error.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


Watch Brennan Center Video in Which Joan Biskupic and I Discuss Justice Scalia’s Legacy and My New Book, The Justice of Contradictions<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98133>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98133> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

(also at this link<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28YKtyRf1Z0>)

There’s also this podcast<https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brennan-center-podcast/id890646296?mt=2>.

(Link to order the book<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>.)
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Posted in Scalia<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=123>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“FTC Exclusively Obtains Records from U.S. Marshals Service on Scalia’s Final Trip, Justices’ Summer Travel”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98131>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98131> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fix the Court:<https://fixthecourt.com/2018/03/usms-foia-release/>

On the day before he died, Justice Antonin Scalia – deplaning from Southwest flight no. 1209 at Houston Hobby, gun in tow and in poorer health than was widely known – was met by deputy U.S. marshals for assistance in transferring to a chartered plane headed for the posh Cibolo Creek Ranch in a remote part of West Texas. As a member of the Supreme Court, Scalia was within his rights to request that the agents remain with him during his trip but instead opted for protection only during his layover.

His ultimate interaction with the agency came as deputies in field offices across Texas and as far away as Washington scrambled to notify one another and other authorities of his passing. That process included informing the Supreme Court Police Department, which cedes the responsibility for protecting the justices outside of the District to the U.S. Marshals Service and was not told of Scalia’s death until two hours after his body was found motionless in his suite at 11:00 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2016. USMS deputies did not arrive at the ranch until at 2:38 that afternoon.

Documents procured from a nearly two-year-old Fix the Court FOIA request to USMS present new information on how federal agents responded to a momentous event in an isolated part of the country and for the first time reveal the formal policies, and underscore the shortcomings therein, for when justices are granted protection outside of the nation’s capital.
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Posted in Scalia<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=123>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


With Lamb Holding 627 Vote Lead in PA-18 Congressional Race, Republicans Raise Claims of Voting Irregularities, Possibility of Requesting Recount<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98129>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:24 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98129> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Philly.com:<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pa-18-congressional-district-special-election-results-conor-lamb-rick-saccone-20180314.html>

In a highly-watched special election in western Pennsylvania, Democrat Conor Lamb is currently maintaining a slim lead over Republican Rick Saccone Wednesday morning.

With all precincts fully reporting and absentee ballots counted, Lamb holds a 627-vote lead over Saccone in Pennsylvania’s 18th district, a GOP stronghold that President Trump won by nearly 20 percentage points during the 2016 election. NBC News has declared Lamb the “apparent winner,” while the Associated Press has not yet declared a winner. Lamb has claimed victory in the race<https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/03/14/conor-lamb-pennsylvania-speech-bts.cnn>, but Saccone has not conceded, and the national Republican Party hasn’t ruled out a recount….

Post-Gazette:<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/18th-special-election-lamb-saccone-voting-irregularities-gop-impound-machines-20180314.html>

A Republican source familiar with the campaign said that the GOP planned to petition for the voting machines used in all four counties to be impounded, pending a recount.

It is not yet clear where such a petition would be filed. But Republicans are investigating a number of purported Election Day irregularities including problems with the machines, voters being told to go to the wrong polling places, and Republican attorneys being barred from overseeing the counting of absentee ballots in Allegheny County.

County spokeswoman Amie Downs said that on Election Day there had been discussions with Republican attorneys about their ability to oversee the vote-counting process. Under the state Election Code, she said, such observers must have a signed authorization from the chair of the county committee. “They didn’t produce that until the very end of the evening, when the ballots had already been scanned,” she said.
 CNN:<https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/politics/pennsylvania-special-election-recount-rules/index.html>

A recount is not mandatory in Tuesday’s special election for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of State spokesperson Wanda Murren.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, recounts<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>


Released Emails Show Coordination Between DOJ and Pence-Kobach Fraud Commission over Voter Fraud Allegations, with Communications Between John Gore and EAC’s Christy McCormick<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98127>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:13 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98127> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM:<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/john-gore-christy-mccormick-emails-voter-fraud-probe>

The chair of the Republican Party in Chicago last year passed on allegations of voter fraud to a member of President Trump’s now-defunct voter fraud commission, using a top Justice Department official as intermediary, newly released emails reveal.<https://epic.org/foia/DOJ/EPIC-17-06-30-DOJ-FOIA-20180309-McCormick-Gore-Emails.pdf>

The emails, which were obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center via a Freedom of Information Act request, suggest that Republican officials sought to use the commission as a clearing-house for allegations of voter fraud from around the country, no matter how unsubstantiated.

In one email, Christy McCormick, who was a member of the voter fraud panel, told Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights John Gore that she was seeking to have the voter fraud panel investigate the allegations.

“Hopefully between DOJ and the Commission we can clean up the voter rolls,” McCormick said in one email.  McCormick, a Republican, is also a member of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the federal agency that helps states administer elections.

As the voter fraud commission became a flashpoint for controversy, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups sought information about the level of communication it had with the Justice Department.

Testifying in front of a Senate committee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied coordination, but alluded to some level of contact.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>, fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Despite pledge to ‘drain the swamp,’ Trump has shown little interest in beefing up the Federal Election Commission”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98125>
Posted on March 14, 2018 9:05 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98125> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/despite-pledge-to-drain-the-swamp-trump-has-shown-little-interest-in-beefing-up-the-federal-election-commission/2018/03/13/c95971da-2252-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html?utm_term=.f8be85388bf7>

More than a year into his presidency, President Trump has shown little interest in beefing up the Federal Election Commission, the agency that could serve as a key player in his avowed agenda to reduce the influence of moneyed interests on politics.

So far, Trump has nominated just one new commissioner to fill the two open spots on the panel. He has the opportunity to name an entirely new slate. The remaining four commissioners are serving on expired terms, two of which ended as long as a decade ago.

If one more leaves without being replaced, the FEC will lack a quorum and be effectively paralyzed.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>


“‘Incredible and offensive’: Retired attorney feels sorry for Kobach team in voter fraud trial”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98123>
Posted on March 13, 2018 8:36 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98123> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Topeka Capital Journal reports.<http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180312/incredible-and-offensive-retired-attorney-feels-sorry-for-kobach-team-in-voter-fraud-trial>
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Is one of the Pennsylvania voting cases doomed?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98121>
Posted on March 12, 2018 7:53 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98121> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lyle Denniston<https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/is-one-of-the-pennsylvania-voting-cases-doomed> for Constitution Daily.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>



--
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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