[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/7/18

Mon May 7 07:36:29 PDT 2018

“Citizens United isn’t to blame for our money-in-politics woes”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98991>
Posted on May 7, 2018 7:33 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98991> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Scott Casleton for Vox. <https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/5/7/17325486/citizens-united-money-politics-dark-money-vouchers>
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“How secure is our election system?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98989>
Posted on May 7, 2018 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98989> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

MPR News:<https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/05/07/securing_elections_and_democracy?platform=hootsuite>

How secure are our voting systems? Elections expert Doug Chapin talks about what we know has happened, how we know, and what’s next in the fight to secure American democracy.
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

First Ranked-Choice Poll in Maine<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98986>
Posted on May 6, 2018 10:20 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98986> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A new era.<https://bangordailynews.com/2018/05/06/politics/poll-moody-mills-are-front-runners-in-maines-unsettled-june-primaries/>
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Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>

“Connecticut lawmakers vote to join popular vote pact”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98984>
Posted on May 6, 2018 10:19 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98984> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/connecticut-lawmakers-vote-to-join-popular-vote-pact/2018/05/05/aafda910-50bd-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html?utm_term=.89bbed8764f9>

Connecticut’s General Assembly has voted to join a group of states that want to pool their Electoral College votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

The Senate on Saturday voted 21-14 to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The bill already cleared the House of Representatives and now moves to Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who supports the concept.

Connecticut would be the 12th jurisdiction — a combination of 11 states and the District of Columbia — to join the pact.
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Posted in electoral college<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

“New Technology Allows Election Officials to Verify Votes Like Never Before—Will It Be Widely Used in 2018?”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98982>
Posted on May 4, 2018 5:54 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98982> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Steve Rosenfeld reports.<https://www.alternet.org/election-03918/breakthrough-technology-will-count-election-results-never>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

“CFI Launches 2018 Web Tool For Independent Spending in Primaries”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98980>
Posted on May 4, 2018 9:09 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98980> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release:<http://www.cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/18-05-04/CFI_LAUNCHES_2018_WEB_TOOL_FOR_INDEPENDENT_SPENDING_IN_PRIMARIES.aspx>

Independent expenditures (IEs) will be playing a significant role again in select House and Senate primaries leading up to the midterm election. And the Campaign Finance Institute will once again be tracking that spending through a primary tracking tool<http://cfinst.org/Federal/election_2018/primaries.aspx> on its website. The tool shows candidate receipts and independent spending together for each race, including the aggregate amount each group is spending for and against the candidates. The IEs are updated almost daily. It is also possible to track each group’s expenditures in detail by clicking the group’s name.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Donald Trump, John Edwards, and the Mistress Loophole; Maybe Rudy Giuliani knows what he’s doing after all.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98977>
Posted on May 4, 2018 9:06 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98977> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Stephen Weissman<https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/05/04/donald-trump-john-edwards-and-the-mistress-loophole/> for the American Interest:

One can imagine how Lowell’s argument would be grasped by counsel defending Cohen and Trump. So would other statements about the Edwards case by former FEC Commissioners. Before the trial, Thomas and another Democratic Commissioner retained by the defense were shown the government indictment charging that Edwards orchestrated the payments for electoral purposes. Nevertheless, they wrote, the payments “would not be considered campaign contributions or expenditures under the law” and the FEC would agree “if asked.” At the same time, Republican Commissioner (and current White House counsel) Don McGahn agreed the donations were “not reportable.” Concerning the Daniels payment, President Trump has stated, “There were no campaign funds going into this.” This is the Edwards defense: “third party” financial arrangements over an alleged affair outside the formal campaign are never contributions.

Prosecutors attempted to surmount this legal argument by showering the jury with facts and inferences indicating that one purpose of the payments was to influence the election. But they lacked “smoking guns”: strongly corroborated witnesses, thoroughly incriminating recorded conversations and documents, self-damning testimony from the principals (Neither donor appeared—one had died and the other, a 101-year-old, was excused—and Edwards declined to testify). The defense cast “reasonable doubt” on the donations’ having anything to do with elections. It challenged the truthfulness of eyewitness testimony by Edwards’ close aide. Most important, it offered evidence of donors’ strong personal friendships with Edwards, suggesting that they might have helped him regardless of the campaign and asserted that Edwards’ only purpose was to hide the affair from his wife.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

--
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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