[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/8/18

Mon May 7 21:11:35 PDT 2018

“ACLU seeks $51K for fight with Kobach that led to contempt finding”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99004>
Posted on May 7, 2018 9:07 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99004> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Topeka Capital Journal:<http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180507/aclu-seeks-51k-for-fight-with-kobach-that-led-to-contempt-finding>

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking for more than $50,000 in compensation for hours spent fighting Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach over issues that led to his contempt of court finding.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered Kobach’s office to pay for attorney fees and expenses when she ruled last month that Kobach ignored her orders<http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180418/talk-is-cheap-kris-kobach-found-in-contempt-of-court> after she blocked enforcement of the state’s voter registration law. Kobach has filed a notice with the court saying he intends to appeal her decision.

Kobach failed to follow through<http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180320/judge-blasts-kris-kobachs-efforts-to-help-suspended-voters-in-kansas> on a promise to Robinson that counties would send postcards notifying people they could vote, even if they failed to show proof of citizenship when they registered. He continued to fight the notion that postcards were necessary until the day of his contempt hearing, which followed a trial in which he struggled to prove claims of widespread voter fraud.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Republicans Make Moves To Crush Gerrymandering Reform”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99001>
Posted on May 7, 2018 9:02 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99001> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM:<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/opponents-try-squash-redistricting-reform>

With anti-gerrymandering efforts gaining steam, Republicans in some states are mobilizing to protect their ability to continue rigging election maps.

In late April, a Republican group backed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce sued<http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/group_challenges_michigan_redi.html> to keep a popular redistricting reform measure off the state’s November ballot. Arizona’s GOP-controlled legislature last week narrowly failed to pass<http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article210433969.html> a bill that would have given the party much more control over the map-drawing process. And Pennsylvania Republicans, who recently mulled impeaching a group of state judges who struck down their gerrymander, this week gutted reform legislation.

Following the 2010 Census, the GOP used its control of key redistricting battlegrounds to draw district lines that have given it a major advantage in elections this decade. In response, voters frustrated by recent elections’ skewed outcomes<https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/25/gerrymandering-2016-election/> have launched grassroots movements to fix the process<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/voters-push-redistricting-reform-ohio-michigan-nationwide> before the next round of legislative and congressional map-drawing gets underway in 2021.

The biggest battle, of course, is at the Supreme Court, which since last fall has heard two different challenges to partisan gerrymandering and could issue a major ruling on the issue in the coming months. And the GOP has joined the fight there, too: Among the groups that submitted briefs to the court arguing in favor of protecting lawmakers’ right to gerrymander are the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican State Leadership Committee.

But it’s the state-level efforts that lately have taken center stage.
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

“Rosie O’Donnell’s campaign donations to Dems went over legal limit”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98999>
Posted on May 7, 2018 9:01 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98999> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NY Post:<https://nypost.com/2018/05/05/rosie-odonnells-campaign-donations-to-dems-went-over-legal-limit/>

Rosie O’Donnell made illegally over-sized campaign donations to at least five Democratic federal candidates, according to a Post analysis of campaign filings.

The liberal comedian has regularly broken Federal Election Commission rules limiting the total any one person can give to an individual candidate at $2,700 per election. The limit applies separately to primaries, runoffs and general elections.

“Nothing nefarious,” the outspoken star and Donald Trump arch-nemesis wrote in an email to the Post. “I was not choosing to over donate.

“If 2700 is the cut off — [candidates] should refund the money,” she wrote. “I don’t look to see who I can donate most to … I just donate assuming they do not accept what is over the limit.”

O’Donnell said she donates often, and uses the online liberal fundraising platform ActBlue. “My anxiety is quelled by donating to those opposing trump [and] his agenda — especially at night — when most of these were placed.”
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

Ohio Goes to Court Over Ballot Image Preservation<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98997>
Posted on May 7, 2018 8:55 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98997> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Who. What. Why. reports.<https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/05/07/ohio-goes-to-court-over-ballot-image-preservation/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=SocialWarfare>
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Posted in election administration<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

If NY AG Schneiderman Resigns, Because of Physical Abuse Allegations, What Happens Next Politically?<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98993>
Posted on May 7, 2018 5:12 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=98993> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Given the horrific report<https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/four-women-accuse-new-yorks-attorney-general-of-physical-abuse> coming out of Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker reporting on NY AG Eric Schneiderman, a number of people have asked me what happens next politically.

I’ve just taken an initial glance, and welcome corrections to the following:

To begin with, if Schneiderman resigns, the NY Constitution Article V provides<https://www.dos.ny.gov/info/constitution.htm> that the state legislature fills the vacancy until the next gubernatorial election. It looks like Article VI, section 24<https://www.dos.ny.gov/info/constitution.htm>allows for impeachment of any officers, but I’d have to do more research to confirm this is correct.

The AG office is up for election this November. It appears that the deadline for nominating petitions for the party primary is July 12<https://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/law/2018PoliticalCalendar.pdf>, though it appears<https://twitter.com/kimmosc/status/993637621283909638> those officially nominated by the Democratic party state committee may not need petitions.

Update: Schneiderman resigns.<https://politicalwire.com/2018/05/07/schneiderman-resigns-as-new-york-attorney-general/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

--
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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