[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/17/18

Thu May 17 07:55:56 PDT 2018

“Senate intelligence leaders: Russians schemed to help Trump”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99095>
Posted on May 17, 2018 7:54 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99095> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico:<https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/16/russians-schemed-to-help-trump-senate-intel-591882>

Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday endorsed the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help President Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.

It’s a powerful bipartisan endorsement of a conclusion that had been called into question by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who have accused intelligence agencies of failing to employ proper “tradecraft” when they concluded Russia came to support Trump’s candidacy. Instead, it’s the Republicans on the House panel who find themselves isolated in their position in what has become an increasingly antagonistic relationship with the FBI and Justice Department.

See also Trump Jr.’s team wanted stories straight on Russian lawyer meeting<https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/16/don-trump-jr-russia-trump-tower-transcripts-590957>

[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99095&title=%E2%80%9CSenate%20intelligence%20leaders%3A%20Russians%20schemed%20to%20help%20Trump%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Superdelegates Are No. 1 on the Democratic Party To-Do List”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99093>
Posted on May 17, 2018 7:48 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99093> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/us/politics/democratic-party-superdelegates.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront>

Democratic Party officials, desperate to present a unified front in advance of the all-important 2018 midterms, are working to revamp their presidential nominating process and erase the final vestiges of the bitter 2016 presidential primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders.

The most significant, and divisive, step would involve reducing the role and power of superdelegates — the unpledged party insiders who are free to back any candidate regardless of how the public votes — ahead of the 2020 election. Their influence caused substantial tension two years ago when supporters of Mr. Sanders zeroed in on superdelegates as “undemocratic” and said they created an unfair and even rigged system favoring Mrs. Clinton.

Now, party officials, including loyalists held over from both the Sanders and Clinton camps, are inching toward a compromise that would not only minimize the role of superdelegates but change the party’s operational structure as well.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99093&title=%E2%80%9CSuperdelegates%20Are%20No.%201%20on%20the%20Democratic%20Party%20To-Do%20List%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Arkansas judge who blocked TV ads removes himself from Supreme Court justice’s case”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99091>
Posted on May 17, 2018 7:40 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99091> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:<http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/may/16/arkansas-judge-who-blocked-tv-ads-removing-himself/>

A Washington County circuit judge who ordered that negative political ads against Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson be pulled off the airwaves recused himself from further involvement in the case Wednesday.

However, the temporary restraining order by Circuit Judge Doug Martin still stands….

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported<http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/may/16/records-pose-ad-case-conflict-20180516/> that Martin earlier reported receiving income through his wife from the law firm of Goodson’s husband, John Goodson.

Martin issued the order without a hearing but said in his recusal letter that the restraining order blocking the ads from airing stands.

Justice Goodson is fighting a three-pronged legal battle in Arkansas’ largest media markets against what she says are “defamatory” ads being run by an out-of-state group that does not disclose its donors.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99091&title=%E2%80%9CArkansas%20judge%20who%20blocked%20TV%20ads%20removes%20himself%20from%20Supreme%20Court%20justice%E2%80%99s%20case%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Three from Jerry Goldfeder<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99089>
Posted on May 17, 2018 7:36 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99089> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Voters, not lawmakers, should pick interim officeholders<https://www.stroock.com/siteFiles/Publications/AlbanyTimesUnionMay14th2018.pdf>

Easing Voter Registration<https://www.stroock.com/publications/easing-voter-registration> (with Myrna Perez)

New York City should expand voting rights as part of charter revision<https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/opinion/opinion/new-york-city-should-expand-voting-rights-part-charter-revision.html>

[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99089&title=Three%20from%20Jerry%20Goldfeder>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Long Island Officials Traded Favors for Watches and Limo Rides, Prosecutors Say”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99087>
Posted on May 17, 2018 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99087> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/nyregion/long-island-corruption-trial-mangano-venditto.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion&action=click&contentCollection=nyregion%C2%AEion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront>

The scheme, as outlined by federal prosecutors, was audacious. Top officials in Nassau County used political clout to help a restaurateur obtain county contracts and millions of dollars in loans. In return, the restaurateur was said to have showered the officials with kickbacks and bribes.

Among other things, prosecutors said, the restaurateur provided the Oyster Bay town supervisor, John Venditto, with free meals and limousine rides. He was said to have provided the Nassau County executive at the time, Edward Mangano, with a massage chair and an expensive watch. The county executive’s wife, Linda Mangano, received close to half a million dollars for what a prosecutor called a “$100,000-a-year phony baloney no-show job.”
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99087&title=%E2%80%9CLong%20Island%20Officials%20Traded%20Favors%20for%20Watches%20and%20Limo%20Rides%2C%20Prosecutors%20Say%E2%80%9D>
Posted in bribery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>

“From Idea to Implementation: A Ranked Choice Voting and Voting Systems Symposium.”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99084>
Posted on May 16, 2018 4:10 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99084> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Announcement via email:

Recently the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center hosted “From Idea to Implementation: A Ranked Choice Voting and Voting Systems Symposium.” Recordings of the live broadcasts and post-symposium Q&A documents (including links to the handouts and additional materials) for each of the 10 sessions are now available at https://www.rankedchoicevoting.org/rcv_online_symposium<https://rankedchoicevoting-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=19dbWENTcm0UiBd_81sQYDh2wmrKwvuWrDRKktsWKoEE-80446057&key=YAMMID-03250889&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rankedchoicevoting.org%2Frcv_online_symposium> .
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D99084&title=%E2%80%9CFrom%20Idea%20to%20Implementation%3A%20A%20Ranked%20Choice%20Voting%20and%20Voting%20Systems%20Symposium.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in alternative voting systems<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=63>

--
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/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20180517/d45a7629/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2021 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20180517/d45a7629/attachment.png>