[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/25/18

Fri May 25 08:07:06 PDT 2018

“Russian Facebook ads inflamed Hispanic tensions over immigration after Trump election”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99196>
Posted on May 25, 2018 8:03 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99196> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today:<https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/05/25/russian-facebook-ads-sought-inflame-hispanic-tensions-after-trump-election/635066002/>

In the months after Donald Trump rode to victory while calling for mass deportations, Russian operatives bought dozens of Facebook ads targeted at the Hispanic community seeking to further inflame tensions already roiled by the campaign’s racially charged rhetoric, according to USA TODAY analysis.

Thousands of ads released by House Democrats  this month showed Russian operatives focused on race<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/05/11/what-we-found-facebook-ads-russians-accused-election-meddling/602319002/> during the presidential election in what experts say was a clear effort to amplify existing divisions.

They didn’t stop there. In the first half of 2017, as Trump aggressively moved to restrict immigration, fake Facebook pages set up by a Russian propaganda operation started pushing ads on both sides of the immigration debate.
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Posted in campaigns<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“California’s ‘Top-Two’ Primary: Here’s How It All Works”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99194>
Posted on May 25, 2018 7:59 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99194> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/us/california-primary-election-rules-system.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&action=click&contentCollection=us&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront>

It was supposed to be a cutting-edge election reform, a way to take the party out of politics: an open primary in which labels like Republican and Democratic were tossed out and candidates were chosen, presumably, on their merits. The system, adopted by California voters in 2010, was meant to make politics less polarizing.

But eight years later, the highest-stakes midterm election in a long time is causing all sorts of angst for Democrats and Republicans in California. And that’s in no small part because of what is known as the jungle primary.
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Posted in political parties<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

“Federal Election Commission Can’t Decide If Russian Interference Violated Law”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99192>
Posted on May 25, 2018 7:49 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99192> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR:<https://www.npr.org/2018/05/25/613748826/federal-election-commission-cant-decide-if-russian-interference-violated-law>

As tech companies and government agencies prepare to defend against possible Russian interference in the midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission has a different response: too soon.

The four commissioners on Thursday deadlocked, again, on proposals to consider new rules, for example, for foreign-influenced U.S. corporations and for politically active entities that don’t disclose their donors.

“We have reason to think there are foreign actors who are looking for every single avenue to try and influence our elections,” said Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who offered two proposals for new regulations.

Both proposals failed on partisan 2-2 votes.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Concerned by Trump, Some Republicans Quietly Align With Democrats”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99190>
Posted on May 25, 2018 7:47 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99190> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/us/politics/republicans-democrats-coalition-trump.html>
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Democrats File Lawsuit Claiming Florida Ballot Ordering Law, Listing Republican Candidates First on Ballot, Violates the U.S. Constitution<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99187>
Posted on May 24, 2018 5:20 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99187> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Read the complaint<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Jacobson-v-Detzner-complaint.pdf> in Jacobson v. Detzner.
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Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Attention, America: We’ve All Been Saying Gerrymander Wrong”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99185>
Posted on May 24, 2018 12:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=99185> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ reports.<https://www.wsj.com/articles/attention-america-weve-all-been-saying-gerrymander-wrong-1527178009>
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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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