[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/20/18

[Rick Hasen]

"Why Is SCOTUS Playing Along With DOJ's Aggressive Tactics In The Census Case?"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102411>
Posted on November 20, 2018 7:02 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102411> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tierney Sneed<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/why-is-scotus-playing-along-with-dojs-aggressive-tactics-in-the-census-case> for TPM.
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Posted in Department of Justice<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>


"Here's What Brenda Snipes Has to Say About Florida's Election"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102408>
Posted on November 20, 2018 6:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102408> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/us/brenda-snipes-election-florida-broward.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock>
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, election law biz<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>


"How Good Is Your Electronic Trackpad Signature?"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102406>
Posted on November 20, 2018 6:54 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102406> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Matt Ford for TNR:<https://newrepublic.com/article/152324/good-electronic-trackpad-signature>

What was your signature like at eighteen? Is it still the same? In the wake of the 2018 midterms, the American electoral system is under scrutiny again-as, in fact, it seems to be almost every two years now. This year, razor-thin margins in Florida and Georgia are drawing fresh attention to allegations of voter suppression and incidents of electoral mismanagement. And now, the recount in Florida has given absentee voters until Saturday to make sure that ballots originally thrown away are counted.

Florida, Georgia, and Rhode Island are three out of several states still requiring a signature match for absentee voters. In practice, what that means is letting election officials check the signature somewhere on the absentee ballot against the signature on an application or a form of government ID. Over the past year, judges in California and New Hampshire have struck down the requirements, declaring they unconstitutionally deprived voters of their right to cast a ballot and have it counted. The process' implementation in other states is also raising alarms. Among other problems, the policy places a disproportionate burden on voters with disabilities, elderly voters, and others. It's also strikingly unnecessary and unscientific.

It's reasonable to try to make sure that the person who casts an absentee ballot is the same person who applied for it. One doesn't need to be a handwriting expert, though, to see why signature-match laws could be problematic. A person's signature often changes throughout their life, and in hasty circumstances a well-crafted one can be abandoned in lieu of a scrawled scribble. When it comes to electronic signature pads, all bets are off-as anyone who's ever seen their own baffling jottings on one of those devices well knows. Nonetheless, Florida election officials use signatures<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/us/voting-signatures-matching-elections.html> taken from those pads while at the state department of motor vehicles as the basis for comparison to a print signature on Election Day.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


New Jersey: "Redistricting plan would strip power from state Democratic chairman and Republicans"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102404>
Posted on November 20, 2018 6:52 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102404> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico:<https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2018/11/19/redistricting-plan-would-strip-power-from-state-democratic-chairman-and-republicans-704304>

Democratic legislative leaders are preparing to diminish the power of their state party chairman as well as Republicans - if they can get New Jersey voters to go along with them.

Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin next month plan to put a constitutional amendment, NJ ACR60 (18R)<https://subscriber.politicopro.com/legislative-compass/bill/NJ_18R_ACR_60>, up for a vote in both houses of the Legislature that would overhaul how New Jersey draws its state legislative districts.
The amendment - which was first proposed three years ago, but stalled<https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2016/01/democrats-redistricting-amendment-stalls-097060> - would make several changes to the current redistricting process. But the biggest overhauls would strip Democratic rivals of power while hurting any chances Republicans could have to gain more power in the Legislature.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


Ninth Circuit Issues Important Decision on Judging Legislative Motivation in Racial Gerrymandering Case<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102402>
Posted on November 20, 2018 6:50 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102402> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Courthouse News Service:<https://www.courthousenews.com/local-redistricting-in-la-passes-muster-with-9th-circuit/>

Los Angeles residents did not adequately show race was the main factor in the last round of redistricting or that the districts were redrawn to benefit the LA City Council's current president, a Ninth Circuit panel held Monday.

In two separate lawsuits, residents claimed that the city's district maps - redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. Census to account for changes in population and demographics - "artificially split" neighborhoods, including LA's Koreatown, and unfairly created a Latino-majority district in order to protect incumbent council members.,,,

In a 25-page opinion<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/11/19/15-55478.pdf>, U.S. Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said the residents failed to show race played a significant role in the city's process for drawing final boundaries in its 2012 redistricting.

"This evidence certainly shows that race was a motivation in drawing CD 10. For [redistricting commissioner Christopher] Ellison and Wesson, it may have even been the only motivation. Ellison never offered any justification other than race for his proposed boundaries. But the relevant inquiry is whether 'race was the predominant factor motivating the legislature's decision' as to the final boundaries," Nguyen wrote for the panel.

"And here, plaintiffs have not made the requisite showing to raise a genuine dispute of fact. Had Ellison been the final decision maker, then on this record plaintiffs may have been able to make a compelling showing of predominance. However, Ellison and Wesson were only two people in a process that incorporated multiple layers of decisions and alterations from the entire commission, as well as the City Council."
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


"Just Because an Election Is Legal Doesn't Mean It's Legitimate"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102400>
Posted on November 20, 2018 6:46 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102400> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Adam Serwer in The Atlantic<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/fighting-voter-discrimination-not-undermining-democracy/576229/>.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


"Stacey Abrams has it right about election rhetoric"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102398>
Posted on November 19, 2018 11:22 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102398> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jennifer Rubin WaPo column.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/11/19/stacey-abrams-has-it-right-about-election-rhetoric/?utm_term=.e34b852f52ad>
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


"If an Election Was Stolen, Say It Was Stolen; Lessons from Sherrod Brown and Chuck Todd."<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102396>
Posted on November 19, 2018 11:09 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102396> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

 A different perspective<https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a25224334/sherrod-brown-stolen-election-georgia-brian-kemp-chuck-todd/> from Charles Pierce.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


--
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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