[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/9/18

[Rick Hasen]

“Rick Gates Sought Online Manipulation Plans From Israeli Intelligence Firm for Trump Campaign”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101416>
Posted on October 9, 2018 6:49 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101416> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/us/politics/rick-gates-psy-group-trump.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fpolitics&action=click&contentCollection=politics&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront>

A top Trump campaign official requested proposals in 2016 from an Israeli company to create fake online identities, to use social media manipulation and to gather intelligence to help defeat Republican primary race opponents and Hillary Clinton, according to interviews and copies of the proposals.

The Trump campaign’s interest in the work began as Russians were escalating their effort to aid Donald J. Trump. Though the Israeli company’s pitches were narrower than Moscow’s interference campaign and appear unconnected, the documents show that a senior Trump aide saw the promise of a disruption effort to swing voters in Mr. Trump’s favor.

The campaign official, Rick Gates, sought one proposal to use bogus personas to target and sway 5,000 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention by attacking Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Mr. Trump’s main opponent at the time. Another proposal describes opposition research and “complementary intelligence activities” about Mrs. Clinton and people close to her, according to copies of the proposals obtained by The New York Times and interviews with four people involved in creating the documents.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


San Diego TV Station Story on Postage Necessary for Absentee Ballots Misstates Election Day as November 8<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101414>
Posted on October 9, 2018 6:45 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101414> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Oy.<http://www.cbs8.com/clip/12815991/mail-in-ballots-returned-for-insufficient-postage>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Equalizing the Political Rights of Renters and Homeowners”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101412>
Posted on October 9, 2018 6:39 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101412> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Stephen Mortellaro has posted this draft on SSRN<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3246723> (forthcoming Journal on Law and Politics):

The promise of democracy has not been kept to renters. The First Amendment protects renters and homeowners alike from governmental speech suppression, but neither landlord-tenant law nor civil rights law secures renters’ political rights from landlord interference. Landlords wield enormous power to censor what renters say, limit who they say it with, and even control what they hear—and renters rarely have legal recourse when landlords choose to exercise this power.

This articles analyzes the diminished political rights of renters and proposes new legislation to put renters and homeowners on equal ground. Rather than importing wholesale from First Amendment doctrine or elevating “political ideology” to a protected status, legislatures should enact a Renters Bill of Political Rights that protects renters—and those who wish to speak to renters—from landlord retaliation for their political activities. This approach is the most compatible with existing landlord-tenant law and avoids being underinclusive and overinclusive in the rights it protects. Above all, it enables renters to participate in American democracy without fear that they will lose their home.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Election Experts: We Need You”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101410>
Posted on October 9, 2018 6:30 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101410> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

ProPublica:<https://www.propublica.org/article/election-experts-we-need-you-electionland>

Election Experts: We Need You
If you’re an expert in election administration or election law, and you’re interested in helping us cover voting during the 2018 midterms, here’s how.

by Jessica Huseman<https://www.propublica.org/people/jessica-huseman>

Oct. 9, 5 a.m. EDT

Electionland is gearing up for the midterms, and we’re looking for experts in election administration and election law to be part of an expert database. We’d love to have you participate. Our goal is to ground real-time coverage of elections in fact and context — you could be a huge part of helping us achieve it.

Electionland 2016 was the largest-ever collaborative journalism project around a single event, with more than 1,000 journalists and technologists participating. We covered the voting experience on Election Day — from long lines to equipment failures to voter intimidation. We sifted through thousands of call-center records, social media posts and text messages, referring real problems to local journalists who covered the issues in real time. You can read an entire case study about it here<https://propublica.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/docs/electionland-case-study.pdf?_ga=2.233949214.1263058905.1538410389-2031266416.1532541620>.

We seek to do the same thing for the midterms. We’ll have election administration experts present in our newsroom all day, but they can’t do everything or speak to all local problems. So, we’re seeking to build a database of expert sources who are willing to take phone calls from local and national journalists during early voting and on Election Day. You can tell us what area your expertise is in and if you have any specific knowledge of states or counties. This will allow us to help journalists reach the right person to speak to about any problem voters may face.

We want to hear from anybody interested in working with us, but we’re especially interested in finding more conservatives with election expertise to participate. Issues around voting can be politically charged, but we don’t take sides. As journalists, we believe the only way to get the facts right are to make sure we’re talking to people from across the spectrum.

How much time will this take?

Not much! For short stories, it will involve quick phone calls with journalists. For short stories, it will involve quick phone calls with journalists. You might get more calls if lots of tips are generated in your area of expertise, and fewer if not. If you ever feel overwhelmed or would prefer to get fewer calls, you can let us know.

What information do you need from me?

Fill out this short Google form<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqybgYSlUtUvFZA0XiwR-lgVELaaIq8U9obHC0n5CgS5OlOg/viewform?usp=sf_link>.

What do I get out of this?

Our goal is to cover election issues quickly enough for them to be fixed while people are still voting. We saw this happen in 2016, and we’re confident we’ll see it again this time around. You’ll get to be part of helping journalists responsibly cover elections with an eye toward empowering voters.

Filed under:
·         Politics<https://www.propublica.org/topics/politics>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Correction: President Trump Nominates Benjamin Hovland to Seat on Election Assistance Commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101402>
Posted on October 8, 2018 7:01 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101402> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The announcement is here<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-intent-nominate-personnel-key-administration-posts-64/>. (Via Political Activity Law.<http://politicalactivitylaw.com/>)

Apparently he is being paired with a Don Palmer nomination<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-intent-nominate-appoint-personnel-key-administration-posts-13/> from back in June.

No word on whether Commissioners Hicks and McCormick are being renominated.

This post has been corrected.
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Posted in Election Assistance Commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>


--
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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