[EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/27/18

Sun Oct 28 08:12:43 PDT 2018

I have been a participant in the Election List Serve since 2000. It has
been an important source of illumination on issues vital to a democratic. I
write to align myself with the comments my colleague Rick Hasen posted
yesterday. I find it striking that the critics of Rick's post have nothing
meaningful to say about hate and violence and the regrettable, ongoing
growth of a fact-free universe in this country. The Pittsburgh shooter told
police Jews were slaughtering his people. Pure hate-filled, white power
fantasy.  I just contributed to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
Henry Weinstein

On Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 10:30 PM Fredric Woocher <fwoocher at strumwooch.com>
wrote:

> Well said, Larry.  At some point, one can be silent no longer.  Trump is a
> despicable human being who has set the tone and who has encouraged and
> unleashed the worst elements in our society.  He has debased our country
> and what it should stand for.  And those who continuously enable and
> apologize for him because he happens to give them tax cuts, deregulation,
> and conservative judges (or whatever other part of his agenda they may
> support) need to speak out before he destroys what’s left of decency in our
> country and our world.
>
> Thank you, Rick.
>
> Fredric Woocher
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 27, 2018, at 10:07 PM, "larrylevine at earthlink.net" <
> larrylevine at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to remain
> silent.”
>
> Thank you, Rick, for speaking out and speaking up. Yes, this is a law
> list, but to those who want to raise that as a shield behind which to
> condone the white supremacist and white nationalism that is given purchase
> by the bombastic rhetoric that flows from Trump, I ask if you truly believe
> that a “condemnation of violence” is satisfactory atonement for three years
> for promulgating violence. This presidency has been devoid of decency and
> built on divisiveness. All people of good conscience need to condemn not
> just the shooting in Pittsburgh, but also that which has so clearly created
> the atmosphere that has emboldened the worst elements of our society.
> Donald Trump sings the siren song that is so clear heard by white
> separatists and white nationalists that it is fair to ask whether he isn’t
> in fact of them. If you truly think unsubscribing from this list is a
> proper response to one who has the courage to speak out in the face of
> evil, then I for one will not miss you.
>
> Larry
>
>
>
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> *On
> Behalf Of *Ben Betz
> *Sent:* Saturday, 27 October 2018 9:19 PM
> *To:* jboppjr <jboppjr at aol.com>
> *Cc:* Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/27/18
>
>
>
> Rick - thank you for wading in here so unabashedly and sharing with this
> list. You no doubt were aware there’d be political blowback and decided to
> make a moral case, speak the truth, and speak out *for decency* anyway.
>
>
>
> Jim Bopp, shame on you.
>
> Ben Betz
>
>
>
> (Sent from phone - please excuse typos.)
>
>
> On Oct 27, 2018, at 9:46 PM, jboppjr <jboppjr at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Rick, this is a disgusting low for you. Jim Bopp
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note8, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
>
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
>
> From: Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
>
> Date: 10/27/18 5:04 PM (GMT-05:00)
>
> To: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
>
> Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 10/27/18
>
>
> Domestic Terrorism, President Trump, and the 2018 U.S. Midterm Elections
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101782>
>
> Posted on October 27, 2018 1:54 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101782>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I am heartbroken for the victims of today’s domestic terrorist attack at
> the Tree of Life synagogue
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html> in
> Pittsburgh which has left 11 people dead. These people were praying and
> celebrating a recent birth with a bris. The killer apparently yelled “All
> Jews must die”
> <https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/10/27/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-identified/> as
> he opened fire.
>
> This comes just a few days after two African-American patrons of a Kroger
> store were senselessly killed in Louisville Kentucky in another racist
> domestic terrorist
> <https://www.wave3.com/2018/10/25/kroger-shooting-accused-killer-held-m-bond/> incident
> after the shooter could not get into a predominantly African-American
> Baptist church. The killer at one point explained that “whites don’t kill
> whites.”
>
> And of course these incidents come the same week as a man apparently
> obsessed with President Trump sent pipe bombs
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/technology/cesar-sayoc-facebook-twitter.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage> to
> those who have been frequent targets of the President’s inflammatory
> rhetoric, including former Presidents Obama and Clinton, Secretary Hillary
> Clinton, Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Maxine Waters, CNN, George Soros, and
> others. Fortunately, at least so far the bombs that have turned up in the
> mail have not exploded.
>
> Ordinarily, the acts of a deranged individual who commits political
> violence should not be attributed to the elected official they support or
> who inspires them. Think, for example, of the shooter of Rep Steve Scalise
> <https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/14/homepage2/james-hodgkinson-profile/index.html> at
> the congressional baseball game who was a Bernie Sanders supporter.
>
> But things with President Trump are different. He has refused to condemn
> anti-semitism and racism; he has encouraged chants of “lock her up” against
> his political opponent Hillary Clinton and against others; he has appeared
> with, and promoted the views of, those who blame George Soros and the Jews
> for immigration problems; he calls his political adversaries by demeaning
> names, especially African-American women opponents such as Rep. Waters. He
> has done these things even as this violence grows. He praised the body
> slamming of a journalist by Rep. Gianforte. He has shown no interest in
> bringing the nation together, suggesting that rather than “toning it down”
> he could “really tone it up.”
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-could-really-tone-it-up-trump-shows-little-interest-in-uniting-the-nation-during-crises/2018/10/26/6a859c38-d891-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html?utm_term=.e506260dc49c>
>
> He has pursued a political strategy that is aimed at inflaming his base to
> try to win the election. He has even complained
> <https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/media-covering-bombs-halt-gop-momentum-midterms-trump-says> about
> how the pipe bombs could hurt Republican election momentum.
>
> And he has brought many Republicans along with him, such as Kevin
> McCarthy, soon to be leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
> McCarthy, in a now-deleted tweet,
> <https://twitter.com/JJohnsonLaw/status/1056243096369987584> accused
> “Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg” of “trying to BUY this election.” Such
> anti-Semitic tropes have moved from the fringe right wing to the center of
> the Republican party.
>
> At the beginning of the Trump presidency, I had hopes that people like
> Speaker of the House Paul Ryan would have courage to speak out about these
> things, and actually take action to punish Trump for not strongly
> condemning the racism and violence Trump has encouraged. It hasn’t
> happened. There is the barest of hand-wringing by people like Senator Sasse
> and Senator Flake, and no consequences for Trump. Republicans in the Senate
> are fine to put up with the racism and inflammation toward violence if they
> get to pack the federal judiciary with conservative appointees.
>
> There is reason to believe that if Republicans lose the House, Trump will
> only turn up the rhetoric, perhaps attacking the legitimacy of the election
> results, and trying to rile up his base more in an effort to preserve his
> presidency and maximize his chances for reelection. As ugly as things have
> gotten, they stand to get uglier.
>
> It is time for people across the aisle to stand up to racism. So far
> people like Paul Ryan have been cowards. Maybe they will have more
> “courage” if it seems that Trump’s appeal to racism will cost the party its
> lock on power. But I would not have count on it. And in the meantime,
> increased political violence and domestic terrorism seems not only
> possible, but unfortunately likely.
>
> May the memory of this weeks’ victims be a blessing, and may their deaths
> not be in vain.
>
>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101782&title=Domestic%20Terrorism%2C%20President%20Trump%2C%20and%20the%202018%20U.S.%20Midterm%20Elections>
>
> Posted in social media and social protests
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>
>
>
>
>
> Revelations from John Gore Deposition: “Jeff Sessions Told DOJ Not To
> Discuss Citizenship Question Alternatives”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101780>
>
> Posted on October 27, 2018 1:13 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101780>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Hansi Lo Wang
> <https://www.npr.org/2018/10/27/661270003/jeff-sessions-told-doj-not-to-discuss-citizenship-question-alternatives> for
> NPR:
>
> *In a newly-released court filing
> <https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5022451-2018-10-26-Pretrial-Dckt-410-0>in
> preparation for the first trial
> <https://www.npr.org/2018/09/14/648016277/census-citizenship-question-trial-could-start-day-before-midterm-elections> of
> the citizenship question lawsuits, the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote that
> John Gore testified
> <https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5022451-2018-10-26-Pretrial-Dckt-410-0#document/p12/a463373> out
> of court Friday that Sessions “personally made the decision to direct DOJ
> not to even meet with the Census Bureau to discuss alternative approaches.”*
>
> *The attorneys cite Gore’s testimony to back up their claims that the
> decision to add the citizenship question was a misuse of the commerce
> secretary’s authority over the census and intended to discriminate against
> immigrant communities of color….*
>
> *For decades, the federal government has relied on citizenship information
> to make sure the voting power of racial and language minorities is not
> diluted. Since the Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965, the Justice
> Department has enforced the law’s protections against discrimination by
> using estimates of U.S. citizens from a Census Bureau survey now known as
> the American Community Survey. About one in 38 households in the U.S. are
> required by law to complete that survey every year.*
>
> *In its December 2017 letter to the Census Bureau
> <https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=4500011-1-18-Cv-02921-Administrative-Record#document/p675/a440934>,
> however, the Justice Department said that collecting citizenship data from
> every household through the once-a-decade census would be “more
> appropriate” to use for enforcing Voting Rights Act and redistricting.*
>
> *Still, Gore does not seem sure if the data collected from the new
> citizenship question would be more accurate.*
>
> *According to the plaintiffs’ filing
> <https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5022451-2018-10-26-Pretrial-Dckt-410-0#document/p37/a463374>,
> Gore testified Friday that “he does not even know if citizenship data based
> on responses to a citizenship question on the census will have smaller or
> larger margins of error, or will be any more precise, than the existing
> citizenship data on which DOJ currently relies.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101780&title=Revelations%20from%20John%20Gore%20Deposition%3A%20%E2%80%9CJeff%20Sessions%20Told%20DOJ%20Not%20To%20Discuss%20Citizenship%20Question%20Alternatives%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Department of Justice <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>
>
>
>
>
> I Talked with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate’s Amicus Podcast About the State
> of Voting Rights in the US <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101778>
>
> Posted on October 27, 2018 1:10 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101778>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Listen:
> <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/10/whats-coming-down-the-docket-at-scotus-and-why-the-midterms-may-be-neither-free-nor-fair.html>
>
> *Dahlia Lithwick talks with Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern about what to
> look out for this term, and with Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/>,
> professor of law and political science at the University of California,
> Irvine, about how free and fair the midterm elections will be in light of
> recent Supreme Court rulings on voting rights.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101778&title=I%20Talked%20with%20Dahlia%20Lithwick%20for%20Slate%E2%80%99s%20Amicus%20Podcast%20About%20the%20State%20of%20Voting%20Rights%20in%20the%20US>
>
> Posted in The Voting Wars <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
>
>
>
>
> Orange County, California: “They Want To Register Voters In Jail. The
> Sheriff Won’t Let Them Inside To Do It.”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101776>
>
> Posted on October 27, 2018 1:08 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101776>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> HuffPo:
> <https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/register-to-vote-southern-california-orange-county_us_5bd22882e4b0a8f17ef5c9e2>
>
> *In California, people with a felony conviction can vote
> <https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/who-can-vote-california/voting-rights-californians/> as
> long as they aren’t currently incarcerated in state or federal prison, on
> parole, or in county jail for a parole violation. Otherwise-eligible jail
> inmates are permitted to vote by mail.*
>
> *Torres is one of the roughly 6,000 likely eligible voters who are
> detained in the Orange County jail at any given time that the ACLU of
> Southern California is trying to reach through a program it calls Unlock
> The Vote <https://www.aclusocal.org/en/unlockthevote>. They face a big
> obstacle: The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, currently led by Sandra
> Hutchens, won’t let them set foot inside the jail to talk about voting.
> Instead they must wait outside, across the street, where they approach
> inmates as they’re released and ask them to register.*
>
> *It’s a mission that, at times, can seem quixotic. Around 30 inmates were
> released that Friday; the ACLU registered only four. But even if a fraction
> of those 6,000 current or since-released inmates vote in November, it could
> make a big difference….*
>
> *It doesn’t have to be this hard to register people in jail. Just north of
> Orange County, the ACLU has been allowed inside the Los Angeles County jail
> to register inmates. They estimate they’ve registered about 4,000 people
> there. Efforts in jails in Chicago
> <https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cook-county-jail-voter-registration_us_5b6203ece4b0fd5c73d5c099> and New
> York
> <http://gothamist.com/2018/08/31/rikers_voter_registration_drive_wor.php>,
> among other places, have also added new voters to the rolls.*
>
> *Those numbers add up. There are 700,000 people detained in jails across
> the country who are likely eligible to vote, but don’t know they can.
> Forty-eight states strip people of their voting rights after they’re
> convicted of a felony. But people can still vote while they’re awaiting
> trial in jail or if they’re serving time for a misdemeanor.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101776&title=Orange%20County%2C%20California%3A%20%E2%80%9CThey%20Want%20To%20Register%20Voters%20In%20Jail.%20The%20Sheriff%20Won%E2%80%99t%20Let%20Them%20Inside%20To%20Do%20It.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in felon voting <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>
>
>
>
>
> “Texas Civil Rights Project asks Secretary of State to take action on
> voting machines” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101774>
>
> Posted on October 26, 2018 6:46 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101774>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Release:
> <https://texascivilrightsproject.org/release-texas-civil-rights-project-asks-secretary-of-state-to-take-action-on-voting-machines/>
>
> *Tonight, the Texas Civil Rights Project (“TCRP”) sent a letter
> <https://texascivilrightsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TCRP-Letter-to-SOS-10.26.18.pdf> to
> the Secretary of State asking that his office take immediate action to
> inform Texans regarding the straight-ticket voting issues on the Hart
> eSlate voting machines. The letter asks the Secretary to:*
>
> *1.**      Devise a system to more proactively inform voters at polling
> places about this potential problem.*
>
> *2.**      Substantially increase outreach efforts across the state to
> communicate more clearly to the public the reason some voters are facing
> this issue; the need for voters to check their ballot choices before
> submitting their ballot; and that voters should immediately ask for help
> from a poll worker if they encounter any issue.*
>
> *TCRP initially heard of this issue after voters contacted the
> non-partisan election protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE. So far, TCRP has
> received reports from voters in six counties (Harris, Montgomery, Fort
> Bend, Travis, Tarrant, and McLennan) who either had this happen to them, or
> were concerned that it may have happened to them.*
>
> *At a minimum, 5.1 million Texas voters in six of the largest counties in
> Texas that use Hart eSlate voting machines may be affected by this issue.*
>
>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101774&title=%E2%80%9CTexas%20Civil%20Rights%20Project%20asks%20Secretary%20of%20State%20to%20take%20action%20on%20voting%20machines%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting
> technology <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>
>
>
>
>
> Postcard Advises Arizona Democrats to Vote on Wrong Election Day
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101772>
>
> Posted on October 26, 2018 2:52 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101772>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> <image001.jpg> <https://twitter.com/RecorderFontes>
>
> *Adrian Fontes at RecorderFontes <https://twitter.com/RecorderFontes>*
>
>
>
>  · 23h <https://twitter.com/RecorderFontes/status/1055937016049762304>
>
>
>
> The Elections Department is advising voters to rely solely on official
> sources for information on the 2018 General Election. Some voters have
> notified us of receiving post cards like this one showing an incorrect date
> for the upcoming election:
>
> <image002.jpg>
> <https://twitter.com/RecorderFontes/status/1055937016049762304/photo/1>
>
> <image003.jpg> <https://twitter.com/AZs_Politics>
>
> *Arizona's Politics at AZs_Politics <https://twitter.com/AZs_Politics>*
>
>
>
> cc: @rickhasen <https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
>
> 2:48 PM - Oct 26, 2018
> <https://twitter.com/AZs_Politics/status/1055939372355215360>
>
> ·
>
> 4 <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1055939372355215360>
>
> ·
>
> See Arizona's Politics's other Tweets <https://twitter.com/AZs_Politics>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101772&title=Postcard%20Advises%20Arizona%20Democrats%20to%20Vote%20on%20Wrong%20Election%20Day>
>
> Posted in *chicanery* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
>
>
>
>
> *“Reports of Voter Intimidation at Polling Places in Texas”*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101770>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 2:33 pm*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101770> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> *ProPublica reports.*
> <https://www.propublica.org/article/reports-of-voter-intimidation-at-polling-places-in-texas>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101770&title=%E2%80%9CReports%20of%20Voter%20Intimidation%20at%20Polling%20Places%20in%20Texas%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in *Uncategorized* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> *District Court and 2nd Circuit Reject DOJ Argument to Delay Census
> Citizenship Trial; Next Stop #SCOTUS?*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101768>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 2:29 pm*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101768> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> View image on Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1055934058902011904/photo/1>
>
> <image004.jpg>
> <https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1055934058902011904/photo/1>
>
> <image005.jpg> <https://twitter.com/hansilowang>
>
> *Hansi Lo Wang <https://twitter.com/hansilowang>*
>
> *✔@hansilowang <https://twitter.com/hansilowang>*
>
>
>
>
>
> BREAKING: Three-judge panel of 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
> denied Trump administration’s request to delay 1st trial of #2020census
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/2020census?src=hash> citizenship question
> lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman issued a similar ruling earlier
> today. Watching for #SCOTUS <https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash>
> action now...
>
> *2:27 PM - Oct 26, 2018*
> <https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1055934058902011904>
>
> ·
>
> 202 <https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1055934058902011904>
>
> ·
>
> 142 people are talking about this
> <https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1055934058902011904>
>
> Twitter Ads info and privacy
> <https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101768&title=District%20Court%20and%202nd%20Circuit%20Reject%20DOJ%20Argument%20to%20Delay%20Census%20Citizenship%20Trial%3B%20Next%20Stop%20%23SCOTUS%3F>
>
> Posted in *Uncategorized* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> *More Trouble with Texas Voting Machines Not Accepting Straight Party
> Ticket Choice; State Blames “Operator Error”*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101766>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 1:51 pm*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101766> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> *ABC 13 reports.* <https://abc13.com/4556377/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101766&title=More%20Trouble%20with%20Texas%20Voting%20Machines%20Not%20Accepting%20Straight%20Party%20Ticket%20Choice%3B%20State%20Blames%20%E2%80%9COperator%20Error%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in *Uncategorized* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> *“Combination Among the States: Why the National Popular Vote Interstate
> Compact is an Unconstitutional Attempt to Reform the Electoral College”*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101764>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 1:38 pm*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101764> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Patrick Valencia has written* this article*
> <http://harvardjol.com/2018/10/26/combination-among-the-states-npvic-unconstitutional/> for
> the Harvard Journal on Legislation.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101764&title=%E2%80%9CCombination%20Among%20the%20States%3A%20Why%20the%20National%20Popular%20Vote%20Interstate%20Compact%20is%20an%20Unconstitutional%20Attempt%20to%20Reform%20the%20Electoral%20College%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in *electoral college* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
>
>
>
>
> *Kansas Voting Official Responds “LOL” to ACLU Request to Publicize Voter
> Help Line for Dodge City Voters* <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101762>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 1:29 pm*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101762> by *Rick Hasen*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> *Wichita Eagle:*
> <https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article220557195.html>
>
> *After the ACLU objected to Dodge City’s single, out-of-town polling
> place, the local official in charge of elections forwarded to the state an
> ACLU letter asking her to publicize a voter help line.*
>
> *“LOL,” she wrote in an email to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s
> office.*
>
> *As Election Day approaches, concerns are being raised in Kansas over
> voting rights and access to the polls. The movement and elimination of some
> polling places is sparking fears that casting a ballot may be more
> difficult for some this year.*
>
> *Nowhere are worries greater than in Dodge City, where residents must
> leave town if they want to vote on Election Day….*
>
> *Cox said she moved the polling location out of a concern for safety. And
> she said she didn’t mean anything when she wrote “LOL.”*
>
> *“This was not done with any racial intention at all,” Cox said during an
> interview in her office on Gunsmoke Street downtown.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101762&title=Kansas%20Voting%20Official%20Responds%20%E2%80%9CLOL%E2%80%9D%20to%20ACLU%20Request%20to%20Publicize%20Voter%20Help%20Line%20for%20Dodge%20City%20Voters>
>
> Posted in *election administration* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
> , *The Voting Wars* <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
>
>
>
>
> *“Redistricting Reform and the 2018 Elections”*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101760>
>
> Posted on *October 26, 2018 8:32 am*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101760> by *Richard Pildes*
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> The Harvard Law Review blog is running a Symposium on legal issues related
> to the 2018 election.  Here’s my *contribution*
> <https://blog.harvardlawreview.org/redistricting-reform-and-the-2018-elections/>,
> which analyzes the different measures on the ballot to change the
> redistricting process in Utah, Missouri, Michigan, and Colorado.  An
> excerpt:
>
> *Underlying the entire issue of redistricting is the question of what
> constitutes a fair map.  The issue is not just whether voters will endorse
> independent redistricting commissions, but what substantive criteria those
> commissions will be instructed to use.  This is not as straightforward a
> question as many people intuitively think.  As a conceptual matter, there
> are two fundamentally different approaches to answering that question, and
> it is worth noticing the distinct approaches these various ballot measures
> embrace.*
>
> *The first approach is what I have called
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/10/13/what-comes-next-in-the-fight-against-partisan-gerrymandering/?utm_term=.af93f5001a90> a
> process-oriented one.  Redistricters would be instructed to take a set of
> criteria into account that reflect appropriate democratic values for
> designing districts, but that do not include partisan political
> considerations.  Thus, in “partisan-blind” redistricting, districts would
> be designed to meet standards like equal population; compliance with the
> Voting Rights Act; keeping pre-existing political units (like towns,
> cities, and counties) together, to the extent possible; respecting
> communities of interest; and keeping districts reasonable compact and
> contiguous.  Under this approach, a “fair” map would reflect these
> criteria, and whatever partisan political consequences resulted from such a
> process would not affect the fairness of the plan.*
>
> *The second approach is instead focused on exactly those consequences:  it
> is an outcome-oriented approach that would seek to ensure a map is “fair”
> in the sense that the likely outcome of elections under the plan would be
> that each political party would end up with roughly the same percentage of
> seats as the percentage of votes it received.  Under this approach, many of
> the values listed above would be of secondary importance to the primary
> goal of seeking to design a map that would generate partisan outcomes that
> match each party’s share of the overall statewide vote.   The
> “process-oriented” and “outcome oriented” approaches define two poles of
> the spectrum; one can imagine approaches that try to merge these
> approaches, though doing so risks becoming a muddle that leaves
> redistricters with a great deal of discretion unless the proper tradeoffs
> between these different objectives are identified with precision.  But
> having these two distinct conceptual frameworks in mind is helpful in
> evaluating the different ballot initiatives. . . .*
>
> *No other country
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/07/the-supreme-court-will-soon-consider-gerrymandering-heres-how-changes-in-redistricting-could-reduce-it/?utm_term=.4c4fcbdbd7ee> with
> single-member election districts like ours leaves the power to draw these
> districts in the hands of the most politically self-interested actors, the
> politicians whose power and seats will be affected. . . . But shifting to
> commissions cannot avoid the fact that substantive choices must still be
> made about how we ought to define fair maps and what criteria commissions,
> or any other redistricting body, ought to follow in order to design fair
> maps.*
>
> *The proposals on the ballot in these four states agree that redistricting
> should be taken out of the hands of self-interested state legislatures. But
> they show that on the deeper question – what makes a map fair – there
> remain differences of view.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D101760&title=%E2%80%9CRedistricting%20Reform%20and%20the%202018%20Elections%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in *Uncategorized* <https://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* <rhasen at law.uci.edu>
>
> *http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/*
> <http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/>
>
> *http://electionlawblog.org* <http://electionlawblog.org/>
>
> <image006.png>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Henry Weinstein
Writer, Teacher
cell phone 323-445-7006
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