[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/16/19

Fri Aug 16 08:18:36 PDT 2019

“Election officials want security money, flexible standards”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106938>
Posted on August 16, 2019 8:17 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106938> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Roll Call:<http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/election-officials-want-security-money-flexible-standards>

State officials from Louisiana and Connecticut on Thursday asked for more money and clear standards from the federal government to help secure voting systems before the 2020 elections.
But the officials, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill, stressed the differences between their election systems and asked for leeway from the federal government in deciding how to spend any future funding.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Broward elections chief says military adversary could hack US elections. ‘There are forces bigger than us.’”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106936>
Posted on August 16, 2019 8:08 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106936> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports<https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-adversary-hack-elections-broward-supervisor-20190815-2cch3a4pcjbubcb7hervyatdti-story.html>.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“State officials beg Congress for more election security funding”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106934>
Posted on August 15, 2019 12:33 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106934> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Hill reports.<https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/457585-state-officials-beg-congress-for-more-election-security-funding>
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“In the War Against Gerrymandering, an Army of Voters Meets a Dug-in Foe”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106932>
Posted on August 15, 2019 11:44 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106932> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Wines<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/gerrymandering-redistricting-wisconsin.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US%20News> for the NYT, on the ground in Wisconsin.
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Posted in citizen commissions<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=7>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

In Major 143-Page Ruling, Federal Court Blocks Georgia’s Use of Paperless DRE Machines after 2019, Requires Paper Backup System for 2020 if New BMD System Not Ready, and Requires Improvements to State Voter Registration System<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106930>
Posted on August 15, 2019 7:32 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106930> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can find Judge Totenberg’s extensive and thoughtful opinion at this link<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/georgia-dre-decision.pdf>.

The court issued a preliminary injunction and the state could appeal to the Eleventh Circuit. But this opinion marshals a great deal of evidence as to the problems with Georgia’s existing system and, just as importantly, describes state officials’ refusal to take steps to improve things in the past.

The court did not weigh in on new controversy surrounding Georgia’s new BMD system, expected to be rolled out for 2020, which will print out ballots with a bar code and the name of the candidates on the ballot. Some election security and voting rights experts oppose BMD systems that use the bar (or QR) code rather than the candidate names printed on the ballots for the machine count of ballots. The names on the ballot would be the basis for any manual recount of ballots.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

“Deregulating Corruption”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106927>
Posted on August 15, 2019 7:20 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106927> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy has posted this draft<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3429993&dgcid=ejournal_htmlemail_law:society:legislation:ejournal_abstractlink> on SSRN (forthcoming Harvard Law and Policy Review). Here is the abstract:

The Roberts Supreme Court has, or to be more precise the five most conservative members of the Roberts Court have, spent the last twelve years branding and rebranding the meaning of the word “corruption” both in campaign finance cases and in certain white-collar criminal cases. Not only are the Roberts Court conservatives doing this over the strenuous objections of their more liberal colleagues, they are also breaking with the Rehnquist Court’s more expansive definition of corruption. The actions of the Roberts Court in defining corruption to mean less and less have been a welcome development among dishonest politicians. In criminal prosecutions, politicians convicted of honest services fraud and other crimes are all too eager to argue to courts that their convictions should be overturned in light of the Supreme Court’s lax definition of corruption. In some cases, jury convictions have been set aside for politicians who cite the Supreme Court’s latest campaign finance and white-collar crime cases, especially Citizens United v. FEC and McDonnell v. United States. This Article explores what the Supreme Court has done to rebrand corruption, as well as how this impacts the criminal prosecutions of corrupt elected officials. This Article is the basis of a chapter of Professor Torres-Spelliscy’s second book, Political Brands, which will be published by Edward Elgar Publishing in late 2019.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“A Realistic Version of Campaign Finance Reform and Two Essential Steps Toward a Return to Effective Governance”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106925>
Posted on August 15, 2019 7:18 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106925> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Richard Pierce has posted this draft<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3429207&dgcid=ejournal_htmlemail_law:society:legislation:ejournal_abstractlink> on SSRN (forthcoming George Mason Law Review). Here is the abstract:

This essay is a contribution to a symposium on “The Administration of Democracy.” Professor Pierce argues in support of a system of campaign finance reform that would eliminate all limits on contributions to candidates and require all candidate campaigns and PACs to report promptly all contributions. He argues that such a system would respect freedom of speech, reduce the amount of irresponsible negative advertising and allow the members of the public to decide whether they want to vote for a candidate who accepts money from sources they dislike or distrust.

Professor Pierce also urges major changes to our methods of selecting candidates for office, the rules that determine whether a Bill can be considered on the floor of the House, and the rules for choosing the leadership of the House of Representatives. He explains why he believes that replacement of the use of primaries to choose candidates for office with a peer-based method, elimination of the “Hastert rule,” and changing the rules applicable to electing the leadership of the House are critical to our ability to continue to function as an effective Democracy.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

--
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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