[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/20/19

Mon Aug 19 20:35:45 PDT 2019

“Trump stumbles onto a new justification for losing the popular vote: It’s Google’s fault”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106969>
Posted on August 19, 2019 8:31 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106969> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo analysis.<https://beta.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/19/trump-stumbles-onto-new-justification-losing-popular-vote-its-googles-fault/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Honored That My Book on Justice Scalia, The Justice of Contradictions, Recognized by Green Bag for Exemplary Legal Writing in 2018<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106967>
Posted on August 19, 2019 4:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106967> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

And in very fine company<http://www.greenbag.org/green_bag_press/almanacs/almanacs.html>. Thank you!
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Posted in Scalia<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=123>

“Facebook and Twitter Say China Is Spreading Disinformation in Hong Kong”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106965>
Posted on August 19, 2019 1:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106965> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/technology/hong-kong-protests-china-disinformation-facebook-twitter.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage>

hina has aggressively stirred up anti-Western and nationalist sentiment using state and social media as part of an information war <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-china.html?module=inline> in the Hong Kong protests.
On Monday, Facebook and Twitter said they had found evidence of just how active China has been in trying to sow discord.
The social media companies said they had discovered and taken down networks of accounts that had originated in mainland China, where both Facebook and Twitter are blocked. The accounts had posted that the Hong Kong protesters were acting violently and accused them of ulterior motives. One Facebook post likened the protesters to ISIS fighters….
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Posted in social media and social protests<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>

“WGME, other Sinclair stations, run stories promoting Trump campaign merchandise”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106963>
Posted on August 19, 2019 1:41 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106963> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Portland Press Herald:<https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/19/wgme-other-sinclair-stations-run-stories-promoting-trump-campaign-merchandise/>

Maine television station WGME, Channel 13, has again been swept up in a national media ethics controversy after its corporate parent apparently directed it to publish and publicize a news story on its website that promotes President Trump’s campaign merchandise.
Over the past five days, WGME and at least 20 other stations owned by the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group published nearly identical versions of the story which reports how the Trump campaign has started selling a new version of its red “Make America Great Again” hats, including a catalog-like description of the product and its price….

The story probably wouldn’t have to be reported as a campaign contribution under current federal campaign finance law, says campaign finance legal expert Richard Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine. “It wouldn’t be a contribution unless it was being done in coordination with a campaign, and even if it counts as a contribution, there’s an exemption for the media engaged in a bona fide news story,” Hasen said. “So someone could file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission arguing this wasn’t a bona fide news story, but it would take them a few years to figure it out.”
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Key Voter Fraud Alarmist Pushing States To Adopt Anti-Immigrant Redistricting Change”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106961>
Posted on August 19, 2019 12:00 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106961> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

TPM:<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/citizenship-redistricting-alec-hans-von-spakovsky?fbclid=IwAR00VlyT_oWN17LedB2OaPSMgYV_eWPvyCjIgNAZ0HXEzXBOiyShaevoM5k>

Hans von Spakovsky — a former member of President Trump’s voter fraud commission known for overhyping claims of mass voter fraud — is encouraging states to move forward with an anti-immigrant, GOP-friendly redistricting overhaul, using citizenship data the Census Bureau is planning to produce<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-census-bureau-citizenship-existing-records-accuracy>.

In an interview posted Friday, von Spakovsky acknowledged that such a change to redistricting would “probably” benefit Republicans. But he claimed that legislators should consider it because the current approach of using total population for redistricting is “fundamentally unfair” to citizens.

Von Spakovsky filmed the interview with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization that provides Republicans with blueprint legislation and in the past has pushed voter ID bills and other voter restrictions.

The group held a conference last week in Austin.

“One of the recommendations I made to [state legislators] is that they use citizen population when they’re drawing lines,” von Spakovsky said.

Video<https://youtu.be/ZEi0Qvndn00>:
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>

“Ready for the voting overhaul in L.A. County? Here’s what you need to know”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106959>
Posted on August 19, 2019 8:29 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106959> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT reports.<https://www.latimes.com/la-me-los-angeles-voting-guide-2020-story.html>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Civil Rights Groups Sue Tennessee Over New Law That Puts Voter Registration Drives At Risk”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106957>
Posted on August 19, 2019 8:04 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106957> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

HuffPost:<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tennessee-voter-registration-drive_n_5ccca61fe4b0548b7359fa09>

Civil rights groups sued Tennessee<https://lawyerscommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Complaint-Final-Tennessee.5.2.2019-1.pdf> on Thursday over a controversial new law<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tennessee-voter-registration-applications_n_5cafa525e4b098b9a2d0f707> that will subject voter registration groups to potential fines and criminal penalties, saying the measure is unconstitutional, vague and will intimidate people from helping others sign up to vote.

The lawsuit was filed the same day Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed the law<http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0258.pdf>, which is set to take effect Oct. 1. It will allow officials to penalize paid voter registration drives that turn in 100 or more incomplete applications with fines of $150 to $2,000. If 500 or more deficient voter registration applications are submitted, the groups could be fined up to $10,000.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter registration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>

“FEC chair calls out Trump over voter fraud claims”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106955>
Posted on August 19, 2019 7:46 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=106955> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ellen Weintraub<https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/08/19/fec-chair-trump-election-fraud-claims-undermine-faith-sot-newday-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/> on CNN New Day.
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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<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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