[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/11/19

Tue Dec 10 19:36:11 PST 2019

Note: Regular ELB mailings will resume on Monday as I do some traveling.

Good Riddance: Kobach’s Crosscheck Program is Suspended, and Likely Dead<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108358>
Posted on December 10, 2019 5:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108358> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://apnews.com/2c82eb782e578bbb81c121ec453fbee8>

A much-criticized database that checks whether voters are registered in multiple states has been suspended “for the foreseeable future” until security safeguards are put in place as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit, a civil rights group said Tuesday.

The Interstate Crosscheck program was the subject a class-action lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas on behalf of 945 voters whose partial Social Security numbers were exposed by Florida officials through an open records request.

Kansas has operated the multistate program since 2005, although the program hasn’t been used since 2017 when a Homeland Security audit discovered security vulnerabilities….

The future of Crosscheck remains unclear. State elections director Bryan Caskey told a legislative committee in February that Kansas could use $2 million in federal funds untouched by Kobach to gain access to an alternative voter registration database called the Electronic Registration Information Center. The initial cost for access would be $25,000. The office chose not to make $20,000 in security upgrades or use Crosscheck during last year’s election cycle….

Crosscheck’s future had been up in the air since its patron, Kris Kobach, lost the Kansas race for governor in 2018. Kobach, now out of elected office, is seeking the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2020.

Kobach’s successor as Kansas secretary of state had ordered a review to determine whether to scrap Crosscheck all together.

When the ACLU filed its lawsuit early last year, it said researchers discovered the system produced false positives 99 percent of the time. The lawsuit alleged Kobach sent voter signatures as well as the server address and passwords via unencrypted email. It also contended Kobach had weaponized Crosscheck in his quest to stamp out voter fraud.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Mexican resident and Trump supporter sentenced for voter fraud, identity theft in California”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108356>
Posted on December 10, 2019 5:49 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108356> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

SacBee:<https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article238208449.html>

Lerma, 64, is a native of Leon, Mexico, who authorities say posed as an American<https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article234228592.html> named Hiram Enrique Velez after buying a birth certificate and Social Security card in that name in Chicago in 1992.

For the past 20 years, prosecutors say, Lerma voted illegally in federal elections and was an avid Trump supporter who sent money to the Republican Party and was rewarded for his fealty with letters of thanks from the president, former Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus and current RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Southern states take up fight for bold democracy reforms”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108354>
Posted on December 10, 2019 4:57 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108354> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Chris Kromm<https://www.facingsouth.org/2019/12/southern-states-take-fight-bold-democracy-reforms?fbclid=IwAR0FFzhQG7EC_uI5Iz4_Aw4_1Si_-IAz5wARYmmqN62jOLyJA0o_5Fn0t_o> at Facing South:

With reform stifled in Washington, the task of expanding voting access and curbing Big Money influence has shifted to the states. Especially in the South, states have been critical terrain for struggles over voting and elections since the early 2000s<https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/Report_State_of_Voting_2018.pdf>, when conservative lawmakers began pushing a raft of voting restrictions such as stringent photo ID requirements. Those clashes have only escalated in recent years in legislatures and the courts, with pitched battles<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/9-states-where-rules-voting-have-been-changed-or-challenged-n1026886> over voter registration and list purges<https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/purges-growing-threat-right-vote>, gerrymandering, and skyrocketing political spending in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision.

Taking inspiration from Congress and H.R. 1 — and eyeing recent and potential future Democratic gains in state politics — advocates are proposing far-reaching, pro-democracy agendas across the South. While these plans face an uphill battle in even friendly political environments, democracy reformers see these big-picture agendas as a chance to be proactive and go on offense after years of playing legal and political defense.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Lowering the Voting Age to 16; Learning from Real Experiences Worldwide”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108352>
Posted on December 10, 2019 4:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108352> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This new edited volume<https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030325404> is coming in January.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“These Two Articles of Impeachment Are More Than Good Enough”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108350>
Posted on December 10, 2019 12:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108350> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this piece <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/articles-of-impeachment-donald-trump-abuse-power-obstruction-congress.html> for Slate. It begins:

On Monday, House leaders released a historic pair of articles of impeachment<https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/democrats.judiciary.house.gov/files/documents/Articles%20of%20Impeachment.pdf> against President Donald Trump. Some who have been horrified by Donald Trump’s conduct in office have raised questions over whether Democrats were right to include just two articles, arguing that Trump’s obstruction of the Mueller probe, or emoluments violations, or extreme immigration policies might warrant many more charges and a lengthier impeachment process. This is missing the bigger picture: Critics of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should stop their handwringing and celebrate the fact that the House did a very good job in drafting these articles of impeachment, which will likely be voted on by the full House of Representatives before Christmas. The articles are short and to the point. They focus on Trump’s twin offenses of abusing his power by withholding military aid to Ukraine and a meeting with Ukraine’s president in an effort to pressure that country to announce an investigation of Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden, and Trump’s obstruction of Congress by ordering his staff to ignore all lawful subpoenas for documents and witness testimony relevant to the impeachment inquiry.

The Democrats’ path followed the approach<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/democrats-should-impeach-donald-trump-fast-ukraine.html> I suggested in a September 27 article in Slate for a “clean impeachment strategy laser-focused on the Ukraine allegations” that would “not require a Carrie Mathison corkboard connecting the cast of characters with yarn.”

As many are second-guessing House’s actions, I want to respond to some objections that have been floating around:
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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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