[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/4/19

[Rick Hasen]

NBER Study Finds Rhode Island Voter ID Law Depressed Turnout, Especially Among Young, Minority, Poor Voters<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103464>
Posted on February 4, 2019 7:53 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103464> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBER<https://www.nber.org/papers/w25503>:

Effects of Photo ID Laws on Registration and Turnout: Evidence from Rhode Island

Francesco Maria Esposito<https://www.nber.org/people/Francesco_Esposito>, Diego Focanti<https://www.nber.org/people/diego_focanti>, Justine S. Hastings<https://www.nber.org/people/justine_hastings>
NBER Working Paper No. 25503
Issued in January 2019
NBER Program(s):Law and Economics<https://www.nber.org/papersbyprog/LE.html>, Public Economics<https://www.nber.org/papersbyprog/PE.html>, Political Economy<https://www.nber.org/papersbyprog/POL.html>

We study the effect of photo ID laws on voting using a difference-in-differences estimation approach around Rhode Island’s implementation of a photo ID law. We employ anonymized administrative data to measure the law’s impact by comparing voting behavior among those with drivers’ licenses versus those without, before versus after the law. Turnout, registration, and voting conditional on registration fell for those without licenses after the law passed. We do not find evidence that people proactively obtained licenses in anticipation of the law, nor do we find that they substituted towards mail ballots which do not require a photo ID.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voter id<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>


“Trump-appointed prosecutor focused on allegations of voting fraud by immigrants amid warnings about separate ballot scheme”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103462>
Posted on February 4, 2019 7:42 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103462> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Deep dive from WaPo<https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/02/04/voter-fraud-investigation-north-carolina-focuses-immigrants/2766087002/>:

At about 4 a.m. on Aug. 23, federal agents rousted Jose Solano-Rodriguez from his bed in the suburbs of Raleigh. A couple of hours later, three agents knocked on Hyo Suk George’s door as she fed her rabbits and chickens in rural Columbus County. Jose Ramiro-Torres was at his job at a fencing company near the Outer Banks when his girlfriend called to tell him to come home, where federal agents were waiting.

In all, 20 immigrants — two still in pajamas — were rounded up over several days, many of them handcuffed and shackled, and charged with voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. The sweep across eastern North Carolina was one of the most aggressive voting-fraud crackdowns by a Trump-appointed prosecutor — and also a deliberate choice that demonstrates where the administration’s priorities stand.
At the time of the arrests, an organized ballot-tampering effort that state officials had repeatedly warned about was allegedly gearing up in the same part of North Carolina. The operation burst into public view after Election Day in November when the state elections board, citing irregularities in the mail-in vote, refused to certify the results of the 9th Congressional District race. That seat remains unfilled while state officials investigate.

The decision by U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon Jr. to focus his office’s resources on the prosecution of noncitizens rather than the ballot-tampering allegations in Bladen County comes amid a broad push by President Trump and other Republicans to portray illegal voting as a widespread phenomenon that threatens the integrity of American elections.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Specious claims dog Pennsylvania’s noncitizen voter search”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103460>
Posted on February 3, 2019 7:25 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103460> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP<https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2019/02/specious-claims-dog-pennsylvanias-noncitizen-voter-search.html>:

Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers are making a disputed claim in a long-running, and possibly futile, effort by elections officials to determine how many non-U.S. citizens had registered to vote over the years.

On Tuesday, the lawmakers, Republican state Reps. Daryl Metcalfe and Garth Everett, issued a statement saying there had been confirmation that 11,198 foreign nationals had illegally registered to vote in Pennsylvania.

But that is not what state election officials said.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


Case Against Kobach’s “Crosscheck” Survives Motion to Dismiss, Raises Novel Constitutional Questions<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103458>
Posted on February 3, 2019 12:38 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103458> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

From the court order<https://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2019/02/01/5c54d5ade4b00187b550fe06.pdf> (via Sam Levine<https://twitter.com/srl/status/1091478315616165890>):

Before the court is defendants Kris Kobach and Scott Schwab’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 11). It presents two vexing questions of constitutional law: Does the Constitution recognize a right to informational privacy? And, if so, does that right prohibit public disclosure of purportedly private voter information? Regrettably, the Supreme Court has not decided either one of these questions. And though our Circuit has decided the first question, it has not addressed the second one. Consistent with Circuit precedent, the court concludes that such a right exists and, though it is a close question, the court holds that the Complaint’s allegations plead a plausible claim for relief. The pages that follow explain why.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Voting Rights and Wrongs:” Watch Kathay Feng, Justin Levitt Michael Morley, Franita Tolson Discuss Voting and Gerrymandering Issues with Me at the Hammer Museum<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103455>
Posted on February 3, 2019 12:31 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103455> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can watch this great conversation here<https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2019/01/voting-rights-and-wrongs/>.
Voting Rights and Wrongs: Hammer Museum, Jan. 31, 2019


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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


Could Va. Gov. Northam Face a “Recall Trial?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103453>
Posted on February 3, 2019 9:02 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103453> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Joshua Spivak<https://recallelections.blogspot.com/2019/02/virginia-can-governor-be-recalled-and.html>:

1) Virginia has an unusual recall provision called a “recall trial.” No state has this provision — it is not clear any place in the world has it. The recall trial is a modification of what we call the judicial recall/malfeasance standard, with a very big twist.

Under the recall trial standard, voters would have to gather signatures equal to 10% of turnout in the last election. Then, instead of a vote, a judge would hold a trial to determine if the elected official violated a specified list of statutory rules<https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title24.2/chapter2/section24.2-233/>. The list includes neglect of duty, misuse of office, incompetence and conviction on a number of misdemeanors (one of the specified misdemeanors is a “hate crime” — though I can’t imagine any criminal charges).

Having a specified “for cause” list of actions required for removal is not unusual. Among the states that have recalls on the state level, seven have this judicial recall/malfeasance standard criteria (Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Rhode Island, Washington). This greatly limits the amount of recalls — such recalls attempts are generally thrown out very early in the process.

What is unusual is having a trial rather than an election. I’m not sure how this provision came about, but no one else seems to have it.

Would Northam be found guilty and removed in a recall trial? It seems extremely unlikely — it is not clear what charges could be filed. However, there are very few recall trials in Virginia history (see below), so we can’t read much into past practices.

2) Does the Governor even fall under this provision? The applicability portion of the code states that the law<https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title24.2/chapter2/section24.2-230/>: “shall apply to all elected …. officers…. except officers for whose removal the Constitution of Virginia specifically provides.” This may mean that the recall may not cover Governors, who face impeachment under the Constitution. Again, this would need to be tested in court for a final answer….
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Posted in recall elections<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=11>


“CLC and LULAC Take Texas Secretary of State to Court for Latest Purge Efforts”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103451>
Posted on February 3, 2019 9:00 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103451> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release<https://campaignlegal.org/press-releases/clc-and-lulac-take-texas-secretary-state-court-latest-purge-efforts>.
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>



--
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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