[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/3/19

Wed Jan 2 20:25:03 PST 2019

“Voting Issues and Gerrymanders Are Now Key Political Battlegrounds”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103047>
Posted on January 2, 2019 8:20 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103047> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Trip Gabriel<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/politics/voting-gerrymander-elections.html> for the NYT:

Voting rights and partisan gerrymandering, traditionally the preoccupation of wonky party strategists and good-government groups, have become major flash points in the debate about the integrity of American elections, signaling high stakes battles over voter suppression and politically engineered districts ahead of the 2020 presidential race.

When Democrats take the majority in the House on Thursday, the first bill they plan to introduce will be broad legislation focusing on these issues. Early drafts of their proposals include automatic voter registration, public elections financing and ending gerrymandering by using independent commissions to draw voting districts.

But action and anger go far beyond Congress. With voters increasingly aware of the powerful impact of gerrymandering and doubtful about the fairness of elections, voting issues have become central to politics in key states including Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Questions about the health of American democracy are being raised in areas once thought to be wholly nonpartisan, as reflected in a court battle over whether the Trump administration is trying to use a question about citizenship on the 2020 census<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/us/wilbur-ross-commerce-secretary.html?module=inline> to undercount Democratic constituencies and limit their political clout.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Ninth Circuit Grants Rehearing en Banc to Reconsider Voting Rights Challenge to Arizona Law on Absentee Ballot “Harvesting” and Counting Ballots Cast in Wrong Precincts<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103045>
Posted on January 2, 2019 8:14 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103045> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Now vacated panel opinion<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/09/12/18-15845.pdf> (Ikuta majority; CJ Thomas dissent).

En banc order<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/01/02/18-15845.pdf>.

From my earlier coverage<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=101123>: “This is a major case,<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/09/12/18-15845.pdf> that could go en banc.”
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Hearing into North Carolina ballot fraud claims postponed”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103043>
Posted on January 2, 2019 6:06 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103043> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://www.apnews.com/1cea68c4a9794133ba9f38768d7ae47a>

A planned hearing digging into allegations of possible ballot fraud in the country’s last undecided congressional race was scrapped Wednesday, with North Carolina’s governor blaming Republicans for not backing his plan to temporarily recreate the disbanded state elections board.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said he won’t try to ram ahead with a Democrats-only elections board. State elections staffers then announced the Jan. 11 meeting was postponed due to the lack of a board authorized to subpoena witnesses and hold hearings.

Cooper contended he had the authority to reshape a three-Democrat, two-Republican elections board to hold the hearing into an unusually large number of unused absentee ballots and a large advantage in absentees favoring Republican Mark Harris in two of the 9th congressional district’s rural counties.

The elections board was dissolved on Friday by state judges who in October declared its form unconstitutional. They ordered a return to governors appointing most members as they have done for a century. A revamped board takes effect Jan. 31.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

EAC Now Has Full Complement of Commissioners<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103041>
Posted on January 2, 2019 4:49 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103041> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Via Eric Geller<https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1080626292796608517> of Politico:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/976528037683630082/8oH-oJIf_bigger.jpg]<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>
<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>
Eric Geller<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>
✔@ericgeller<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>

<https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1080626292796608517>

The @EACgov<https://twitter.com/EACgov> will have a quorum! Background: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-cybersecurity/2018/11/28/eac-finally-nearing-ability-to-take-major-action-433181 …<https://t.co/5qIuvrb8Gs> https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520 …<https://t.co/SgLWbSeu5W>
<https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520>
Senate Cloakroom<https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520>
✔@SenateCloakroom<https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520>

Confirmed by Voice Vote:<https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1080622524533227520>

<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1080626292796608517>
12<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1080626292796608517>
4:45 PM - Jan 2, 2019<https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1080626292796608517>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>
See Eric Geller's other Tweets<https://twitter.com/ericgeller>

Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Assistance Commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=34>

#NC09: “Is There a Vacancy in North Carolina?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103039>
Posted on January 2, 2019 12:48 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103039> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read from Mike Stern.<http://www.pointoforder.com/2019/01/02/is-there-a-vacancy-in-north-carolina/>
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Posted in legislation and legislatures<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>

Federal Court Remands North Carolina State Partisan Gerrymandering Case Back to State Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103036>
Posted on January 2, 2019 10:45 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103036> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This order<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/remand-nc-order.pdf> was expected; an opinion is promised to follow.

Earlier coverage: With North Carolina Supreme Court Now Holding Democratic Majority, Republicans in North Carolina Legislature Seek to Move Partisan Gerrymandering Case to Federal Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=102888>.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

Moderating January 31 Event at UCLA Hammer Museum: “Voting Rights and Wrongs”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103034>
Posted on January 2, 2019 8:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103034> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Really looking forward to this<https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2019/01/voting-rights-and-wrongs/>, which will later have an archived webcast:

·         HAMMER FORUM

Voting Rights and Wrongs
THURSDAY JAN 31, 2019 7:30PM

The 2018 midterm elections revealed egregious voter suppression tactics and mismanagement of polling places but also slate of new reforms that eliminate barriers to voting for many Americans. Kathay Feng, California Common Cause executive director; Franita Tolson, USC Gould School of Law professor; Justin Levitt, Loyola Law School professor; and Michael Morley, Florida State University law professor, discuss the future of voting rights and election laws with moderator Rick Hasen, UC Irvine political science and
law professor.

ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?

Ticketing: Free tickets are required and available at the Box Office one hour before the program. One ticket per person; first come, first served.
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“A New Playing Field for Democracy Reform”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103032>
Posted on January 2, 2019 8:03 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103032> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Miles Rapoport & Cecily Hines<https://prospect.org/authors/miles-rapoport-cecily-hines> for TAP<https://prospect.org/article/new-playing-field-democracy-reform>.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Trump illegally asked Russia to help him win in 2016. He shouldn’t get away with it.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103030>
Posted on January 2, 2019 8:01 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103030> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fred Wertheimer & Norm Eisen USA Today oped:<https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/01/02/trump-broke-law-russia-clinton-emails-hold-him-accountable-column/2449564002/>

In asking Russia to find Clinton’s emails, presidential candidate Trump violated this statutory prohibition on seeking help from a foreign country to influence an election. Trump in essence called on a foreign adversary to locate and release something that was of great value to him and his campaign.

The law provides that such a solicitation is illegal regardless of whether the person soliciting the help receives anything in return. The risks of foreign intrusion in our elections are so great that even asking for help from foreigners without consummation is a crime. But in this case, on or around the same day that Trump solicited help from Russia, Russia made its first attempt to break into servers that Hillary Clinton’s personal office used. That event is laid out in detail in an indictment<https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download> of Russian hackers obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Changes may be ahead for criticized Georgia election system”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103027>
Posted on January 1, 2019 3:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103027> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/changes-may-be-ahead-criticized-georgia-election-system-n953506>:
Georgia’s outdated election system has drawn criticism from cybersecurity experts and voting integrity advocates, and now a commission tasked with examining potential replacements is preparing to make recommendations to lawmakers.
The paperless system was closely scrutinized during last year’snationally watched gubernatorial race<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/stacey-abrams-refuses-call-brian-kemp-s-victory-legitimate-says-n937721> between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp, who was Georgia’s secretary of state and chief elections official. Abrams and her allies accused Kemp of suppressing minority votes<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/suppression-critics-charge-georgia-gop-gov-candidate-purging-voters-election-n918761> and mismanaging the election, including by neglecting elections infrastructure. Kemp, now governor-elect, has vehemently denied those allegations<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/georgia-governor-candidates-abrams-kemp-clash-over-voter-suppression-lawbreaking-n923641>.
Cybersecurity experts have warned that the touchscreen voting machines Georgia has used since 2002 are unreliable and vulnerable to hacking, and provide no way to do an audit or confirm that votes have been recorded correctly because there’s no paper trail.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

--
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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