[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/22/19
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Mon Jan 21 19:41:23 PST 2019
“#NC09 hearing set for Tuesday; Mark Harris will not attend”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103255>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:39 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103255> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Fox 46:<http://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/local-news/nc09-hearing-set-for-tuesday-mark-harris-will-not-attend>
A hearing on whether or not the results of the District 9 election will be certified could come down from a judge Tuesday, and on Monday, FOX 46 learned that Republican Mark Harris, who filed the initial petition to get the votes certified, will not be in attendance.
Harris announced that he will not attend the hearing due to an illness.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Bills target Kobach’s voter fraud legacy; 3 1/2 years, no illegal immigrants caught”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103253>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:25 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103253> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Wichita Eagle:<https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article224722135.html>
A big piece of Kris Kobach’s legacy appears to be on its way out as Kansas lawmakers move forward on parallel tracks to repeal the authority of the secretary of state to prosecute election crimes.
The House Judiciary Committee is considering one bill to do that, introduced by Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. The House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice is considering a slightly different version requested by Attorney General Derek Schmidt last week….
In the 3½ years since Kobach was given the authority, his office prosecuted between 10 and 15 cases of voting fraud.
None of the defendants were illegal immigrants, said Katie Koupal, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office.
Two defendants were legal immigrants who were entitled to be here but not to vote, she said.
The others were citizens who double-voted in the same election, usually because they owned property in multiple states, she said.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
“Exclusive: GOP reaches landmark agreement to juice small-dollar fundraising”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103251>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:20 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103251> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico:<https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/21/republican-fundraising-patriot-pass-1116642>
President Donald Trump’s political team and top Republican officials have reached a landmark agreement to reshape the party’s fundraising apparatus and close the financial gap that devastated them in the midterms.
With the deal, Republicans hope to create a rival to ActBlue, the Democratic online fundraising behemoth that plowed over $700 million in small-dollar donations into Democratic coffers in the 2018 campaign.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Electoral College debate heads to Washington’s Supreme Court; Three Washington Democrats will explain Tuesday to the state Supreme Court why they voted against their party’s presidential nominee in the 2016 election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103249>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:16 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103249> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
KUOW reports.<https://www.kuow.org/stories/electoral-college-issue-heads-to-washington-s-supreme-court>
(via How Appealing<https://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/2019/01/21/#85853>.)
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Posted in electoral college<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>
“The Voting Rights Act is in tatters. Let’s honor King’s legacy by saving it.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103247>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:08 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103247> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
David Gans<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/21/voting-rights-act-is-tatters-lets-honor-kings-legacy-by-saving-it/?utm_term=.c6d6e0596f30> in WaPo:
Today, the Voting Rights Act that King helped to push through Congress is in tatters. To stop voting discrimination, the Voting Rights Act created strong remedies applicable to jurisdictions with a long history of flouting constitutional guarantees. Such jurisdictions would have to “preclear” new voting changes and prove they were nondiscriminatory before enforcing them. In 2013, in a 5-4 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court eliminated this critical remedy. Claiming that things had changed, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. insisted that the Voting Rights Act’s coverage formula was now unconstitutional.
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“The Voting Experience: 2018 and the Future”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103244>
Posted on January 21, 2019 7:05 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103244> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
BPC event<https://bipartisanpolicy.org/events/the-voting-experience-2018-and-the-future/> on Feb 14 (which will be webcast):
WHEN: Thursday, February 14, 2019 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET
WHERE: The Sofitel, 806 15th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20005
➤ REGISTER NOW<http://bpcevents.cloudapp.net/Pages/Home.aspx?eventid=%7b7A538BD7-86FD-E811-A971-000D3A18CB47%7d>
ADD TO CALENDAR <https://bipartisanpolicy.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=ical&id=50648>
Please join us as the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Democracy Fund analyze key moments in election administration during the 2018 midterm elections, and look ahead to what steps can be taken to improve the voting experience for all Americans in 2020.
Event will be webcast.
Featuring:
Sec. Jocelyn Benson
Secretary of State, Michigan
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Sec. Mike Ertel
Secretary of State, Florida
Adrian Fontes
Recorder, Maricopa County, Arizona
Shane Hamlin
Executive Director, ERIC
Thomas Hicks
Chair, U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Keith Ingram
Elections Director, Texas
Brian Kruse
Election Commissioner, Douglas County, Nebraska
Linda Lindberg
General Registrar, Arlington, Virginia
Kristin Mavromatis
Public Information Manager, Mecklenburg County, NC
Elaine Manlove
Elections Director, Delaware
Matthew Masterson
Senior Cybersecurity Advisor, DHS
Alice Miller
Director, D.C. Board of Elections
Noah Praetz
Elections Director, Cook County, Illinois
Rob Rock
Elections Director, Rhode Island
Charles Stewart
Director, MIT Election Data Science Lab
Sec. Mac Warner
Secretary of State, West Virginia
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
John Fund vs. The Constitution<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103242>
Posted on January 20, 2019 9:07 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103242> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
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John Fund vs. the U.S. Constitution (on H.R. 1)https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/pelosis-election-reform-encourages-voter-fraud-to-benefit-dems …<https://t.co/1pUFnxRXxz>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“New York’s Democracy Reform Bill, and the Message It Sends”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103240>
Posted on January 20, 2019 7:59 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103240> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Miles Rapoport<https://prospect.org/article/new-yorks-democracy-reform-bill-and-message-it-sends> for TAP.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Michigan gerrymandering settlement focused on redrawing specific political districts”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103238>
Posted on January 20, 2019 7:51 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103238> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Detroit News reports.<https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/20/michigan-gerrymandering-deal-focused-redrawing-specific-districts/2631237002/>
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
McConnell’s Criticisms of H.R. 1<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103234>
Posted on January 18, 2019 4:41 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103234> by Nicholas Stephanopoulos<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=12>
It’s not interesting that Mitch McConnell isn’t a fan<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/call-hr-1-what-it-is-the-democrat-politician-protection-act/2019/01/17/dcc957be-19cb-11e9-9ebf-c5fed1b7a081_story.html?utm_term=.7e44316cae02> of H.R. 1. He was the lead plaintiff<https://www.oyez.org/cases/2003/02-1674> against the last major campaign finance reforms that Congress passed. So of course he isn’t going to like H.R. 1’s heightened disclosure requirements, its efforts to unmask dark money, its public financing for congressional campaigns, and so on. These are exactly the kinds of measures that McConnell has railed against for his entire career.
What is interesting about McConnell’s op-ed is his complete inability to support his claim that H.R. 1 is a Democratic power grab—the “Democrat Politician Protection Act,” as the column’s headline puts it. McConnell’s lead example is that H.R. 1 would shrink the FEC from six commissioners to five. But this change wouldn’t benefit Democrats; it would help whichever party happens to control the presidency, and so is able to appoint three of the five commissioners. If Trump is reelected in 2020, the FEC would be “weaponized” in favor of Republicans (though no more so than any other independent agency with an odd number of members).
McConnell’s other examples of covert Democratic intent are H.R. 1’s new disclosure rules, its multiple-match public financing system, and its restrictions on voter purges. Again, though, there’s no explanation why these provisions are secretly partisan. If disclosure really “intimidates” donors and makes them “vulnerable to public harassment,” then Democrats—who gave about fifty percent<https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/> more than Republicans in the 2018 election—have more to fear. Similarly, public financing makes elections more competitive<http://www.andrewbenjaminhall.com/Hall_publicfunding.pdf>, but it doesn’t have any partisan valence. And voter purges can erroneously remove Republicans from the rolls as easily as Democrats.
The other interesting thing about McConnell’s op-ed is what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t even mention many of the proposals at the heart of H.R. 1: registering voters automatically, expanding early voting, building a record for a new VRA coverage formula, requiring independent redistricting commissions, improving election security, tightening ethics rules, and so on. I highly doubt that McConnell actually backs these ideas; he certainly hasn’t brought any of them to the Senate floor. But it’s telling that he can’t bring himself to publicly attack them. Evidently, most of H.R. 1 is so appealing—so plainly right—that even McConnell can’t explicitly denounce it.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
Census SCOTUS Endgame Update<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103232>
Posted on January 18, 2019 4:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103232> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
In a post<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103186> on Tuesday, I said that in light of Judge Furman’s ruling, I thought the Supreme Court would end up getting rid of the current census case before it, because the issue there is basically moot. Today the Court took a big step<https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/justices-cancel-hearing-on-census-and-citizenship> in that direction by taking the case off the argument calendar and suspending further briefing.
I expect the government will soon as the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of Judge Furman’s ruling directly, bypassing the Second Circuit. And given that this issue has to be decided by June for the printing of the census forms, I expect the Supreme Court will take that case.
Stay tuned.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“DeSantis to suspend Palm Beach elections chief”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103228>
Posted on January 18, 2019 10:20 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=103228> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico reports.<https://www.politico.com/states/florida/whiteboard/2019/01/18/desantis-to-suspend-palm-beach-elections-chief-802494>
Update: Letter<https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Bucher-Recommendation.pdf> explaining the basis for suspension.
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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
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rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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