[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/4/19

Tue Jun 4 07:04:39 PDT 2019

“DOJ calls new census allegations a ‘baseless attack on the integrity’ of department and its employees”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105440>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105440> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports.<https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/politics/doj-census-allegations/index.html>
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

“Black voters sue Mississippi over Jim Crow-era laws that benefit white candidates”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105438>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:56 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105438> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Think Progress:<https://thinkprogress.org/black-voters-challenge-mississippi-racist-jim-crow-election-process-5f478bb009e6/amp/>

A group of black voters is challenging Mississippi’s racist, Jim Crow-era laws that try to give a decided advantage to white candidates vying for statewide office, ahead of a critically important election for governor that is expected to totally remake the state’s redistricting process.

The group is represented by a foundation affiliated with former Attorney General Eric Holder’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which is tasked with pushing for fair election maps.

Four African American voters filed a lawsuit<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WP9I9RYtl3_StnE2dv4DjifmrbFcVUlM/view?link_id=5&can_id=aef95b6e35d36cb3b15dda2c3a0168ab&source=email-morning-digest-black-voters-sue-over-racist-mississippi-law-designed-to-elect-white-governors&email_referrer=email_556558&email_subject=morning-digest-black-voters-sue-over-racist-mississippi-law-designed-to-elect-white-governors> with the U.S. District Court of Southern Mississippi on Thursday, challenging the state’s 1890 Constitution that set racist election rules.

In Mississippi, winners of statewide office have to clear two hurdles. They not only have to win a majority of the state’s popular vote, but a majority of House districts as well. Lawmakers get to pick a winner if a candidate fails to satisfy both criteria.

According to the lawsuit, the state Constitution was written by white supremacists who tried to ensure that the newly enfranchised African American population never took political control in the state.
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

“Everyone Knows Money Influences Politics … Except Scientists”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105436>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:52 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105436> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

FiveThirtyEight deep dive<https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/everyone-knows-money-influences-politics-except-scientists/>.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Texas officials called ‘laggards’ for resisting House investigation of botched voter purge”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105434>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:51 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105434> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Houston Chronicle reports.<https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Texas-officials-called-laggards-for-13922131.php?t=ed7b78a109>
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Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

“Ex-NSA hacker wants to give 2020 candidates free cybersecurity tool. The FEC may stop him”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105432>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:48 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105432> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBC News reports<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/ex-nsa-hacker-wants-give-2020-candidates-free-cyber-security-n1013441>.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“The 2020 campaigns aren’t ready for deepfakes”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105430>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:46 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105430> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Axios<https://www.axios.com/2020-campaigns-arent-ready-for-deepfakes-a1506e77-6914-4e24-b2d1-0c69b6e22162.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top>:

The 2020 presidential campaigns appear to have done little to prepare for what experts predict could be a flood of fake videos depicting candidates doing or saying something incriminating or embarrassing.
Driving the news: The recent manipulated video<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/technology/facebook-pelosi-video.html> of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was just a taste of what could lie ahead. Fake video has the potential to sow huge political chaos, and countering it is wildly difficult. And right now, no one can agree who’s responsible for countering it.
Axios contacted all 24 Democratic presidential campaigns, in addition to President Trump and Republican challenger William Weld.
Nine Democratic campaigns and the Trump campaign responded. None could point to any specific protective steps they had taken against deepfakes.
What’s happening: A whole lot of buck-passing.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Trump normalizes foreign election intervention ahead of 2020”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105428>
Posted on June 4, 2019 6:45 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105428> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jonathan Allen <https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-normalizes-foreign-election-intervention-ahead-2020-n1013091> for NBC News:

On one level, Trump’s brash lobbying in foreign countries is just another case of norm-busting for a president who often rejects the niceties of both domestic and international politics. But at a deeper level, Trump’s moves help normalize a practice that helped him win in 2016 and could advance his cause as he seeks re-election in 2020.

<https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/what-is-the-strategic-objective-of-trump-s-uk-visit-61139013761>
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

DOJ Responds to Census Plaintiffs on Hofeller, Claiming There Were No False Statements in DOJ Testimony and No Evidence Hofeller Material Was Used in DOJ Position on Citizenship Question on Census<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105424>
Posted on June 3, 2019 3:59 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105424> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6128291-USA-Hofeller.html> is the letter, painting a starkly different picture of both the facts and legal relevance of the Hofeller materials.

This will no doubt have to be hashed out by the district court, while the Supreme Court drafts its opinion (and certainly dissents) in the census case.

And regardless of what the truth actually is, this letter will give more than enough cover to Justices wishing to ignore the Hofeller material in siding with the government on the citizenship question.

UPDATE: DOJ has now shared its letter<https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-966/101857/20190603200023489_Letter%2018-966%206-3-19.pdf> with the Supreme Court. As Tierney Sneed notes, DOJ is suggesting that the material came from a brief in Evenwel (ironically one authored by Gerry Hebert, Paul Smith, and Anita Earls). Here was my response:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1027236869476573184/PFqQJu6__bigger.jpg]<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
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Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1135710509808832513>

This is a key point and shows that whether or not DOJ borrowed from Hoefeller, the motivation was to allow states to engage in redistricting based on voter eligible persons, which would dilute the votes of Hispanic voters---precisely the opposite of what government has said.
<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>
Tierney Sneed<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>
✔@Tierney_Megan<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>
Replying to @Tierney_Megan<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>

DOJ is now suggesting that Evenwel is where Gore turned for help w/ the request, which is probably a clue that the underlying issue in that case (excluding noncitizens from redistricting) was the chief motivation for adding a citizenship question<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/Tierney_Megan/status/1135706708389629952>

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33<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1135710509808832513>
5:51 PM - Jun 3, 2019<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1135710509808832513>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
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19 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1135710509808832513>

[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D105424&title=DOJ%20Responds%20to%20Census%20Plaintiffs%20on%20Hofeller%2C%20Claiming%20There%20Were%20No%20False%20Statements%20in%20DOJ%20Testimony%20and%20No%20Evidence%20Hofeller%20Material%20Was%20Used%20in%20DOJ%20Position%20on%20Citizenship%20Question%20on%20Census>
Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

JFC: FEC Deadlocks on Rules for Joint Fundraising Committees, Bringing Us Closer to Concerns of Huge Fundraising Raised by SCOTUS Dissenters in McCutcheon Case<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105422>
Posted on June 3, 2019 12:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105422> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Beckel<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel/status/1135611484883628033>:
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel/status/1135611484883628033/photo/1>[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel/status/1135611484883628033/photo/1>
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<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel>
Michael Beckel<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel>
✔@mjbeckel<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel>

<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel/status/1135611484883628033>

Latest example of @FEC<https://twitter.com/FEC> gridlock on a major enforcement issue: On Friday, #FEC<https://twitter.com/hashtag/FEC?src=hash> announced the commission deadlocked 2-2 in complaints against the joint fundraising committees (JFCs) that aided Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump in 2016 http://bit.ly/2Ig3vyB <https://t.co/vjZsNYECtt>  & http://bit.ly/2WIJXfw <https://t.co/rqNgZ2A0Up>
<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1135611484883628033>
6<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1135611484883628033>
11:17 AM - Jun 3, 2019<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel/status/1135611484883628033>
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See Michael Beckel's other Tweets<https://twitter.com/mjbeckel>

Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Who Counts? Texas stands to lose a great deal if the 2020 Census doesn’t include every Texan—including congressional seats and billions in federal funding.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105420>
Posted on June 3, 2019 10:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105420> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Texas Monthly reports.<https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/what-texas-lose-census-doesnt-include-every-texan/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Web%20Social&utm_content=whocounts>
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>

“The Myth of Special Elections The common wisdom is that their typically low turnout means they don’t reflect the views of the wider electorate. But as a look at recall votes shows, that’s not necessarily so.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105418>
Posted on June 3, 2019 10:57 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105418> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Joshua Spivak for Governing.<https://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-myth-special-elections-recalls.html>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D105418&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Myth%20of%20Special%20Elections%20The%20common%20wisdom%20is%20that%20their%20typically%20low%20turnout%20means%20they%20don%E2%80%99t%20reflect%20the%20views%20of%20the%20wider%20electorate.%20But%20as%20a%20look%20at%20recall%20votes%20shows%2C%20that%E2%80%99s%20not%20necessarily%20so.%E2%80%9D>
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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