[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/8/19

[Rick Hasen]

“Ron DeSantis signs crack down on constitutional amendments, solidifying Republican control in Florida”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105536>
Posted on June 7, 2019 6:28 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105536> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tampa Bay Times<https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/06/07/ron-desantis-signs-crack-down-on-constitutional-amendments-solidifying-republican-control-in-florida/>:

The bill requires ballot initiatives pay petitioners by the hour, rather than by each signature they collect. They must register as an in-state circulator with the Secretary of State and turn in all signatures within 30 days of being signed.
Ballot initiatives must also include the name of the initiative’s sponsor and the amount of money raised by in-state donors. Violating the provisions carry steep penalties, such as fines of up to $1,000 for “willfully” not meeting deadline and the threat of getting sued by the Florida Attorney General’s office.
Republican lawmakers justified the bill by saying it was meant to crack down on fraud. But its advocate in the Senate, David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, could not point to any cases of fraud.


What the legislation is sure to do, however, is stifle the last area outside of statewide Republican control in Florida.
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Posted in direct democracy<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>


“Redistricting Guru’s Hard Drives Could Mean Legal, Political Woes For GOP”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105534>
Posted on June 7, 2019 3:58 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105534> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Miles Parks reports for NPR.<https://www.npr.org/2019/06/06/730260511/redistricting-gurus-hard-drives-could-mean-legal-political-woes-for-gop?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=politics&utm_source=twitter.com>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Election Security Measures Face a One-Man Roadblock: Mitch McConnell”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105532>
Posted on June 7, 2019 1:33 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105532> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/us/politics/election-security-mitch-mcconnell.html>

A raft of legislation to better secure United States election systems after what the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, called a “sweeping and systematic” Russian attack<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/18/us/politics/mueller-report-document.html?module=inline> in 2016 is running into a one-man roadblock in the form of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
The bills include a Democratic measure that would send more than $1 billion<https://homeland.house.gov/sites/democrats.homeland.house.gov/files/documents/ESAsummary.pdf> to state and local governments to tighten election security, but would also demand a national strategy to protect American democratic institutions against cyberattacks and require that states spend federal funds only on federally certified “election infrastructure vendors.” A bipartisan measure in both chambers would require internet companies like Facebook to disclose the purchasers of political ads.

Another bipartisan Senate proposal would codify cyberinformation-sharing initiatives between federal intelligence services and state election officials, speed up the granting of security clearances to state officials and provide federal incentives for states to adopt paper ballots.

But even bipartisan coalitions have begun to crumble in the face of the majority leader’s blockade. Mr. McConnell, long the Senate’s leading ideological opponent to federal regulation of elections, has told colleagues in recent months that he has no plans to consider stand-alone legislation on the matter this term, despite clamoring from members of his own conference and the growing pressure from Democrats who also sense a political advantage in trying to make the Republican response to Russia’s election attack look anemic.

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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


Kobach Discussed with Trump Campaign Before 2016 Election the Issue of Adding Citizenship Question to Census; Trump Administration Asserts Privilege Over Answers About What Kobach Told Administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105527>
Posted on June 7, 2019 12:37 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105527> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Hansi Lo Wang<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528>:
View image on Twitter<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528/photo/1>
[View image on Twitter]<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528/photo/1>
[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/957796956906115073/8uFCZbZd_bigger.jpg]<https://twitter.com/hansilowang>
<https://twitter.com/hansilowang>
Hansi Lo Wang<https://twitter.com/hansilowang>
✔@hansilowang<https://twitter.com/hansilowang>

<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528>


JUST IN: Kris Kobach discussed adding a #CitizenshipQuestion<https://twitter.com/hashtag/CitizenshipQuestion?src=hash> to #2020Census<https://twitter.com/hashtag/2020Census?src=hash> with people on President Trump's campaign team during the last presidential race, according to excerpt of transcript of Kobach's June 3 interview with House @OversightDems<https://twitter.com/OversightDems> @GOPoversight<https://twitter.com/GOPoversight> Committee staff[👇]
<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1137078802046230528>
75<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1137078802046230528>
12:28 PM - Jun 7, 2019<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528>
<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528>
71 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1137078802046230528>

Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>

More in this oversight committee memo<https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2019-06-07.%20COR%20DEM%20Memo%20re%20Kris%20Kobach%20Interview.pdf>:

When Mr. Kobach was asked whether he had additional meetings with the President or his aides other than those that have been publicly disclosed, his attorney stepped in to block him from answering, citing the direction from the White House and claiming that it was “privileged information.” He was asked again: “the question, just to be very clear, is whether there were
other meetings later, not the substance of those meetings, but whether there were other meetings after that first set of meetings.” In response, his attorney stated:

[H]e may have had other meetings, but he’s not going to reveal whether or not they involved the Census question. That’s privileged. The White House has asserted a complete privilege over those issues.
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>


RBG, in Speech to 2d Circuit Judicial Conference, Ominously Analogizes Census Case to Travel Ban Case<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105525>
Posted on June 7, 2019 12:20 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105525> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

From the speech:<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6143447-2019-Second-Circuit-Judicial-Conference-Remarks.html>

“Speculators about the outcome note that last year, in Trump v. Hawaii,
the Court upheld the so-called “travel ban,” in an opinion granting great deference to the Executive. Respondents in the census case have argued that a ruling in Secretary Ross’s favor would stretch deference beyond the breaking point.”

As in the travel ban case, where Trump appeared to be motivated by anti-Muslim animus but the Supreme Court ignored it, there’s new evidence that the Trump Administration added the census citizenship question to dilute minority voting power, and not to enhance it, as the administration claimed. The RBG quote suggests the Court may ignore the animus once again.
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Posted in census litigation<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=125>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“Ahead of the 2020 election, Stanford experts urge a concerted, national response to confront foreign interference”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105522>
Posted on June 7, 2019 8:41 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105522> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

Stanford University has released one of the most detailed reports <https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/securing-our-cyber-future> thus far, involving work by numerous experts in cybersecurity and digital communications, about what the U.S. needs to do to ensure the security of American elections. Some of the major recommendations are below, but the full report should be consulted for the important details it provides:

Increasing the security of the U.S. election infrastructure through a combination of independent code inspections and test attacks by teams who would attempt everything real hackers would try, such as exploiting technological or procedural flaws in the system’s security system.

Enhancing transparency about foreign involvement in U.S. elections by banning the use of foreign consultants and foreign companies in U.S. political campaigns and publishing information about connections with foreign nationals and governments. That way voters can make their own informed decisions about the appropriateness of these contacts, McFaul said.

Confronting efforts at election manipulation from foreign media organizations by labeling content produced by government-aligned media to provide consumers with more information about where the information originates.

Combating organized disinformation campaigns from state-aligned actors by creating standardized guidelines for labeling content affiliated with disinformation campaign producers and limiting online targeting capabilities for political advertising.

Regulating online political advertising by foreign governments and nationals by explicitly prohibiting foreign governments and individuals from purchasing online advertisements that target the American electorate.

Establishing international norms and agreements to prevent election interference by appointing a designated U.S. government representative on election interference.

Deterring foreign governments from election interference by signaling a clear and credible commitment to respond to election interference. To date, the U.S. has not developed or executed a coherent strategy to prevent foreign adversaries from intervening in American elections, the report’s authors said.
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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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