[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/18/18

[Rick Hasen]

Must Read from Tierney Sneed: Ginni Thomas, Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Discussed Anti-“Voter Fraud” Campaign in Virginia Which Could Have Intimidated Minority Voters<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105195>
Posted on May 18, 2019 8:02 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105195> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Scoop from Tierney<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/virginia-thomas-scotus-christian-adams-voter-fraud-campaign> Sneed at Talking Points Memo (you’ve got to read the whole thing):

Ginni Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, wanted to “target” the “most questionable” precincts in Virginia with an anti-voter fraud campaign, according to an October 2016 email exchange she had with a prominent voter fraud alarmist and other conservative activists.

The emails were made public Friday in the litigation over a sensational report released by the group of the alarmist, J. Christian Adams, who also served on President Trump’s short-lived voter fraud commission.

Even Adams was skeptical of the idea — which was also being pushed by a conservative media consultant, Demos Chrissos — but not necessarily because he thought it would cross into the realm of illegal voter intimidation.

“It is possible to do without violating federal law if done correctly,” Adams wrote. “It is NOT possible to do without unleashing a leftist whirlwind that will be designed to boomerang on us and will JUICE leftwing turnout but [sic] threatening voter suppression (a made up term with no basis in law).”

Also of interest is the involvement of the same PR firm that tried to come up the cockamamie story of an alternative attacker of Dr. Ford during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D105195&title=Must%20Read%20from%20Tierney%20Sneed%3A%20Ginni%20Thomas%2C%20Wife%20of%20Supreme%20Court%20Justice%20Clarence%20Thomas%2C%20Discussed%20Anti-%E2%80%9CVoter%20Fraud%E2%80%9D%20Campaign%20in%20Virginia%20Which%20Could%20Have%20Intimidated%20Minority%20Voters>
Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Texas Republicans Poised to Make Voting ‘Harder, Scarier and More Confusing’”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105192>
Posted on May 17, 2019 10:24 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105192> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Texas Observer<https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-republicans-poised-to-make-voting-harder-scarier-and-more-confusing/>:

A bill raising criminal penalties for certain election-related offenses and imposing new voting restrictions cleared a major hurdle Friday, setting the stage for yet another floor debate over voter suppression at the Texas Legislature.

On a party line vote, the Texas House Elections Committee passed Senate Bill 9<https://house.texas.gov/_media/pdf/committees/CSSB-9.pdf>, which contains measures tightening rules for assisting elderly or disabled voters and turns some misdemeanors, like improperly assisting or filling out ballot applications, into state jail felonies.  While Republican supporters frame SB 9 as an “election integrity” bill, a coalition of civil rights groups call it a “dangerous new assault on voting rights in Texas<https://www.texasobserver.org/civil-rights-groups-call-election-integrity-bill-a-dangerous-new-assault-on-voting-rights-in-texas/>.”

The passage Friday comes days after more than a 200 people registered opposition against the bill in a public hearing. On Wednesday, lawmakers on the elections committee heard hours of testimony from several dozen opponents in a meeting that ended after midnight. While a brief delay, due to one Republican member’s illness<https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/valoree-swansons-cough-may-have-killed-a-controversial-elections-bill/>, gave opponents short-lived hope of stalling the bill in committee, members convened an impromptu meeting for the vote during a recess in the House on Friday morning. The bill has already passed the more-conservative Senate and faces a Tuesday deadline for initial approval in the full House.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>


“Amendment 4: New report shows who’s out of prison and registering to vote”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105190>
Posted on May 17, 2019 7:18 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105190> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tampa Bay Times<https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/05/16/amendment-4-new-report-shows-whos-out-of-prison-and-registering-to-vote/>:

Amendment 4 led to 99 times as many formerly-incarcerated Floridians registering to vote as normal, and those new voters are more likely to be black and residents of lower-income neighborhoods than the rest of the electorate, according to a new analysis<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/thwarting-amendment-4> by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The amendment, which took effect Jan. 8, allows Floridians to register to vote once they finish serving a felony sentence.

Previously, becoming a felon meant forfeiting the right to vote, unless someone overcame long odds by successfully appealing to the state’s clemency board, made up of the Florida governor and three Cabinet members.
Now, a bill passed earlier this month by state lawmakers mandates that finishing a sentence means first paying off all court fines, fees and restitution (or seeking a waiver from a judge), and it awaits Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature.

“There can be no mistaking the racial and class implications of this regressive new legislation,” researcher Kevin Morris wrote in the Brennan Center study, regarding Senate Bill 7066.
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Posted in felon voting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>


“The Cybersecurity 202: Florida lawmakers rail against FBI for secrecy on voter breaches”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105188>
Posted on May 17, 2019 7:15 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=105188> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-cybersecurity-202/2019/05/17/the-cybersecurity-202-florida-lawmakers-rail-against-fbi-for-secrecy-on-voter-breaches/5cddf475a7a0a435cff8c0a8/?utm_term=.061e60401ea9>
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


--
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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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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