[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/10/19

Mon Sep 9 20:55:01 PDT 2019

“The Constituent-Engagement Effect of Small Donor Public Financing: A Statistical Comparison of City Council (2017) and State Assembly (2018) Fundraising in New York City”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107256>
Posted on September 9, 2019 8:53 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107256> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

New Brennan Center study<https://www.brennancenter.org/publication/constituent-engagement-effect-small-donor-public-financing>:

Download the Report<https://www.scribd.com/document/425154520/The-Constituent-Engagement-Effect-of-Small-Donor-Public-Financing-Sept-9-Final>
Read the Appendix<https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/Appendix%20-%20Constituent-Engagement%20Effect%20of%20SDPF.pdf>
This spring New York enacted an historic law committing to establish voluntary public financing for state elections. The governor and legislative leaders appointed nine commissioners to design the system by December 1. The Commission’s goals are to incentivize candidates to seek small donations, reduce pressure on them to solicit large gifts, and encourage qualified candidates to run for office. Its work could fundamentally transform a political process dominated by big checks and infamous for undermining the public’s trust.

This study adds new evidence to a body of research that demonstrates small donor public financing is the most effective, proven policy solution to meet the Commission’s goals.

In addition to known benefits, this study shows that a small donor public financing system, of the kind New York City has offered candidates for city office for decades, incentivizes candidates to engage many more in-district donors for campaign support, and gives these in-district donors (including small donors) significantly greater financial influence, compared to campaigns where candidates do not use small donor public financing.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

“Lawsuits against Tennessee voter registration law can move forward, federal judge rules”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107254>
Posted on September 9, 2019 8:46 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107254> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Tennessean:<https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/09/09/tennessee-voter-registration-lawsuit-move-forward-judge-rules/2264073001/>

Tennessee ranks 44th nationwide in voter registration, but saw a surge in voter registration during the 2018 midterm elections.

The voter registration bill came during this year’s legislative session, after Hargett said he noted many of the 10,000 registrations submitted near Memphis last year by the Tennessee Black Voter Project on the last day for registering were not filled out correctly.

Hargett, who backed the bill, has said the law was needed after the incident with thousands of incomplete registration forms created difficulties for local officials.

The bill specifically required groups organizing voter registration drives to undergo training and forces them to hand in completed documents in a timely manner.

Critics have questioned whether the bill has anything to do with the fact that it signed up about 86,000 people to vote in last year’s election.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

New Yorker Interviews Eric Foner About His New Book on Reconstruction and Much More<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107252>
Posted on September 9, 2019 8:41 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107252> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Isaac Chotiner:<https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-buried-promise-of-the-reconstruction-amendments>

Over the past several decades, Eric Foner, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia, has established himself as one of the preëminent historians of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In 1988, he published “Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877<https://www.amazon.com/dp/1504739892/?tag=thneyo0f-20>,” which became a standard history of the period. “The Fiery Trial<https://www.amazon.com/dp/039334066X/?tag=thneyo0f-20>,” his story of Lincoln’s relationship to the idea and reality of American slavery, won the Pulitzer Prize, in 2011. Throughout his work, Foner evinces a fascination with how the history he studies has been understood and relayed since the Civil War. One result of that interest is his new book, “The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution<https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393652572/?tag=thneyo0f-20>.” It examines the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, which banned slavery, universalized due process, and granted black men the vote. Foner’s narrative explores the radical aspirations of the politicians and activists who envisioned these amendments, and the Supreme Court decisions that narrowed their scope, leaving their promise of a racially equitable society unfulfilled.

I recently spoke by phone with Foner. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed the heroic vision of Reconstruction’s proponents, the ways in which we misunderstand the legacy of slavery, and whether Trump’s Presidency demands a rethinking of our racial history.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Trump, at #NC09 Rally Where Prior Election Was Scuttled Because of Election Crimes Benefitting the Republican Candidate, Complains About Non-Existent Illegal Voting in California<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107250>
Posted on September 9, 2019 8:26 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107250> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Pam Fessler<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler/status/1171233264574566403>:
[cid:image002.png at 01D56750.D81754F0]<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>
<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>
pam fessler<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>
✔@pamelafessler<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>

<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler/status/1171233264574566403>

The most blatant example of illegal voting in recent years was in NC 9, absentee ballot fraud by GOP candidate. Other than that, there's no evidence of any widespread fraud. https://twitter.com/nickochsnerwbtv/status/1171207580343029766 …<https://t.co/gtVPDI2Yia>
<https://twitter.com/NickOchsnerWBTV/status/1171207580343029766>
Nick Ochsner<https://twitter.com/NickOchsnerWBTV/status/1171207580343029766>
✔@NickOchsnerWBTV<https://twitter.com/NickOchsnerWBTV/status/1171207580343029766>

“A lot of illegal voting going on out there by the way” Trump says at a rally in support of a candidate running in #nc09 special election, held after previous R candidate that won in ‘18 called for a new election #ncpol<https://twitter.com/NickOchsnerWBTV/status/1171207580343029766>

<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1171233264574566403>
29<https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1171233264574566403>
6:25 PM - Sep 9, 2019<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler/status/1171233264574566403>
Twitter Ads info and privacy<https://support.twitter.com/articles/20175256>
<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>
See pam fessler's other Tweets<https://twitter.com/pamelafessler>

These themes play a major role in my upcoming book, Election Meltdown<https://www.amazon.com/Election-Meltdown-Distrust-American-Democracy/dp/0300248199/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hasen+election+meltdown&qid=1565015345&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr>.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Who Lied About His Reason for Including A Citizenship Question on the Census, Pressured NOAA Officials on Trump Misstatement about Alabama Hurricane<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107248>
Posted on September 9, 2019 1:20 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107248> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/climate/hurrican-dorian-trump-tweet.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytclimate>

The Secretary of Commerce threatened to fire top employees at NOAA on Friday after the agency’s Birmingham office contradicted President Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama, according to three people familiar with the discussion.

That threat led to an unusual, unsigned statement<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/us/politics/trump-alabama-dorian.html?module=inline> later that Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disavowing the office’s own position that Alabama was not at risk. The reversal caused widespread anger within the agency and drew criticism from the scientific community that NOAA, a division of the Commerce Department, had been bent to political purposes.

Officials at the White House and the Commerce Department declined to comment on administration involvement in the NOAA statement.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“The Worst Partisan Gerrymanders in U.S. State Legislatures”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107245>
Posted on September 9, 2019 1:11 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107245> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

New report<http://schwarzeneggerinstitute.com/theworstpartisangerrymanders> from the Schwarzenegger Institute. Executive summary:
[cid:image003.png at 01D56750.D81754F0]
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

House Judiciary Committee Hearing: “Evidence of Current and Ongoing Voting Discrimination”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107243>
Posted on September 9, 2019 1:07 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107243> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tuesday<https://judiciary.house.gov/legislation/hearings/evidence-current-and-ongoing-voting-discrimination> at 10 am.

Witness list:
·         Myrna Pérez, Voting Rights and Elections Program Director, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law
·         Vanita Gupta, President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
·         Dale Ho, Voting Rights Project Director, ACLU
·         Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP
·         Natalie Landreth, Senior Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund
·         J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel, Public Interest Legal Foundation
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Weaponizing the Ballot” (on Laws Requiring Candidate Disclosure of Tax Returns)<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107241>
Posted on September 9, 2019 1:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107241> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Derek Muller has posted this draft<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3450649> on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

States are considering legislation that would exclude presidential candidates from appearing on the ballot if they fail to disclose their tax returns. These proposals exceed the state’s power under the Elections Clause and the Presidential Electors Clause. States have no power to add qualifications to presidential or congressional candidates. But states do have constitutional authority to regulate the manner of holding elections and to direct the manner of appointing presidential electors. Manner regulations that relate to the ballot are those that affect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process itself or that require a preliminary showing of substantial support. In other words, they are procedural rules to help voters choose their preferred candidate. Tax disclosure requirements are not procedural election rules, which means they fall outside the scope of the state’s constitutional authority to administer federal elections and are unconstitutional.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

Trump Comes Out Against Term Limits for Committee Chairs<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107238>
Posted on September 9, 2019 8:49 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107238> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump>

House Republicans should allow Chairs of Committees to remain for longer than 6 years. It forces great people, and real leaders, to leave after serving. The Dems have unlimited terms. While that has its own problems, it is a better way to go. Fewer people, in the end, will leave!
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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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