[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/25/19

Tue Sep 24 20:51:48 PDT 2019

“Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107451>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:48 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107451> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/democrats-impeachment-trump.html>

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/impeachment-trump-explained.html?module=inline> against President Trump, charging him with betraying his oath of office and the nation’s security by seeking to enlist a foreign power to tarnish a rival for his own political gain.

Ms. Pelosi’s declaration, after months of reticence by Democrats who had feared the political consequences of impeaching a president many of them long ago concluded was unfit for office, was a stunning turn that set the stage for a history-making and exceedingly bitter confrontation between the Democrat-led House and a defiant president who has thumbed his nose at institutional norms.

“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” Ms. Pelosi said in a brief speech invoking the nation’s founding principles. Mr. Trump, she added, “must be held accountable — no one is above the law.”

She said the president’s conduct revealed his “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”…

At issue are allegations that Mr. Trump pressured the president of Ukraine to open a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and his son. The conversation is said to be part of a whistle-blower complaint that the Trump administration has withheld from Congress. And it occurred just a few days after Mr. Trump had ordered his staff to freeze more than $391 million in aid to Ukraine<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/us/politics/trump-un-biden-ukraine.html?module=inline>.
Mr. Trump has confirmed aspects of his conversation with the Ukrainian leader in recent days, but he continues to insist he acted appropriately.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Judge Throws Out Conviction of Michael Flynn’s Business Partner”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107449>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107449> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/bijan-kian-michael-flynn.html>

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the conviction of a business associate of the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, saying prosecutors had failed to offer enough evidence to sustain their charges that he had secretly lobbied on behalf of Turkey.

Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia wrote in a lengthy opinion<https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/1845-judge-s-decision-throwing-out/a10b12213e5692c0e577/optimized/full.pdf#page=1> that there was no evidence of “any actual or implied agreement” between Mr. Flynn’s partner, Bijan Kian, and the government of Turkey. “The government has failed to offer substantial evidence from which any rational juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt” that Mr. Kian had acted as an agent of a foreign power without notifying the Justice Department as required by law, Judge Trenga said.
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Posted in lobbying<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

“Congressional Authority to Protect Voting Rights After Shelby County v. Holder”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107447>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:40 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107447> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The House Judiciary Committee held this hearing <https://judiciary.house.gov/legislation/hearings/congressional-authority-protect-voting-rights-after-shelby-county-v-holder> Tuesday with a great lineup of speakers:

Mr. Justin Levitt
Associate Dean for Research Professor of Law and Gerald T. McLaughlin Fellow, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Levitt Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-TTF-LevittJ-20190924.pdf>
Levitt Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-LevittJ-20190924.pdf>
Ms. Franita Tolson
Vice Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Tolson Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Wstate-TolsonF-20190924.pdf>
Tolson Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-TolsonF-20190924.pdf>
Mr. Debo Adegbile Esq.
Adegbile Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-TTF-AdegbileD-20190924.pdf>
Adegbile Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-AdegbileD-20190924.pdf>
Mr. Michael Morley
Assistant Professor, Florida State University College of Law
Morley Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-TTF-MorleyM-20190924.pdf>
Morley Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-MorleyM-20190924.pdf>
Mr. Joe Rich
Former Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Rich Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-TTF-RichJ-20190924.pdf>
Rich Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-RichJ-20190924.pdf>
Ms. Kira Romero-Craft
Managing Attorney, Latino Justice, PRLDEF
Romero-Craft Truth in Testimony<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-TTF-Romero-CraftK-20190924.pdf>
Romero-Craft Bio<http://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20190924/109995/HHRG-116-JU10-Bio-Romero-CraftK-20190924.pdf>
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Posted in Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

More Attacks from the Right on FEC Chair Weintraub<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107445>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:37 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107445> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

They don’t like<https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/fec-chairs-trump-bashing-comes-under-fire-expanded-role-slapped-down> that she’s exercising her First Amendment rights or that she’s speaking out against foreign interference in the 2020 elections.
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Posted in federal election commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

“Black Voters Sue Over Mississippi’s Jim Crow-Era Election Law”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107443>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:29 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107443> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR reports.<https://www.npr.org/2019/09/24/763510668/black-voters-sue-over-mississippis-jim-crow-era-election-law>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Second Circuit Remands Case, Holds That Prison Gerrymandering Claim Against Connecticut Must Be Decided by a Three-Judge Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107439>
Posted on September 24, 2019 11:18 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107439> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Opinion.<http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/5995faca-f47a-4edd-afe8-a0ba29481d74/2/doc/19-576_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/5995faca-f47a-4edd-afe8-a0ba29481d74/2/hilite/>
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Posted in felon voting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

“A Tale of Two Election Law Standards”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107436>
Posted on September 24, 2019 10:14 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107436> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh Douglas<https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/a-tale-of-two-election-law-standards/>:

In April 2019, Tennessee enacted a law<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tennessee-voter-registration-drive_n_5ccca61fe4b0548b7359fa09> that would make it harder for individuals and organizations to register people to vote. On September 12, 2019, a federal district court granted<https://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2019/09/12/5d7a5c5ce4b06028fd386924.pdf> a preliminary injunction against the law, finding that the law would unconstitutionally infringe on the rights of those who conduct registration drives.

That’s good news; the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals should affirm the decision if the state appeals. Imposing arduous rules—such as requirements that groups register with the state before conducting voter registration drives, take a government-provided training, and seek consent before retaining a voters’ information to use in get-out-the-vote efforts—places unnecessary barriers on the constitutional right to vote<https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1282&context=cjlpp>. Moreover, the law would criminalize groups who turn in too many incomplete voter registration forms while imposing a strict timing requirement on when forms must be turned in. None of these rules are necessary to fix any problems with Tennessee’s elections.

But for legal nerds and those who care about the scope of election law litigation, the path the court took to find the law (likely) unconstitutional was particularly interesting.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Fifth Circuit on Its Own Motion Will Rehear En Banc Case Finding Mississippi Violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107434>
Posted on September 24, 2019 8:21 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107434> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here is the order.<http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/19/19-60133-CV3.pdf>

No surprise<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1171486397112320007>:
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Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1171486397112320007>

That Judge Willett dissent in the Mississippi section 2 case is not strong. Nonetheless, given the increasingly conservative nature of the 5th Circuit overall, it would not surprise me to see the state successfully take this en banc. http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/19/19-60133-CV2.pdf …<https://t.co/N6W2hmlfCe>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“The Cybersecurity 202: Voting machine companies may throw their doors open to ethical hackers”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107432>
Posted on September 24, 2019 7:33 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107432> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-cybersecurity-202/2019/09/24/the-cybersecurity-202-voting-machine-companies-may-throw-their-doors-open-to-ethical-hackers/5d891218602ff1737aef738e/>
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

“The FEC Is Paralyzed. It Couldn’t Come At A Worse Time.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107430>
Posted on September 24, 2019 7:32 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=107430> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-fec-is-paralyzed-it-couldnt-come-at-a-worse-time> for TPM Cafe.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

--
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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