[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/24/20

[Rick Hasen]

Video of Ned Foley, Jeffrey Rosen and Me at National Constitution Center: “How to Fix Presidential Elections in 2020 and Beyond”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110965>
Posted on April 23, 2020 9:16 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110965> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Watch<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTNrC5w9ycQ&feature=emb_logo>:

As the 2020 presidential campaign begins, join two of America’s leading election law experts, Richard Hasen and Edward Foley, for a discussion on how to fix presidential elections, in 2020 and beyond. Building on Foley’s Presidential Elections and Majority Rule: The Rise, Demise, and Potential Restoration of the Jeffersonian Electoral College <https://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Elections-Majority-Rule-Jeffersonian/dp/0190060158> and Hasen’s Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy<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>, the two authors explore the history of the presidential election system, current challenges, and proposed remedies.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“2020 Was Already Expected to Be a Record Year for Election-Related Lawsuits–Then Coronavirus Happened”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110963>
Posted on April 23, 2020 9:05 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110963> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Newsweek reports.<https://www.newsweek.com/2020-was-already-expected-record-year-election-related-lawsuitsthen-coronavirus-happened-1499900>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Price Talks: Policy in a Pandemic”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110961>
Posted on April 23, 2020 9:01 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110961> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Video<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzT1B3y9x6c> from USC Price School:

Karen Flynn, President of Common Cause

Mindy Romero, Founder and director of the California Civic Engagement Project

Christian Grose, Academic director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy

Jack Knott, Dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy presents Price Talks: Policy in a Pandemic, a virtual series examining policy challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic. USC Price faculty share their expert perspective on the critical policy issues that are important to us all in 30-minute lunchtime Zoom presentations open to the entire Price community. Topics will include examining the impact of the crisis on the economy, the homeless crisis, voter turn-out in this year’s election, local government services and our public health infrastructure.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Ohio elections officials: Mail delays could result in some voters not getting ballots before April 28 primary”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110959>
Posted on April 23, 2020 8:50 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110959> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Cleveland.com:<https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/04/ohio-elections-officials-mail-delays-could-result-in-voters-not-getting-ballots-before-april-28-primary.html>

Ohio elections officials say delays with the United States Postal Service could cause some voters to not get their ballots on time send them in for next Tuesday’s vote-by-mail primary election.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Thursday his office has received “wide reports” of first-class mail, which normally takes 1-3 days, taking as long as a week or more. That could mean delays in delivery of voters’ ballot applications, which are due Saturday, as well as in the return of ballots, which must be postmarked by Monday, or physically delivered to county boards of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in order to count.

“As you can imagine, these delays mean it is very possible that many Ohioans who have requested a ballot may not receive it in time,” LaRose said in a Thursday letter to members of Ohio’s congressional delegation. …

So what if you requested your ballot, but don’t receive it in time to vote?

A little-advertised option is to vote provisionally, in-person at your county elections board next Tuesday. In-person voting is available for the disabled and homeless. But guidance LaRose issued last week to county boards of elections<https://advancelocal.arcpublishing.com/composer/edit/U6FRLNZDIZHBTFNUK7NTEMKBEE/> directs them let these people vote.

“If you properly requested an absentee ballot by the April 25, 2020, deadline and you did not receive your ballot from the board of elections prior to today, you may enter the polling place for assistance,” a sign LaRose’s office distributed to county boards of elections reads in part<https://www.ohiosos.gov/globalassets/elections/eoresources/pol-loc-resources/in-persononlyposter-11x17.pdf>….

In his Thursday letter, LaRose asked members of Congress to intervene, seeing if the USPS can increase staffing in Ohio offices, including on Sunday, or perform a search to find undelivered ballots.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>


“The Fight Over Facebook Political Ads Ahead of the 2020 Election; A state and investors are challenging the company’s policies.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110957>
Posted on April 23, 2020 8:46 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110957> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy <https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/fight-over-facebook-political-ads-ahead-2020-election> for the Brennan Center.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Biden Quiet on Nationwide Vote by Mail. That’s on Purpose”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110954>
Posted on April 23, 2020 3:01 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110954> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Daily Beast:<https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-quiet-on-nationwide-vote-by-mail-thats-on-purpose?source=articles&via=rss>

As concerns have risen about voter safety in the midst of a global pandemic, the past few weeks have seen proposed solutions put forward by voter-rights organizations, Democratic lawmakers, and almost the entirety of former Vice President Joe Biden’s short list of potential running mates.

But Biden himself has held back on endorsing any particular plan for expanding access to mail-in ballots—a decision that campaign sources told The Daily Beast is by design.

“Joe Biden throwing his support behind any specific legislation to expand vote-by-mail is as good as drawing a target on it in red ink,” said one person familiar with the campaign’s thinking.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>


Virginia Ends Prison Gerrymandering<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110952>
Posted on April 23, 2020 1:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110952> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Daniel Nichanian reports<https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/virginia-prison-gerrymandering-felony-disenfranchisement/>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“What are costs of voting by mail? The costs are as varied as the process”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110950>
Posted on April 23, 2020 11:55 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=110950> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Electionline<https://electionline.org/electionline-weekly/2020/04-23/>:

Earlier this month, the Auburn University and The Election Center<https://www.electioncenter.org/> released the findings of the Investing in Elections project that surveyed Election Center members about office operations, methods of election and resources.

“The differences between budget, lead staff salaries, and cost per registered voter between mail ballot jurisdictions and all other jurisdictions in our sample are statistically significant. The budget and cost per registered voter figures are significantly greater in the mail ballot only jurisdictions,” wrote brief authors Kathleen Hale<https://cla.auburn.edu/polisci/directory/professorial-faculty/kathleen-hale/> and Mitchell Brown<https://cla.auburn.edu/polisci/directory/professorial-faculty/mitchell-brown/>.
[cid:image002.jpg at 01D619B4.DEF90E00]

Based on the survey respondents, Hale and Brown determined that the median cost per registered voter for mail ballot only elections is $12.20.

“On balance, these data indicate that the jurisdictions in our sample using mail ballot only methods are operating in environments with larger budgets overall. This suggests that jurisdictions that are not currently all mail ballot jurisdictions are at a comparative resource disadvantage to those that do. This has implications for resource outlays in legislative and administrative decision-making for moving to an all vote-by-mail model,” the authors wrote.

In the Vote at Home Scale Plan<https://www.voteathome.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VAHScale_StrategyPlan.pdf>, the National Vote at Home Institute<https://www.voteathome.org/> estimated that it would cost a state like Michigan, $37,850,00 to implement a centralized plan and includes all that is needed to mail every voter a ballot, the operational costs to process them, and infrastructure updates.

The Brennan Center has also released a report on the Estimated Costs of Covid-19 Election Resiliency Measures<https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/estimated-costs-covid-19-election-resiliency-measures> which focuses on a number of measures to make the November 2020 election safe including expanding absentee/vote-by-mail. In their report Brennan estimates it will cost between $982 million–$1.4 billion nationwide.

“In this moment, everyone is asking what the costs would be in November with scaling up to VBM,” Democracy Fund’s Patrick said. “Here are some of the items to consider as states evaluate their needs: for outbound processes:”

Ballot application average materials and costs
·         $.15 postcard
·         $.50 postage outbound & return business reply mail
·         $.10 time stamping & scanning
·         $.25 application data entry (60 an hour at $15hr average)

Ballot packet
·         $.30 per ballot card (if jurisdiction using paper ballot at the polls, this cost would be same under either system)
·         $.15 per envelope (2-3 depending on privacy sleeve requirement)
·         $.10 per insert
·         $1.00-$6.00 postage (depending on class of service, mailing preparation, bulk discounts, round trip, etc.)

Processing costs vary widely if automated or manual process
·         $1.50 automation processing (via vendor support or insertion/sorting equipment)
·         $15-$20 if entirely manual process

“Review existing costs and contracts,” Patrick advised. “Don’t simply scale up existing — adopt best practices so you are scaling solutions rather than previous problems that didn’t come to light due to small volume. There is a cost to business as usual…”
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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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