[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/11/20

Tue Aug 11 20:14:19 PDT 2020

“A New Clash Over Mail Voting: The Cost of the Postage”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113988>
Posted on August 11, 2020 8:12 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113988> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/post-office-mail-in-voting.html>

The Senate’s highest-ranking Democrat assailed the Postal Service on Tuesday for what he said was an effort to jack up the cost to states of mail-in voting, a new line of criticism in the escalating dispute over ensuring Americans can vote safely this fall in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said the Postal Service under the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major donor to the Trump campaigns, had “informed some states that they may need to pay a first-class rate to deliver ballots rather than the normal rate — nearly tripling the cost.”

At issue is whether states choose to categorize their mail-in ballots as first-class mail or marketing mail, the latter of which carries about one-third of the cost but gets lower priority.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>

En Banc 11th Circuit Issues Order in Florida Felon Disenfranchisement Case Asking Parties to Address at Oral Argument Whether Florida Legislature Could Be Held to Deny Plaintiffs Procedural Due Process<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113985>
Posted on August 11, 2020 5:25 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113985> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Kelvin_Jones_et_al_v._Governo_148<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Kelvin_Jones_et_al_v._Governo_148.pdf>Download<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/Kelvin_Jones_et_al_v._Governo_148.pdf>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Green Party candidates, voters sue to remain on MT 2020 ballot; Asks federal judge to overturn state order”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113980>
Posted on August 11, 2020 2:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113980> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

KPAX<https://www.kpax.com/news/election-2020/green-party-candidates-voters-sue-to-remain-on-mt-2020-ballot>:

The saga of the Green Party’s ballot status in Montana’s 2020 election took yet another turn Tuesday, as two of its candidates and two Green Party voters filed suit in federal court to remain on the ballot.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Helena said a state judge’s order Friday to remove Green Party candidates from the Nov. 3 general election ballot improperly disenfranchises voters who chose them in the primary.
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Posted in ballot access<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, third parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>

“Vote Counts Change. Please Don’t Panic. The ‘blue shift’ is real. Take it seriously.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113977>
Posted on August 11, 2020 2:28 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113977> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jesse Wegman NYT column.<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/opinion/voting-mail-election-night.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage>
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

Irony is Dead Dep’t<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113975>
Posted on August 11, 2020 2:09 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113975> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Trump appoints<https://publicinterestlegal.org/blog/j-christian-adams-appointed-to-u-s-commission-on-civil-rights/> J. Christian Adams to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Five Ways Trump And GOP Officials Are Undermining The Election Process”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113970>
Posted on August 11, 2020 11:12 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113970> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Perry Bacon for 538<https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/five-ways-trump-and-gop-officials-are-undermining-the-election-process/>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Wisconsin Democrats 3.5 Times More Likely Than Republicans to Vote by Mail, and Trump With Election Day Lead of 67-26 in Poll Showing Biden Winning Wisconsin Overall 49-45<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113968>
Posted on August 11, 2020 10:57 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113968> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Recipe<https://twitter.com/PollsAndVotes/status/1293243894981963776?s=20> for trouble:
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

Supreme Court, Over Two Dissents, Blocks Federal Court Order Granting Eased Qualification Requirements to Redistricting Initiative Proponents in Oregon<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113966>
Posted on August 11, 2020 9:29 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113966> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Court’s order is here<https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/081120zr_10n2.pdf>, with Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor noting their dissents.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Ballot Drop Boxes Become Latest Front In Voting Legal Fights”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113964>
Posted on August 11, 2020 9:20 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113964> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Pam Fessler reports<https://www.npr.org/2020/08/11/901066396/ballot-drop-boxes-become-latest-front-in-voting-legal-fights?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter> for NPR.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Jamelle Bouie: “How to Foil Trump’s Election Night Strategy; To keep the president from claiming victory on Nov. 3, Biden supporters who can vote in person may well have to.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113960>
Posted on August 11, 2020 7:46 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113960> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jamelle Bouie NYT column<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/opinion/trump-election-day.html>:

There’s no mystery about what President Trump intends to do if he holds a lead on election night in November. He’s practically broadcasting it.

First, he’ll claim victory. Then, having spent most of the year denouncing vote-by-mail as corrupt, fraudulent and prone to abuse, he’ll demand that authorities stop counting mail-in and absentee ballots. He’ll have teams of lawyers challenging counts and ballots across the country.

He also seems to be counting on having the advantage of mail slowdowns<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/us/politics/postal-service-reorganization-mail-ballots.html>, engineered by the recently installed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Fewer pickups and deliveries could mean more late-arriving ballots and a better shot at dismissing votes before they’re even opened, especially if the campaign has successfully sued to block states from extending deadlines. We might even see a Brooks Brothers riot<https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31074-2005Jan23.html> or two, where well-heeled Republican operatives stage angry and voluble protests against ballot counts and recounts.

If Trump is leading on election night, in other words, there’s a good chance he’ll try to disrupt and delegitimize the counting process. That way, if Joe Biden pulls ahead in the days (or weeks) after voting ends — if we experience a “blue shift” like the one in 2018, in which the Democratic majority in the House grew as votes came in — the president will have given himself grounds to reject the outcome as “fake news.”

The only way to prevent this scenario, or at least, rob it of the oxygen it needs to burn, is to deliver an election night lead to Biden. This means voting in person. No, not everyone will be able to do that. But if you plan to vote against Trump and can take appropriate precautions, then some kind of hand delivery — going to the polls or bringing your mail-in ballot to a “drop box” — will be the best way to protect your vote from the president’s concerted attempt to undermine the election for his benefit.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
“Kanye West’s campaign says he belongs on the ballot even if nomination papers were 14 seconds late”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113958>
Posted on August 11, 2020 7:42 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113958> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports<https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/10/kanye-wests-campaign-says-he-belongs-ballot-even-if-he-filed-nominations-papers-14-seconds-after-5-p/3340532001/>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Postmarks come under scrutiny as states prepare for mail-in voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113956>
Posted on August 11, 2020 7:40 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113956> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/politics/postmarks-mail-in-ballots/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_allpolitics+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Politics%29>:

States are bracing for controversy as they work to ensure that Postal Service postmarks and other tracking will back efforts to prove mail-in votes are sent on time. They’re seeking to avoid lawsuits<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/10/politics/nevada-lawsuit-trump-campaign-mail-in-voting/index.html> and other issues about unclear markings that have dogged some primaries and could mar ballot counts come Election Day.

In primaries this summer, some ballots that lacked a postmark but were received on or near Election Day were invalidated because they did not have a stamp from the post office indicating they were received in time. The issues come as the US Postal Service faces questions over its mail delivery and whether it will be able to handle an onslaught of mail-in ballots for the general election.

In New York, so many absentee ballots for the primary were invalidated because they lacked a postmark that voters won relief from a federal judge in a lawsuit to get some of the formerly disqualified ballots counted. And in Virginia, the state’s Board of Elections this week adopted a regulation requiring that absentee ballot mail include intelligent mail barcodes, another way to track where a piece of mail is in the system.

In Nevada, the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/politics/trump-campaign-nevada-mail-in-ballots/index.html> against a law the state legislature passed<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/politics/nevada-mail-ballots-registered-voters/index.html> last week changing certain provisions to make it easier to vote by mail in the November election. One of the provisions is that if an absentee ballot is received by 5 p.m. three days after Election Day but is not postmarked, it will be counted. The lawsuit claims this provision, along with others in the new legislation, is unconstitutional.

Many states add a postmark requirement to mail-in ballots to ensure that the ballots were sent before or on Election Day, trying to prevent votes submitted after Election Day from being counted….

The article includes a chart, “In 30 states, ballots must be received by Election Day or earlier.”
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>

“Poll: Most Americans are not confident the 2020 election will be conducted fairly”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113954>
Posted on August 11, 2020 7:37 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113954> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBC News<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/poll-most-americans-are-not-confident-2020-election-will-be-n1236321?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=First%20Read>:

A majority of American adults say they are not confident that the November elections will be conducted in a fair and equal way, according to new data from the NBC|SurveyMonkey Weekly Tracking Poll.<https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/nbc-poll-covid-aug9>

Fifty-five percent of adults overall say they are either “not too confident” or “not at all confident” about the fairness of the election, just 14 percent say they are “very confident” in the election and 29 percent said they are somewhat confident.

But there’s a partisan split in how much Americans trust the election’s fairness.

Sixty-five percent of American adults who identify as a Republican or “lean Republican” are not confident in how the election will be held. That compares to 46 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners who aren’t feeling confident about November’s results. A majority of independents — 56 percent — also aren’t confident in the election being conducted fairly and equally.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“QAnon groups have millions of members on Facebook, documents show”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113952>
Posted on August 11, 2020 7:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113952> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NBC News:<https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/qanon-groups-have-millions-members-facebook-documents-show-n1236317>

An internal investigation by Facebook has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers, that support the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to internal company documents reviewed by NBC News.

The investigation’s preliminary results, which were provided to NBC News by a Facebook employee, shed new light on the scope of activity and content from the QAnon community on Facebook, a scale previously undisclosed by Facebook and unreported by the news media, because most of the groups are private.

The top 10 groups identified in the investigation collectively contain more than 1 million members, with totals from more top groups and pages pushing the number of members and followers past 3 million. It is not clear how much overlap there is among the groups.

The investigation will likely inform what, if any, action Facebook decides to take against its QAnon community, according to the documents and two current Facebook employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The company is considering an option similar to its handling of anti-vaccination content, which is to reject advertising and exclude QAnon groups and pages from search results and recommendations, an action that would reduce the community’s visibility.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“A Record 75% of Americans Can Vote by Mail in 2020”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113949>
Posted on August 11, 2020 4:44 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113949> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

This NYT story<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/11/us/politics/vote-by-mail-us-states.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage> echos my point<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/06/we-all-support-absentee-ballots-now-focus-that/> that the main policy fight over mail-in voting is essentially over.

Indeed, the NYT story might underestimate the percentage of voters who will have the option of no-excuse absentee voting, because four of the eight states that currently do not permit this did permit it for their recent primaries. That makes it likely that those states will also create this option for the fall. Those states includes NY, which would significantly boost the overall percentage of voters who can vote no-excuse absentee, given the size of NY’s voting population.

There will continue to be issues (including litigation) over some important details of how states administer absentee voting. And in three of the four states that appear most likely to resist no-excuse absentee voting, litigation is pending that challenges those restrictive rules. But on the main issue of whether the vast majority of Americans will have the option of voting absentee, the answer now is yes.
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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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