[EL] 8/13/20

Wed Aug 12 20:57:37 PDT 2020

Trump Opposes More Funding Proposed by Democrats for USPS, Saying It Will Facilitate Universal Mail-in Voting and Allow the “Greatest Fraud in History”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114019>
Posted on August 12, 2020 8:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114019> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

More unsubstantiated rhetoric<https://www.c-span.org/video/?474761-1/president-trump-comments-joe-biden-choosing-kamala-harris-running-mate> from the President (starting at the 10 minute mark).

Christina Wilkie<https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/1293672393928581121>:
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Funding For Postal Service, Mail-In Voting Stall Coronavirus Relief Talks”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114017>
Posted on August 12, 2020 8:48 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114017> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR<https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/901961002/funding-for-post-office-mail-in-voting-stall-coronavirus-relief-talks?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter> reports.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose: no extra ballot drop boxes for November election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114015>
Posted on August 12, 2020 8:16 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114015> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Cleveland.com:<https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/08/ohio-secretary-of-state-frank-larose-no-extra-ballot-drop-boxes-for-november-election.html>

Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Wednesday he is banning county boards of elections from offering more than one drop box for completed absentee ballots this November, saying it’s grown too late to make changes to how Ohio will administer this year’s presidential election.

LaRose, a Republican, more than three weeks ago formally asked Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, also a Republican, for a legal opinion on whether the extra drop boxes were allowed under state law.

But LaRose said Wednesday Yost had not yet responded, and that it’s now too late make such an election change. Early voting in Ohio begins on Oct. 6, while the election is on Nov. 3. He said offering extra drop boxes, which Democrats and voting-rights activists say is legal, would invite lawsuits that could upend the process of preparing for the election.

The move led to a swift reaction from Democrats, who accused LaRose of voter suppression, saying the request of Yost was just a charade that would allow LaRose to eventually run out the clock.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Twitter plans clampdown on mail-in voting misinformation amid friction with Trump”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114013>
Posted on August 12, 2020 8:13 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114013> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico reports.<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/12/twitter-fights-mail-in-voting-misinformation-394459>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Utah: “Gov. Herbert defends Utah’s vote-by-mail system, endorses ranked choice voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114011>
Posted on August 12, 2020 8:01 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114011> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

FOX13 reports.<https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/gov-herbert-defends-utahs-vote-by-mail-system-endorses-ranked-choice-voting>
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>

President Trump Triples Down in His Support for Absentee Voting<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114006>
Posted on August 12, 2020 3:11 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114006> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

Once again, as this CNN story<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/politics/trump-mail-in-voting-north-carolina/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_allpolitics+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Politics%29> recounts, President Trump strongly endorsed absentee voting even as he criticized “universal mail-in voting.” And once again, journalists completely fail to recognize the significance of his endorsement of absentee voting.

I am going to continue to call this out. So for journalists who have not read this Washington Post piece<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/06/we-all-support-absentee-ballots-now-focus-that/> of mine, the main form of mail-in voting that matters for this fall is ABSENTEE VOTING. Thirty-three to thirty-seven states will be using absentee voting this fall — the same system the President constantly endorses, the system FL and NC use that he has recently praised. That’s what matters for the fall election.

“Universal mail-in voting” is a sideshow for this election. Journalists should be emphasizing the President’s support for absentee voting, and helping the public understand that the President endorses absentee voting. Indeed, a recent tweet<https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/1290977698811203584> for the official Trump campaign put the point particularly strongly: “there is a vast difference between absentee voting and universal mail-in voting.” Debates about whether there is a vast difference or not are beside the point, in practical terms, for the fall. Since absentee voting is the main event for the upcoming election, journalists and commentators should focus on the consistent, strong endorsement of absentee voting from the highest levels of the administration and campaign.

Excerpts from CNN’s story:

“We’re going on to win a tremendous election in November, to be exact November 3 in North Carolina,” Trump told supporters who’d dialed into a telephone rally. “You can request absentee ballots right now. Absentee ballots are great.”…

At the same time, he told his audience: “Absentee voting is a secure process. It’s initiated by the voter — you request it — and every voter is verified. Every vote is verified. It’s the exact opposite of Democrats’ voter fraud scheme. They want to mail ballots to every eligible voter all over the state.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Chinese network of fake accounts targets Trump with English-language videos”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114004>
Posted on August 12, 2020 1:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114004> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/08/12/china-video-network-trump/>

A network of fake Chinese accounts has been posting videos bashing President Trump, criticizing his recent closure of China’s consulate in Houston, his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his threats to ban the popular social media app TikTok, according to research published Wednesday<https://graphika.com/spamouflageUS>.

The network is technologically advanced — using artificial intelligence to create faked faces for profile images — and nimble, producing videos at a pace of roughly one per day since mid-July. One video responded directly to a speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for an Internet “clean” of malign Chinese influence<https://www.state.gov/announcing-the-expansion-of-the-clean-network-to-safeguard-americas-assets/> less than 36 hours after he made a speech on the subject last week.

One three-minute video posted on YouTube by the network on Tuesday, titled “When I voted for trump, I almost sentenced myself to death,” portrayed the president as bashing China and threatening to ban TikTok to bolster his reelection chances after a disastrous federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. The video shows flattering images of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and predicted Trump will lose in November.

The researchers, from the network analysis firm Graphika, said it was the first direct reference to Biden from the Chinese network.

They also found persistent sloppiness in the videos overall, such as odd translations and a poor grasp of spoken English. An apparently automated voice, for example, said “us” for “U.S.” One video had words appear on-screen in English and Chinese saying the confusing phrase, “Cast A Chestnut In The Fire Will Burn Themselves With Fire.”

The videos and related content appeared on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, all of which have closed fake accounts affiliated with the network. And though its posts regularly echoed official Chinese government propaganda, Graphika was unable to determine what relationship, if any, the network had with the Chinese government. Nor is it clear whether the intended audience was Chinese, American or a combination of both.
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Posted in cheap speech<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=130>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Silicon Valley game plans for election night”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114002>
Posted on August 12, 2020 1:16 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114002> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico:<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/12/election-silicon-valley-394354>

Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major social media companies are working together to scenario-plan for the last three months before Election Day in the United States — including gaming out what to do it there’s no quickly declared winner in the contest between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on election night.

The close collaboration between Silicon Valley companies in the run-up to election day is detailed in an unusual cross-industry statement put out Wednesday. Pinterest, LinkedIn-owner Microsoft, and Reddit are also among its signatories.

“We discussed preparations for the upcoming conventions and scenario planning related to election results. We will continue to stay vigilant on these issues and meet regularly ahead of the November election,” reads the statement.<https://twitter.com/fbnewsroom/status/1293631278953029632>

Among dozens of scenarios being contemplated by the companies for election night in particular are a “hack and leak” operation where stolen materials are quickly spread through online networks and addressing the distribution of manipulated videos, according to a person involved in the planning who spoke anonymously so as to not speak on behalf of the full industry coalition. The scenario planning is “candidate agnostic,” they said.

Today’s statement comes shortly after a meeting among the companies and government officials — the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — to discuss the planning. It builds on a series of monthly meetings, the person said, that go back to September of last year.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Trump encourages North Carolina supporters to vote by mail, as he attacks voting by mail”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114000>
Posted on August 12, 2020 1:13 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114000> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN reports.<https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/politics/trump-mail-in-voting-north-carolina/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_allpolitics+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Politics%29>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Guidelines for Healthy In-Person Voting: The Brennan Center and the Infectious Diseases Society of America have issued joint guidelines to minimize the risk of transmitting Covid-19 at the polls this November.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113998>
Posted on August 12, 2020 7:20 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113998> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Check it out.<https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/guidelines-healthy-person-voting>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113998&title=%E2%80%9CGuidelines%20for%20Healthy%20In-Person%20Voting%3A%20The%20Brennan%20Center%20and%20the%20Infectious%20Diseases%20Society%20of%20America%20have%20issued%20joint%20guidelines%20to%20minimize%20the%20risk%20of%20transmitting%20Covid-19%20at%20the%20polls%20this%20November.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Did the George Floyd Protests Boost Democratic Voter Registration? New research shows that sign-ups may have surged in early June, boosting hopes that activists can turn energy in the streets into voter turnout this fall.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113996>
Posted on August 12, 2020 7:15 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113996> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports.<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/us/politics/democrats-voter-registration-george-floyd.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage>
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Posted in voter registration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>

“The Politics We Don’t See Matter as Much as Those We Do; Party strategists pay a lot of attention to redrawing district maps — and hope you won’t bother to think about it.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113994>
Posted on August 12, 2020 7:09 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113994> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tom Edsall NYT column<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/opinion/census-politics-gerrymandering-redistricting.html>.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113994&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Politics%20We%20Don%E2%80%99t%20See%20Matter%20as%20Much%20as%20Those%20We%20Do%3B%20Party%20strategists%20pay%20a%20lot%20of%20attention%20to%20redrawing%20district%20maps%20%E2%80%94%20and%20hope%20you%20won%E2%80%99t%20bother%20to%20think%20about%20it.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Democratizing the Supreme Court”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113990>
Posted on August 12, 2020 4:13 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113990> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

Original perspective here on this issue, from a new academic article<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665032&download=yes> by Ryan Doefler and Sam Moyn. In the same spirit as Mark Tushnet’s book from several years back, Taking the Constitution Away from the Courts. Here is the abstract:

Progressives are taking Supreme Court reform seriously for the first time in almost a century. Owing to the rise of the political and academic left following the 2008 financial crisis and the hotly contested appointments of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, progressives increasingly view the Supreme Court as posing a serious challenge to the successful implementation of ambitious legislation like the “Green New Deal.”

Despite this once-in-a-generation energy around the idea of court reform, the popular and academic discussion of how to reform the Supreme Court has been unduly constrained and is now at risk of closing prematurely. This is the case with regard to its mechanism and its purpose alike. On the left, historical memory has limited debate almost entirely to “court packing.” Meanwhile the center has occupied itself with how to restore the Supreme Court’s legitimacy, rescuing the institution from its regrettable slide into partisanship. And now with the Court appearing to moderate to preempt legislative reform of the institution, the concern is that progressives will drop their demands for change, satisfied with a few modest judicial concessions.

This Article aims to keep the discussion of court reform alive and, just as importantly, to significantly expand its bounds. It does so, first, by urging progressives to reject the legitimacy frame of the issue, which treats the problem with the Supreme Court as one of politicization, in favor of an openly progressive frame in which the question is how to enable democracy within our constitutional scheme.

Second, the Article introduces a distinction between two fundamentally different mechanisms of reform. The first type of reform, which we call personnel reforms, includes both aggressive proposals like court packing and more modest (or politically moderate) reforms such as partisan balance requirements or panel systems. All of these reforms take for granted the tremendous power the Supreme Court wields. What these proposals do is change the partisan or ideological character of the individuals who wield it. The second type, which we call disempowering reforms, include things like jurisdiction stripping and a supermajority requirement for judicial review. These reforms take power away from the Court, redirecting it to the political branches instead. As we argue, personnel reforms are mostly addressed to the legitimacy frame that progressives would do well to reject. More still, to the extent such reforms advance progressive ends, they do so only contingently and threaten to do as much harm as good over time. By contrast, disempowering reforms, we argue, advance progressive values systematically. While such reforms would not guarantee advances in social democracy, they would ensure that the battle for such advances takes place in the democratic arena, which for progressives is where they have to occur now—and should occur—if they take place anywhere.
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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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