[EL] ELB News and Commentary 8/23/20

[Rick Hasen]

Twitter Slaps Warning Label on Latest Trump Tweet Spreading Misinformation About Voting Integrity and Drop Boxes<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114369>
Posted on August 23, 2020 9:45 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114369> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Tweet<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1297495295266357248>. Screenshot with warning:
[cid:image001.png at 01D67932.BFF29480]
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Posted in cheap speech<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=130>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Facebook removes page using image of LeBron James over ‘voter suppression tactics”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114367>
Posted on August 23, 2020 9:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114367> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/21/facebook-removes-page-with-deceptive-lebron-james-ads-voter-suppression/>:

Facebook on Friday deleted a page using an image of LeBron James, among other deceptive tactics, to spread false and misleading claims about mail-in voting, a day after The Washington Post raised questions about the online operation<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/disinformation-campaign-stokes-fears-about-mail-voting-using-lebron-james-image-and-boosted-by-trump-aligned-group/2020/08/20/fcadf382-e2e2-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2>.

A Facebook spokeswoman, Devon Kearns, said the company was enforcing its policy against “voter interference.” She added, “We have removed this page for engaging in voter suppression tactics.”

The online effort, which aimed to steer Facebook users to a website raising unfounded concerns about mail balloting, was promoted extensively by FreedomWorks, the tax-exempt nonprofit that helped launch tea-party protests a decade ago and is now aligned with causes central to President Trump’s reelection. The messaging was in line with misinformation spread by Trump and his reelection campaign about the integrity of mail-in voting.
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Posted in cheap speech<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=130>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Mask Mandates and the Right to Vote Would requiring masks for in-person voting infringe constitutional rights?”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114365>
Posted on August 23, 2020 9:05 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114365> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jonathan Adler<https://reason.com/2020/08/23/mask-mandates-and-the-right-to-vote/> at Volokh:

I would think a mask requirement would be constitutional under Crawford v. Marion County Election Board<https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-21.ZS.html>, in which the Supreme Court upheld a photo ID requirement for voting in person. If the state’s interest in election integrity was sufficient to require a photo ID, the state’s interest in preventing the spread of Covid-19 should be sufficient to justify requiring a mask. The risk of Covid-19 is far greater than the risk of in-person voter fraud. The burden in Crawford was also deemed rather minimal, in large part because the state did not charge for identification. The burden was gong to get a qualifying ID, not paying for one.

Under Crawford, the easiest solution would be for polling locations to provide masks to those who show up to vote without one (much like many restaurants and stores do in jurisdictions with mask mandates), but this could be a significant added expense for election authorities, particularly in poorer jurisdictions. Election administration is underfunded in much of the country already, even without this added expense. Those communities that lack the resources to ensure an adequate number of voting machines are not likely to have the cash to spare for extra masks.

Easier absentee voting, early voting, and vote-by-mail would also lessen the burden of such a requirement, but not everyone can or will avail themselves of such opportunities. Presumably some share of those who wait to vote until election day are people who are less concerned about Covid-19, and who might be less inclined to wear a mask. We have all seen viral videos of people having meltdowns when asked to wear a mask to go into the supermarket. What happens when someone is denied the right to vote? If I am correct that Crawford controls (and I would be curious whether readers disagree with me on that point), I think election authorities could deny entrance to a would-be voter without a mask, particularly if masks were made available to those who come without one.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Holy Guacamole!” Virginia Voter in Disbelief She Was Listed as Kanye West Elector<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114363>
Posted on August 22, 2020 7:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114363> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ben Jacobs<https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/08/kanye-wests-campaign-is-both-proceeding-and-unraveling.html> on the Kanye beat.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“More Than 550,000 Primary Absentee Ballots Rejected In 2020, Far Outpacing 2016”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114361>
Posted on August 22, 2020 7:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114361> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR<https://www.npr.org/2020/08/22/904693468/more-than-550-000-primary-absentee-ballots-rejected-in-2020-far-outpacing-2016>:

An extraordinarily high number of ballots — more than 550,000 — have been rejected in this year’s presidential primaries, according to a new analysis by NPR.

That’s far more than the 318,728 ballots rejected<https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/eac_assets/1/6/2016_EAVS_Comprehensive_Report.pdf> in the 2016 general election and has raised alarms about what might happen in November when tens of millions of more voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail, many for the first time.

Election experts said first-time absentee voters are much more likely to make the kinds of mistakes that lead to rejected ballots. Studies also show that voters of color and young voters are more likely than others to have their ballots not count.

Most absentee or mail-in ballots are rejected because required signatures are missing or don’t match the one on record, or because the ballot arrives too late<https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/889751095/signed-sealed-undelivered-thousands-of-mail-in-ballots-rejected-for-tardiness>.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>


“Michigan election officials call Detroit’s primary voting problems ‘appalling,’ ‘alarming”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114359>
Posted on August 22, 2020 7:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114359> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Detroit News reports<https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/21/michigan-election-officials-call-detroit-primary-voting-problems-alarming-appalling/3410790001/>. Urgent need for SOS Benson to get authority to get more involved.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“Charity cannot save the US Postal Service”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114357>
Posted on August 22, 2020 7:31 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114357> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ellen Aprill oped<https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/513200-charity-cannot-save-the-us-postal-service> in The Hill.
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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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