[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/5/20

[Rick Hasen]

“What the impeachment ordeal can tell us about the 2020 election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109332>
Posted on February 5, 2020 7:27 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109332> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this oped<https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/opinions/trump-impeachment-senate-hasen/index.html> for CNN Opinion. It begins:

The United States Senate is poised to acquit President Donald Trump on what will likely be a near party-line vote after a witness-free impeachment trial in which he will be cleared of charges that his solicitation of foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election and obstruction of the House’s investigation justified his removal from office.

RicBut while the impeachment and trial will soon be behind us, the behavior of Senate and House Republicans have increased the chances of an election meltdown in November.Think about what happened this week with Democrats’ inability to run a successful Iowa caucus system, and conservative activists’ conspiracy theories that immediately arose<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/03/conservatives-push-false-claims-voter-fraud-twitter-iowans-prepare-caucus/> suggesting, without evidence, an attempt to rig the vote.The impeachment ordeal has three key implications for the integrity of the 2020 elections, each one more troubling than the last.

Lesson 1: The President cannot be counted on to deter foreign interference and may even encourage it again.…

Lesson 2: Republicans in the Senate can be expected to back up Trump lies about 2020 election results.….

Lesson 3: The country is seriously polarized and facts themselves are up for grabs.…
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“‘A Systemwide Disaster’: How the Iowa Caucuses Melted Down”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109329>
Posted on February 5, 2020 7:00 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109329> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/us/politics/what-happened-iowa-caucuses.html> tick tock.

But soon the party phone lines were completely jammed. Operators were overwhelmed. Only a quarter of nearly 1,700 precinct chairs even successfully downloaded the app, according to a Democrat familiar with the matter.

“I couldn’t get it to work,” said Jane Podgorniak, the Worth County party chair. “I tried and tried.”

“When you have an app that you’re sending out to 1,700 people and many of them might be newer to apps and that kind of stuff, it might have been worth doing a couple months’ worth of testing to make sure it is working correctly,” said Mr. Bagniewski, the Polk County chairman.

Or, as Dan Callahan, the chair in Buchanan County, put it, “Some of our chairs use flip phones.”

Unlike a primary run by the state government, caucuses are party affairs and they are powered by the dedication of a small army of volunteers.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“The Cybersecurity 202: Iowa caucus app is latest example of politicos building faulty technology with disastrous results”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109327>
Posted on February 5, 2020 6:52 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109327> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-cybersecurity-202/2020/02/05/the-cybersecurity-202-iowa-caucus-app-is-latest-example-of-politicos-building-faulty-technology-with-disastrous-results/5e39b69d88e0fa7f82544648/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“A Wake-Up Call From Iowa; The caucuses should be a grave lesson to election officials across the country.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109325>
Posted on February 5, 2020 6:32 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109325> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I spoke with Mary Harris for Slate’s What Next?<https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next/2020/02/election-meltdowns-are-avoidable> podcast.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


Top Recent Downloads in Election Law on SSRN<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109323>
Posted on February 5, 2020 4:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109323> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/topten/topTenResults.cfm?groupingId=991929&netorjrnl=jrnl>:
Rank
Paper
Downloads
1.
Thin and Thick Conceptions of the Nineteenth Amendment Right to Vote and Congress’s Power to Enforce It<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3501114>
Richard L. Hasen<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=337> and Leah Litman<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2361860>
University of California, Irvine School of Law and University of Michigan Law SchoolDate Posted: 10 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 03 Feb 2020
124
2.
Jim Crow As Kafka: Voter Suppression on the Ground<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3498498>
Jonathan Zasloff<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=104477>
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – School of LawDate Posted: 06 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 06 Dec 2019
107
3.
Small-Donor Based Campaign-Finance Reform and Political Polarization<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3490089>
Richard H. Pildes<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=121253>
New York University School of LawDate Posted: 05 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 17 Jan 2020
77
4.
Political Parties in Constitutional Theory<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3492467>
Tarunabh Khaitan<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1023159>
University of Melbourne – Law SchoolDate Posted: 11 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 11 Dec 2019
65
5.
Comparative Election Administration: A Legal Perspective on Electoral Institutions<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3500868>
Daniel P. Tokaji<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=359247>
Ohio State University (OSU) – Michael E. Moritz College of LawDate Posted: 10 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 15 Dec 2019
52
6.
Social Checks and Balances: A Private Fairness Doctrine<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3499708>
Michael P. Vandenbergh<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=426704>
Vanderbilt University – Law SchoolDate Posted: 09 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 09 Dec 2019
38
7.
The Loch Ness Monster, Haggis, and a Lower Voting Age: What America Can Learn from Scotland<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3503437>
Joshua A. Douglas<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=683935>
University of Kentucky – College of LawDate Posted: 05 Jan 2020
Last Revised: 05 Jan 2020
26
8.
Politics as Pretext<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3486577>
Joshua Sellers<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2438501>
Arizona State University (ASU) – Sandra Day O’Connor College of LawDate Posted: 26 Nov 2019
Last Revised: 26 Nov 2019
25
9.
Constitutional Law and the Presidential Nomination Process<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3499733>
Richard Briffault<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=199186>
Columbia Law SchoolDate Posted: 07 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 12 Dec 2019
25
10.
Passive Voter Suppression: Campaign Mobilization and the Effective Disfranchisement of the Poor<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3501739>
Bertrall L. Ross<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=507998> and Douglas M. Spence<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1220854>
r<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1220854>University of California, Berkeley School of Law and University of Connecticut, School of LawDate Posted: 31 Dec 2019
Last Revised: 31 Dec 2019
23


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Posted in pedagogy<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=23>


In an “Ominous” Coincidence, the Iowa Election Meltdown Occurred on the Day of My “Election Meltdown” Book Launch. Some Media Discussing Both<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109315>
Posted on February 4, 2020 7:37 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109315> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Today was the release day of Election Meltdown<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>. Thanks to the Iowa debacle I did a lot of media. Here is some of it.

Pam Fessler, NPR’s All Things Considered, Iowa Meltdown Raises Red Flags for Elections Going Forward<https://www.npr.org/2020/02/04/802737818/iowa-meltdown-raises-red-flags-for-elections-going-forward>

Associated Press, Online Conspiracy Theories Flourish After Iowa Caucus Fiasco<https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/04/business/ap-us-election-2020-iowa-results-misinformation.html>:

“Democracy depends on the losers accepting election results,” said University of California, Irvine, Professor Richard Hasen, whose book “Election Meltdown” was published Tuesday in what he said was an ominous coincidence. “Now we’re starting off the election season with seeds of doubt, which is terrible.”

The Nation “Start Making Sense” Podcast with Jon Weiner, Iowa is Only One Example of What May Go Wrong on Nov. 3: Rick Hasen<https://audioboom.com/posts/7496030-iowa-is-only-one-example-of-what-may-go-wrong-on-nov-3-rick-hasen>

Madeline Brand, KCRW Press Play, Is It Time to Get Rid of the Caucus System Entirely?<https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/goodbye-junior-high-physical-fitness-tests/is-it-time-to-get-rid-of-the-caucus-system-entirely>

Andy Kroll, Rolling Stone, Dempocalypse Now<https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/iowa-caucus-democrats-dysfunction-bernie-sanders-pete-buttigieg-elizabeth-warren-947366/>

David Graham, The Atlantic, Why the Iowa Caucus Birthed a Thousand Conspiracy Theories<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/iowa-caucus-conspiracy-theories/606055/>

Sean Illing, Vox, “No matter what, there will be persistent doubts about how this process was carried out”; An expert explains how the Iowa debacle underscores the great danger of the 2020 election<https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/4/21122221/iowa-democratic-caucus-results-democracy>.

Greg Sargent, Washington Post, Lindsey Graham’s Iowa deception shows Trump’s corruption of GOP<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/04/lindsey-grahams-iowa-deception-shows-trumps-corruption-gop/>

Christian Science Monitor, Iowa caucus debacle a wake-up call for American democracy<https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/0204/Iowa-caucus-debacle-a-wake-up-call-for-American-democracy?cmpid=shared-twitter>

Jonathan Lai, Philadelphia Inquirer, What Pennsylvania can learn from Iowa’s caucus debacle — and the conspiracy theories that followed<https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/iowa-democratic-caucuses-pennsylvania-20200204.html>

The list does not include additional podcasts and radio segments which will air tomorrow or later, or the Brennan Center book talk I gave today with interviewer Victoria Bassetti which will be released as a podcast soon.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“Free and Fair with Franita and Foley”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109319>
Posted on February 4, 2020 7:34 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109319> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Excited about this:<https://soundcloud.com/freeandfair>

Two perspectives; one objective: free and fair elections.  What Franita Tolson and Ned Foley hope for this podcast is to have a series of thoughtful conversations about the basic values of America’s democracy and how they are relevant to this year’s election. The initial episode considers the difference between an ideal conception of democracy and how to tell whether America’s non-ideal system is performing at least adequately.  This first discussion shows there can be agreement on some points, yet divergence of opinion in important respects.  The series will explore how these basic principles apply to specific issues, like primary elections, gerrymandering, campaign finance, voting rights, and other issues that arise between now and November.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Citizens United at 10: The Consequences for Democracy and Potential Responses by Congress”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109317>
Posted on February 4, 2020 7:32 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109317> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

House Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing<https://judiciary.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=2781> Thursday.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Think Iowa’s Delay Was a Fluke? Get Used to It.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109313>
Posted on February 4, 2020 7:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109313> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ned Foley <https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/02/04/think-iowa-was-a-fluke-get-used-to-it-110685> for Politico magazine.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“The great Iowa overreaction: It’s irresponsible to use delayed results to weave conspiracy theories about the integrity of an election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109311>
Posted on February 4, 2020 6:58 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109311> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Josh Douglas<https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-great-iowa-overreaction-20200204-ttgephmvrjaadnemenjufo7vye-story.html> for NYDN.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Behind The Iowa Caucus Crash, A Simple Technology Glitch”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109309>
Posted on February 4, 2020 6:53 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109309> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Steven Rosenfeld explains.<https://www.nationalmemo.com/behind-the-iowa-caucus-crash-a-simple-technology-glitch/>
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>


--
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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