[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/8/20

Sat Feb 8 10:21:27 PST 2020

The Wall Street Journal excerpts election-security expert @rickhasen’s new
book.

It begins:

Will your vote be fairly and accurately counted in the 2020 elections?
It’s a ques-tion on a lot of people’s minds after this week’s fiasco in
the Iowa Democratic caucuses, and it reminds us of a troubling fact:
Nearly two decades after the Florida debacle over the 2000
presidential vote, too many places in the U.S. are still vulnerable
to an election meltdown. Such anxieties add to well-founded concerns
about the possibility of cyberattacks on our voting systems, by
Russia or other malign actors. What’s worse, in today’s
hyperpolarized, social-media-driven environ-ment, such voting
problems provide sensational grist for conspiracy theories that may
further undermine Ameri-cans’ confidence in the fairness and
accuracy of the 2020 elections.
The rest here:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-prevent-the-next-election-meltdown-11581091661?emailToken=2476bee54458559fb0c2467bf725d4f3RidDn4gjc9SwaA0HXHF/sk5J9WKpn/fEYK4BGW/jEGGXQ3M+Uy7XHZtSs2mhIjm1km4Ls1UgF47tIF7YgyTZqKgqwTv9EzKf8fEnFjarZuY%3D&reflink=article_imessage_share

On Sat, Feb 8, 2020 at 12:30 PM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

>
> “Election Meltdown, Part 3 Delving into the big bag of dirty tricks ahead
> of the 2020 election.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109438>
>
> Posted on February 8, 2020 9:23 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109438>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> You can listen to the third episode of the Election Meltdown podcast (in
> conjunction with Dahlia Lithwick and *Slate* Amicus) at this link
> <https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2020/02/dirty-tricks-to-disenfranchise-voters>. (Episode
> 1 on voter suppression/voter fraud is here
> <https://megaphone.link/SLT6839728202> and Episode 2 on election
> administrator incompetence (timely!) is here
> <https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2020/02/administrative-incompetence-undermines-elections>.) In
> this episode we talk with Joe Bruno, Danielle Citron, Renee DiResta and
> Brendan Nyhan about dirty tricks, ranging from Russian 2016, to Democrats’
> activities in the 2017 U.S. Senate race in Alabama, to the ballot tampering
> the North Carolina’s 2018 congressional race in the Ninth district, to the
> potential for deepfakes to disrupt 2020. Plus an Iowa meltdown recap.
>
> *Episode Notes
> <https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2020/02/dirty-tricks-to-disenfranchise-voters>*
>
> In the third part of this special five-part series of Amicus, Dahlia
> Lithwick is joined by election law professor Rick Hasen to unpack the bag
> of dirty tricks that may be deployed in 2020’s election and to examine the
> debris of the Iowa caucus debacle to find clues to what’s coming.
>
> Rick Hasen’s new book *Election Meltdown*
> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0300248199/?tag=slatmaga-20>forms the basis for
> this special series of Amicus.
>
> Join Slate for the Election Meltdown live show
> <https://slate.com/live/amicus-live-w-dahlia-lithwick-andrew-gillum-and-more.html> on
> Feb. 19 in Washington.
>
> Podcast production by Sara Burningham.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109438&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20Meltdown%2C%20Part%203%20Delving%20into%20the%20big%20bag%20of%20dirty%20tricks%20ahead%20of%20the%202020%20election.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in chicanery <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Election
> Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> “Iowa Democrats to undergo independent review of caucus chaos”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109436>
>
> Posted on February 8, 2020 9:17 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109436>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> AP reports.
> <https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/07/iowa-democrats-undergo-independent-review-caucus-chaos/41157977/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109436&title=%E2%80%9CIowa%20Democrats%20to%20undergo%20independent%20review%20of%20caucus%20chaos%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
>
>
>
>
> I Talked Iowa and Election Meltdown on KCRW’s “Left, Right, and Center”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109434>
>
> Posted on February 8, 2020 9:16 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109434>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Listen <https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/left-right-center/iowa>.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109434&title=I%20Talked%20Iowa%20and%20Election%20Meltdown%20on%20KCRW%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9CLeft%2C%20Right%2C%20and%20Center%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Election Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> Koch Bros. Reportedly Helped Fund Buckley v. Valeo Litigation to Start
> Early Attack on Campaign Finance Laws
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109432>
>
> Posted on February 8, 2020 9:15 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109432>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Lisa Graves oped
> <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/07/charles-koch-elections-billions-money-cash>
>  in *The Guardian.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109432&title=Koch%20Bros.%20Reportedly%20Helped%20Fund%20Buckley%20v.%20Valeo%20Litigation%20to%20Start%20Early%20Attack%20on%20Campaign%20Finance%20Laws>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
> Court <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
>
>
>
>
> “Docs: Shadow Inc. Directly Tied to Left-Wing Media Operation”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109430>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 4:09 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109430>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> This is troubling
> <https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/dygyaq/docs-shadow-inc-directly-tied-to-left-wing-media-operation>,
> especially this part:
>
> *McGowan said that Courier journalists have full editorial independence.
> Asked whether they had license to report freely on Democratic politicians
> or were tasked with, as the document says, “Reach[ing] voters with
> strategic narratives + information year-round,” she said, “I don’t know
> what the difference between the two is.”*
>
> *Asked whether there was a conflict inherent in Shadow doing work on both
> tabulating the results of a Democratic contest and contributing to
> Acronym’s media operations, she said, “A for-profit company can work with
> anyone, legally.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109430&title=%E2%80%9CDocs%3A%20Shadow%20Inc.%20Directly%20Tied%20to%20Left-Wing%20Media%20Operation%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in chicanery <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
>
>
>
>
> “The Lawfare Podcast Special Edition: An ‘Election Meltdown’ in Iowa”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109428>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 3:03 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109428>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Great to talk with Ben Wittes for the Lawfare podcast
> <https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-special-edition-election-meltdown-iowa> about
> the Iowa fiasco and my new book, 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>
> . Listen.
> <https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-special-edition-election-meltdown-iowa>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109428&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Lawfare%20Podcast%20Special%20Edition%3A%20An%20%E2%80%98Election%20Meltdown%E2%80%99%20in%20Iowa%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Election Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> “IRS Urged to Complete Rollback of Donor Disclosure Rules (2)”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109426>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 2:58 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109426>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Bloomberg Law
> <https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-urged-to-complete-rollback-of-donor-disclosure-rules>
> :
>
> *Conservative groups pressed the IRS to move ahead with its proposal to
> drop a requirement that certain tax-exempt nonprofits disclose identities
> of their significant donors.*
>
> *The groups dominated a list of 16 witnesses set to testify at an agency
> hearing on the issue Friday. The IRS is trying to remove the requirement
> that organizations exempt under tax code Section 501(c)
> <https://irc.bloombergtax.com/public/uscode/doc/irc/section_501>, except
> for 501(c)(3) charities and Section 527
> <https://irc.bloombergtax.com/public/uscode/doc/irc/section_527> political
> organizations, provide the agency with names and addresses of donors who
> contribute $5,000 or more.*
>
> *Critics say the change could transform the nonprofit sector, leading to a
> flood of anonymous donations—”dark money”—to political organizations. But
> the hearing began with supporters of the change, including Institute for
> Free Speech attorney Ryan Morrison, who said the agency “should collect
> only information that it needs to enforce the tax code.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109426&title=%E2%80%9CIRS%20Urged%20to%20Complete%20Rollback%20of%20Donor%20Disclosure%20Rules%20(2)%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Inside the Iowa Democratic Party’s “boiler room” meltdown; A review of
> materials left on desks revealed it was unprepared on many levels for
> Monday’s meltdown.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109424>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 1:32 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109424>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Steven Rosenfeld reports.
> <https://www.salon.com/2020/02/07/inside-the-iowa-democratic-partys-boiler-room-meltdown_partner/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109424&title=%E2%80%9CInside%20the%20Iowa%20Democratic%20Party%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9Cboiler%20room%E2%80%9D%20meltdown%3B%20A%20review%20of%20materials%20left%20on%20desks%20revealed%20it%20was%20unprepared%20on%20many%20levels%20for%20Monday%E2%80%99s%20meltdown.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election
> Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> “On The Trail: Iowa disinformation hints at a challenging year ahead”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109422>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 1:30 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109422>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Reid Wilson for *The Hill.*
> <https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/482017-on-the-trail-iowa-disinformation-hints-at-a-challenging-year-ahead>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109422&title=%E2%80%9COn%20The%20Trail%3A%20Iowa%20disinformation%20hints%20at%20a%20challenging%20year%20ahead%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Election Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> “Campaign Finance: Federal Framework, Agency Roles and Responsibilities,
> and Perspectives” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109420>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 1:28 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109420>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> New GAO report. <https://www.gao.gov/mobile/products/GAO-20-66R>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109420&title=%E2%80%9CCampaign%20Finance%3A%20Federal%20Framework%2C%20Agency%20Roles%20and%20Responsibilities%2C%20and%20Perspectives%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>
>
>
>
> “Partisan Gerrymandering: Weeds in the Political Thicket”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109418>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 1:26 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109418>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Richard Engstrom has written this article
> <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.12743#.Xj21YJlg2cM.email>
>  for *Social Science Quarterly*. Here is the abstract:
>
>
> * Abstract*
>
> *Objective*
>
> *To highlight the extent of the partisan gerrymandering problem in the
> United States.*
>
> *Methods*
>
> *Bring both original and secondary sources to bear on the problem of
> partisan gerrymandering, through the examination of election results under
> them, and federal and state court reactions to them.*
>
> *Results*
>
> *Evidence shows that gerrymandering in seven states accounted for the
> Republican Party’s manufactured majority in the U.S. House of
> Representatives following the 2012 election, and that it took judicial
> intervention by courts in some states and the Democratic wave election of
> 2018 to loosen the grip of those gerrymanders to undo that “spurious”
> majority.*
>
> *Conclusion*
>
> *The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2019 to withdraw federal courts from
> partisan gerrymandering litigation, just as the district courts were
> proving themselves able to deal with the issue in a nonpartisan and
> effective manner, is likely to result in another decade of extensive and
> excessive gerrymandering in the United States.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109418&title=%E2%80%9CPartisan%20Gerrymandering%3A%20Weeds%20in%20the%20Political%20Thicket%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in redistricting <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
>
>
>
>
> My Wall Street Journal “Saturday Essay” Cover Story: “How to Prevent the
> Next Election Meltdown; As the Iowa fiasco suggests, the most likely reason
> that your 2020 vote may not be counted isn’t fraud, suppression or
> hacking—it’s incompetence” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109416>
>
> Posted on February 7, 2020 8:36 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109416>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I have written this piece
> <https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-prevent-the-next-election-meltdown-11581091661> as
> the Saturday Essay for the weekend Wall Street Journal. It begins:
>
> *Will your vote be fairly and accurately counted in the 2020 elections?
> It’s a question on a lot of people’s minds after this week’s fiasco in the
> Iowa Democratic caucuses, and it reminds us of a troubling fact: Nearly two
> decades after the Florida debacle over the 2000 presidential vote, too many
> places in the U.S. are still vulnerable to an election meltdown. Such
> anxieties add to well-founded concerns about the possibility of
> cyberattacks on our voting systems, by Russia or other malign actors.
> What’s worse, in today’s hyperpolarized, social-media-driven environment,
> such voting problems provide sensational grist for conspiracy theories that
> may further undermine Americans’ confidence in the fairness and accuracy of
> the 2020 elections.*
>
> *Over the past decade, a familiar frame has developed in the contentious
> debate over voting rules: Republicans express concern about voter fraud and
> enact laws supposedly intended to combat it; Democrats see these laws as an
> attempt to suppress Democratic votes, press for measures to expand voting
> access and rights, and worry about cyberattacks intended to help the GOP at
> the polls. It is an important debate, in which I have taken part
> <https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/how-the-trump-administrations-attempt-to-perpetuate-the-voter-fraud-failed-miserably?mod=article_inline>,
> but it misses a deeper, more urgent reality: Most American voters in 2020
> are much more likely to be disenfranchised by an incompetent election
> administrator than by fraud, suppression or Russian hacking.*
>
> *While most election officials who set the rules and count the votes do a
> good job, often under serious budget constraints, we cannot ignore the
> weakest links in the chain: those bureaucrats who increase the chances of a
> protracted and divisive 2020 election meltdown. Fortunately, it is not too
> late to take steps to try to fix the problems.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109416&title=My%20Wall%20Street%20Journal%20%E2%80%9CSaturday%20Essay%E2%80%9D%20Cover%20Story%3A%20%E2%80%9CHow%20to%20Prevent%20the%20Next%20Election%20Meltdown%3B%20As%20the%20Iowa%20fiasco%20suggests%2C%20the%20most%20likely%20reason%20that%20your%202020%20vote%20may%20not%20be%20counted%20isn%E2%80%99t%20fraud%2C%20suppression%20or%20hacking%E2%80%94it%E2%80%99s%20incompetence%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in election administration <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election
> Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+E.+Peltason+Dr.,+Suite+1000+%0D%0A+Irvine,+CA+92697?entry=gmail&source=g>
>
> Irvine, CA 92697
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/401+E.+Peltason+Dr.,+Suite+1000+%0D%0A+Irvine,+CA+92697?entry=gmail&source=g>
> -8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> https://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
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