[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/19/20

Wed Feb 19 06:12:57 PST 2020

“Expect absentee ballot surge to delay Michigan election results”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109621>
Posted on February 19, 2020 6:04 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109621> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Detroit News:<https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/19/expect-delayed-michigan-election-results-absentee-ballots-slow/4754597002/>

Michigan residents should be prepared for delayed results in next month’s presidential primaries — but the wait will be shorter than what’s anticipated in November’s general election, when results in some big cities aren’t expected until the following day, experts say.

An increase in absentee voters and the time it takes to count their votes on Election Day likely will delay official results, even though pending legislation seeks to shorten the process.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>

Political Brands by Prof. Torres-Spelliscy (Post 3 of 4)<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109541>
Posted on February 19, 2020 6:00 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109541> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The following is the third of four guest posts by Prof. Ciara Torres-Spelliscy<https://www.stetson.edu/law/faculty/torres-spelliscy-ciara/>, writing about her new book, Political Brands<https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=Jj-tDwAAQBAJ>.

Professor Hasen offered me the opportunity to excerpt my new book Political Brands<https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=Jj-tDwAAQBAJ> on ELB. My publisher Edward Elgar Publishing<https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/political-brands> gave me permission to excerpt the books introductory chapter “Branding Itself.” These excerpts have been edited for continuity.

The largest publicly traded companies are sometimes richer than nations.  They are big, global and imposing, but they have two Achilles’ heels related to their brands: rejection by their investors and shunning by their customers.  If the brand is damaged, the company is likely to suffer.  Corporations typically want to add to the value of their brands, not detract from it.  The goodwill associated with a brand may well be a company’s greatest asset.

Indeed, intellectual property litigation is often launched by firms to ensure that no one is using a copyrighted brand logo, trade dress or trademark in a way that would tarnish or harm a brand.  As Justice Frankfurter once held: “The protection of trade-marks is the law’s recognition of the psychological function of symbols.”  And the value of these symbols can reach the billions. Forbes estimated the value of Nike’s swoosh at $26 billion;  though that pales in comparison to Apple’s “apple with a missing bite” brand, which Forbes valued at $170 billion.

Typically, building up positive connotations for a brand is done through advertising using standard puffery.   Old standbys for advertisers are the assertion (true or not) that if the customer buys this product, she will be more powerful, rich, intelligent, sexy, envied or successful.   But the lies to sell products can get out of hand, as Vance Packard complained in his book The Waste Makers: “Millions of consumers are manipulated, razzle-dazzled, indoctrinated, mood-conditioned, and flimflammed.”

Jingles to sell products are often “earworms” that get stuck in viewers’ heads. They can be so insidious that even if viewers hate the product or the company behind it, the ad copy is stuck in their minds. As Drew Westen notes, “[w]hen even people who don’t like your product are humming your jingle, you know you’ve got them where it counts: in their [neural] networks.”  Likewise, ad man Nigel Hollis once wrote:

engaging and memorable ads slip ideas past our defenses and seed memories that influence our behavior. You may not think advertising influences you. But marketers do. And in addition to millions of dollars, they have something else most people don’t have: Access to data that proves their point.

As the data crunchers over at Nielsen have found, “[p]ractice (repetition) indeed makes perfect—and can help create durable memories.”   One of the oddities of advertising brands is that some customers associate repetitive ads with higher-quality products. Objectively, this is somewhat absurd, since a heavily advertised item could be poorly constructed, carcinogenic or addictive. But nonetheless, this is a measurable phenomenon:

Repetition of an ad may signal to consumers that the brand or product is a good buy, or a quality product. This is sometimes referred to as signaling theory. In 1975, University of Wyoming researchers Anthony McGann and Raymond Marquardt found that ads with high rates of repetition tended to also be rated as high quality in Consumer Reports.

And even more disturbingly, the more an ad is repeated, the more viewers will believe it (even if the claim that is being repeated is not true). “Studies suggest that repeated statements are perceived as more truthful than statements made less frequently, ‘presumably because repetition imbues the statement with familiarity.’ In simple terms: frequency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breed trust.”

These commercial branding techniques can be used in political ads as well.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Sanders to seek partial recount in Iowa as margin narrows to a sliver”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109619>
Posted on February 19, 2020 5:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109619> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-to-seek-partial-recount-in-iowa-as-margin-narrows-to-a-sliver/2020/02/18/a44cfdfa-52b9-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Final Slate “Election Meltdown” Podcast Recording Live in Washington DC Wednesday<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109617>
Posted on February 18, 2020 8:23 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109617> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

If you are in Washington DC, come on out and join us<https://twitter.com/Slate/status/1229869285327147009> (tickets required):
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Amicus will be at @TheHamiltonDC<https://twitter.com/thehamiltondc> tomorrow for a live conversation on voting rights with an amazing line up. Join @DahliaLithwick<https://twitter.com/Dahlialithwick>, @RickHasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>, @AndrewGillum<https://twitter.com/AndrewGillum>, @DanielleCitron<https://twitter.com/daniellecitron>, and @dale_e_ho<https://twitter.com/dale_e_ho>. Only a few tickets left! https://slate.com/live/amicus-live-w-dahlia-lithwick-andrew-gillum-and-more.html …<https://t.co/DkozUtbcex>
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Amicus Live With Dahlia Lithwick<https://t.co/DkozUtbcex>

Amicus Live w. Dahlia Lithwick, Andrew Gillum, Danielle Citron, and Rick Hasen.<https://t.co/DkozUtbcex>
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

“Watchdog Says Buttigieg Campaign Exploited Super PAC Loophole”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109615>
Posted on February 18, 2020 7:52 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109615> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/us/politics/buttigieg-votevets-super-pac.html>

To most supporters of Pete Buttigieg, the tweet probably seemed innocuous: A senior adviser to Mr. Buttigieg, Michael Halle, simply noted that the candidate’s military record would be an asset in Nevada.

But critics say Mr. Halle’s tweet also served as a Bat Signal to VoteVets, the super PAC supporting Mr. Buttigieg’s candidacy, with an unmistakable directive: Run ads in Nevada on this issue….

But a campaign finance watchdog group filed a complaint on Tuesday<https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/02-18-20%20VoteVets%20Buttigieg%20%28final%20signed%29.pdf>, alleging that Mr. Halle’s tweet ran afoul of federal regulations. Though the F.E.C. allows super PACs to use “publicly available” information to create ads, the complaint said the agency did not allow ads to be created and distributed at the “request or suggestion” of a candidate or his agent.

“It was the Buttigieg campaign’s obvious and detailed request for super PAC support here that crossed the legal line,” said Brendan Fischer, the director of the federal reform program at the Campaign Legal Center, the watchdog group that filed the complaint.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

Pennsylvania: “Judge hears arguments in Jill Stein’s voting machine lawsuit”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109612>
Posted on February 18, 2020 7:18 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109612> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports.<https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/18/judge-hears-arguments-jill-steins-voting-machine-lawsuit/111333180/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

I Talked with Rose Scott of WABE About My Book Election Meltdown and Voting Rights<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109609>
Posted on February 18, 2020 2:26 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109609> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can listen here<https://www.wabe.org/episode/1614019/>.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

“How Safe Are Our Voting Systems?” I Talked to Diane Rehm Show About My New Book, Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109607>
Posted on February 18, 2020 1:40 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109607> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can listen here<https://dianerehm.org/shows/2020-02-18/how-safe-are-our-voting-systems>.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

I Talked About My New Election Meltdown Book on Joe Patrice’s Above the Law “Thinking Like a Lawyer” Podcast<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109605>
Posted on February 18, 2020 1:36 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109605> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can listen here<https://twitter.com/tweetlaw/status/1229825493358252037?s=21>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Election Meltdown Dep’t: Electronic Voting Glitch Halts Elections in Dominican Republic<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109603>
Posted on February 18, 2020 1:32 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109603> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Reuters:<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dominican-polls/electronic-glitch-triggers-dominican-republic-vote-suspension-idUSKBN20A0O7>

Dominican Republic’s nationwide municipal elections were suspended only four hours after voting began on Sunday due to a glitch in the electronic voting system, officials said.

More than 7.4 million voters were due to vote to elect 3,849 positions in 158 municipalities across the Caribbean nation. The failure of the system is likely to raise concerns ahead of the May 17 presidential elections.

Julio Cesar Castanos, president of Dominican Republic’s electoral body, said nearly half of the electronic devices did not work properly and many virtual ballot papers did not load, leaving citizens unable to cast their votes.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
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