[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/5/20

[Levitt, Justin]

"Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak 'shows global manipulation is out of control'"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108743>
Posted on January 5, 2020 1:05 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108743> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

>From The Guardian<https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/04/cambridge-analytica-data-leak-global-election-manipulation>:

An explosive leak of tens of thousands of documents from the defunct data firm Cambridge Analytica is set to expose the inner workings of the company that collapsed after the Observer revealed it had misappropriated 87 million Facebook profiles.

More than 100,000 documents relating to work in 68 countries that will lay bare the global infrastructure of an operation used to manipulate voters on "an industrial scale" are set to be released over the next months.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

"Deceased GOP Strategist's Daughter Makes Files Public That Republicans Wanted Sealed"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108741>
Posted on January 5, 2020 1:02 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108741> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

As Hansi Lo Wang notes<https://www.npr.org/2020/01/05/785672201/deceased-gop-strategists-daughter-makes-files-public-that-republicans-wanted-sea>, Stephanie Hofeller just dropped the first full tranch of documents on The Hofeller Files<http://www.thehofellerfiles.com/the-hofeller-files/>.

Enjoy.
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Posted in election law biz<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"Paperwork problem blocks Andrew Yang from Ohio's Democratic presidential primary ballot, campaign to launch write-in effort"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108739>
Posted on January 5, 2020 1:02 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108739> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Ballot access is not for the faint of heart<https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/01/paperwork-problem-blocks-andrew-yang-from-ohios-democratic-presidential-primary-ballot-campaign-to-launch-write-in-effort.html>.
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Posted in ballot access<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

"What it means to participate in the Iowa caucuses"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108737>
Posted on January 5, 2020 1:01 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108737> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Lyz Lenz offers a wry view<https://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/staff-columnist/what-it-means-to-participate-in-the-iowa-caucuses-20200105> in The Gazette.

But past the humor, her overall point is spot-on: few Americans understand how the Iowa caucuses actually work - and it looks a lot more like a town meeting than a typical election, which has some fairly substantial consequences (and raises some fairly substantial legitimacy concerns).  Rick, among a bunch of others, has been on this<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108072> <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/02/congress-should-kill-the-republican-and-democratic-state-caucuses-and-mandate-primaries-instead.html> for a while<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/02/congress-should-kill-the-republican-and-democratic-state-caucuses-and-mandate-primaries-instead.html> - and I hope you can expect a lot more coverage of the actual process (and not just the polling horserace) as the process approaches.
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Posted in political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

"To Produce Citizenship Data, Homeland Security To Share Records With Census"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108735>
Posted on January 5, 2020 1:00 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108735> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Hansi Lo Wang reports<https://www.npr.org/2020/01/04/793325772/to-produce-citizenship-data-homeland-security-to-share-records-with-census> on the latest federal data-sharing agreement to capture citizenship data for the 2020 census: not on the questionnaire, but through administrative records.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

"Georgia's new voting system set to roll out"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108733>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:59 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108733> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The Savannah Morning News previews<https://www.savannahnow.com/news/20200104/georgias-new-voting-system-set-to-roll-out> what it calls the "largest purchase of new machines in history."
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Posted in voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

"New law makes voters' primary party choice public"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108731>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:57 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108731> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The Pioneer Press reviews an interesting new facet<https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/05/voter-privacy-will-put-an-asterisk-on-minnesotas-presidential-primary-secretary-of-state-says/> of Minnesota's law.  As in many states, voters have to declare a party preference before voting in a primary, but apparently, the voters' choice of party is "secret, just like your actual choices for candidates."  Except, now, if you're voting in the presidential primary - the new law allows each of Minnesota's parties to know who voted in which presidential preference primary.
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Posted in political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, primaries<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

Redistricting Arizona<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108729>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:56 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108729> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The Arizona Daily Star goes quite deep<https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/redistricting-arizona-will-increasingly-politically-diverse-state-remain-a-gop/article_f01d6ffe-2bf0-5987-ad57-918bfc11799a.html> on the past, present, and future of Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission.
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Posted in citizen commissions<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=7>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"Urban America likely to gain clout after Census"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108727>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:55 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108727> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Reid Wilson, in The Hill, discusses the population shift to cities<https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/476666-urban-america-likely-to-gain-clout-after-census>.

For those following census issues closely, one of the impacts of the implementation of differential privacy may blunt that apparent move a bit on the margins.  As a really brief (and inadequate) primer: the Census Bureau plans to change the way in which it safeguards the confidentiality of responses by adding privacy protections that are far more resistant to reverse engineering than past practices.  It involves adding noise to the actual counts (the way the algorithm works, small geographies end up noisier than large ones: state level total counts reflect the actual count exactly, but census-block information will be a bit different).

At the moment, the Bureau is leaning against releasing numbers that look fake (so, no negative counts).  What that means is that big populations get both bigger and smaller - but tiny populations get larger than they get smaller (because a block with 2 people may be reported with 5 people, but won't be reported with -1).  And that potentially means a fairly small, but systemic, bias toward reported overall growth in rural populations that isn't there<https://www.caliper.com/census-differential-privacy-maps/urban-rural/>.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"Voters in town once run by polygamous sect probably broke the law when they cast ballots, prosecutor says, but charges are unlikely"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108725>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108725> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The Salt Lake Tribune runs a story<https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2020/01/05/voters-town-once-run-by/> about potential improper registration in Colorado City (which, despite the name, is half of a community that straddles the Utah-Arizona boder<https://www.google.com/maps/place/Colorado+City,+AZ+86021/@37.0029594,-113.0117092,13.54z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x80cb20481124fce1:0x29e37db4075fd3f0!8m2!3d36.9902621!4d-112.9757702>).

There are real problems<https://www.justice.gov/crt/case/united-states-v-town-colorado-city-d-ariz> of unlawful behavior in Colorado City.  But some of the anecdotes in the story seem to suggest a conflation of domicile and physical presence. As one example:

Lori Barlow acknowledges she was one person whose address was out of date yet voted anyway. She still lives in Colorado City in what she says is temporary housing.

Smith and Mohave County, Barlow said, have failed to appreciate the housing challenges in Colorado City, where many people loyal to imprisoned FLDS President Warren Jeffs have chosen to be evicted rather than deal with a local land trust that owns many of the homes.

"I did not change my address," Barlow said, "because I had nothing to change it to."

The story doesn't state otherwise ... but in most states, someone in Barlow's apparent position is properly registered at her old address even if she no longer sleeps there at night, as long as she hasn't yet established permanent residence elsewhere.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, voter registration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>

"Give nonvoters a reason to participate in elections"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108723>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:51 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108723> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Algernon D'Ammassa offers an intriguing critique<https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/opinion/columnists/2020/01/05/give-nonvoters-reason-participate-elections-turnout-voter-suppression/2812845001/> of the "running a race" frame of American elections, tied to both news coverage and the "Campaigns, Inc.<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3209466>" influence of consultants.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, election law biz<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>

"Census will mean new ways for politicians to keep power despite earning fewer votes"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108721>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:49 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108721> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Bill Leonard weighs in on new opportunities for partisan gerrymandering<https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/05/census-gerrymandering-2020-elections-voters-column/2807624001/> after the Census.
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Posted in political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"Why Texas doesn't want to count all its Texans"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108719>
Posted on January 5, 2020 12:48 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108719> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Larry Wilson contrasts<https://www.pe.com/2020/01/05/why-texas-doesnt-want-to-count-all-its-texans/> California's approach to Census outreach with the approach in Texas.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"News coverage gets geo-fragmented"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108717>
Posted on January 4, 2020 9:45 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108717> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Madelyn Sanfilippo and Yafit Lev-Aretz reflect in NiemanLab<https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/01/news-coverage-gets-geo-fragmented/> on the impact of the structure of the news media market, and innovations in the delivery of news, on coverage of the 2020 elections.  The lede:

Coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election will mark the beginning of gerrymandered news coverage, as hyper-personalization and geotargeting are applied at scale in news apps and in mobile push notifications.

. . .

The 2018 midterm elections provided a first glimpse of location-based targeting in journalism, with major news apps and aggregators using location data to personalize push notifications. This was most prominent in the Florida gubernatorial race: National news outlets provided not only different push notifications at different times to local and national audiences - they also fragmented the state, with different alerts sent to users in Orlando and Tallahassee, Miami and Fort Myers.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>

Justin Levitt   (he/him/his)
Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Law / Gerald T. McLaughlin Fellow

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