[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/6/20

[Levitt, Justin]

"2020 Election Security-Perspectives From Voting System Vendors And Experts"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108767>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:15 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108767> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

This Thursday, Congress will hear from<https://cha.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/2020-election-security-perspectives-voting-system-vendors-and-experts> three scholars and analysts, and three of the primary manufacturers (ES&S, Hart InterCivic, and Dominion Voting Systems) of voting systems.  This is apparently the first time<https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-cybersecurity/2020/01/06/election-vendors-facebook-head-to-the-hill-784078> the top executives of all three companies have testified together.

And Wednesday, Facebook is back<https://energycommerce.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/hearing-on-americans-at-risk-manipulation-and-deception-in-the-digital> on the Hill for a hearing on online manipulation and deception.  (Here's a staff memo<https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/01.08.20%20CPC%20Deepfakes%20Hearing%20Memo.pdf> as background for the hearing.)

Here's hoping for some informed follow-up questions.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108767&title=%E2%80%9C2020%20Election%20Security-Perspectives%20From%20Voting%20System%20Vendors%20And%20Experts%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>, voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

"Election experts urge Trump, congressional leaders to end stalemate at FEC"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108763>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:15 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108763> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The Hill<https://thehill.com/campaign-issues/476940-election-experts-urge-trump-congressional-leaders-to-end-stalemate-at-fec>:

Lobbyists and lawyers who specialize in U.S. elections wrote to President Trump and congressional leaders on Monday, urging the confirmation of another federal election commissioner to end "an untenable situation."

The Federal Election Commission (FEC), the government's campaign watchdog organization, only has three out of six commissioners, one shy of a quorum. Former FEC Vice President Matthew Peterson resigned in August and, since then, the organization has been unable to do its job, which is to enforce campaign laws.

Among the things the FEC apparently can't do without a quorum: approve the distribution of public financing dollars<https://www.axios.com/federal-election-commission-public-campaign-funds-0f9e1b29-d67b-40be-a62f-cba7fbc8e2ff.html> for presidential campaigns opting into the system.

The letter is here<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/FEC-Letter.pdf> (h/t to Alex Gangitano at The Hill), with an exceedingly impressive (and legitimately bipartisan) list of signatories.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108763&title=%E2%80%9CElection%20experts%20urge%20Trump%2C%20congressional%20leaders%20to%20end%20stalemate%20at%20FEC%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

Implementing a waiver program for fines and fees in Florida<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108761>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:12 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108761> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

WUSF reports on the implementation<https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/people-across-florida-are-getting-their-voting-rights-back-few-republicans-could-benefit> of programs in the courts to reduce the fines and fees of formerly incarcerated individuals, in the continuing fight over the aftermath of Amendment 4 and SB 7066.

The report indicates that the only four counties - so far - to systematically look at reducing fines and fees under a section of SB 7066 lean Democratic.  The overall partisan leaning of the particular counties, of course, doesn't mean that the individuals getting their voting rights restored will have similar partisan inclinations.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108761&title=Implementing%20a%20waiver%20program%20for%20fines%20and%20fees%20in%20Florida>
Posted in The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

The Electoral College<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108759>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:12 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108759> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

The latest issue of The Canvass<https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-canvass-january-2020.aspx> leads off with a primer on some of the policy options for choosing electors (and the pending litigation on whether the choices of "faithless electors" can be punished or superseded).
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108759&title=The%20Electoral%20College>
Posted in electoral college<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

"Where do inmates fall in Census count? NJ moves to end 'prison gerrymandering'"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108757>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:11 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108757> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

A bill has passed the state Senate, and is working its way through the state Assembly<https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2020/01/06/nj-moves-count-prisoners-their-home-address-not-prisons/2795406001/>.  If it gets signed into law, that would make New Jersey the seventh state<https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/momentum.html> to change where incarcerated individuals are counted for representational purposes.

And in related news, the Orlando Sentinel digs into the local impact<https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-lk-census-sumter-county-coleman-prison-20200106-rkaso7vxz5d53djxlwjcrtrarq-story.html> of the status quo in Florida.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108757&title=%E2%80%9CWhere%20do%20inmates%20fall%20in%20Census%20count%3F%20NJ%20moves%20to%20end%20%E2%80%98prison%20gerrymandering%27%E2%80%9D>
Posted in political equality<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=69>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

"Justices Urged to Nix Donor Disclosure Law"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108755>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:11 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108755> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Bloomberg<https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/justices-urged-to-nix-donor-disclosure-law>:

An unusually large number of amicus briefs filed by friends of a charity tied to the Koch brothers have flooded the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the justices to nix a California law requiring charities to disclose their largest donors to state lawmakers.

These briefs (here<https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/americans-for-prosperity-foundation-v-becerra/>) all came in September, but the Justices will be considering the Thomas More Law Center/Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra cert. petitions this Friday.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108755&title=%E2%80%9CJustices%20Urged%20to%20Nix%20Donor%20Disclosure%20Law%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, election law and constitutional law<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=55>, tax law and election law<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

"Under siege, McSally pleads for outside help on the airwaves"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108753>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:10 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108753> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

I missed this<https://www.azmirror.com/2020/01/03/under-siege-mcsally-pleads-for-outside-help-on-the-airwaves/> a few days ago. The money quote:

McSally suggested last month that outside groups should pitch in to help.

"We need close air support to show up. There's outside groups. We can't talk to them. We can't invite them, but we pray for them every day. We need conservative outside groups, you know, to wake up, and get involved, and start muddying up the landscape a little bit, so I'm not just sitting here taking incoming and not having any A-10s show up, you know overhead, to help me out."
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108753&title=%E2%80%9CUnder%20siege%2C%20McSally%20pleads%20for%20outside%20help%20on%20the%20airwaves%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

Techniques for Grassroots Campaign Volunteer Mobilization<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108751>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:07 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108751> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Joe Spaulding, lead field strategist for the Voters Not Politicians Michigan independent redistricting campaign that got 440,000 signatures in 4 months without paying any signature gatherers, reveals some follicular (and data-supported) tactics for fighting diminishing returns out in canvass-land.  Thread<https://twitter.com/beyond_process/status/1213952831410958336>.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108751&title=Techniques%20for%20Grassroots%20Campaign%20Volunteer%20Mobilization>
Posted in petition signature gathering<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=39>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

Informational Incentives for Campaign Mobilization<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108749>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:06 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108749> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Bertrall Ross and Doug Spencer have a new paper out in the Northwestern Law Review: "Passive Voter Suppression: Campaign Mobilization and the Effective Disfranchisement of the Poor<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3501739>."  The abstract:

A recent spate of election laws tightened registration rules, reduced convenient voting opportunities, and required voters to show specific types of identification in order to vote. Because these laws make voting more difficult, critics have analogized them to Jim Crow Era voter suppression laws.

We challenge the analogy that current restrictive voting laws are a reincarnation of Jim Crow Era voter suppression. While there are some notable similarities, the analogy obscures a more apt comparison to a different form of voter suppression - one that operates to effectively disfranchise an entire class of people, just as the old form did for African Americans. This form of suppression excludes the poor.

To account for the effective disfranchisement of the poor, we develop a more robust theory of voting than currently exists in the legal literature. Drawing on rational choice and sociological theories of voting, we show how information, affiliation with formal organizations, and integration into social networks of politically active individuals are far more important to the decision to vote than the tangible costs of voting associated with the new voter suppression.

Using this expanded account of voting, we identify the role of political parties and their mobilization activities in the effective disfranchisement of the poor. Relying on the same proprietary data as the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012 (and hundreds of campaigns since), along with other public sources of data, we show how campaigns employ a "calculus of contact" to decide whom to mobilize. That calculus leads campaigns to disproportionately neglect the poor when canvassing, calling, and sending political mailers to potential voters - mobilization activities that have a sizeable turnout effect. In our view, the most significant voter suppression tactics of the twenty-first century are therefore not what legislatures are doing, but what campaigns are not doing.

We argue that a first step in combating this passive voter suppression should involve changing the information environment of campaigns: the amount and type of information about potential voters that the state makes available to campaigns. Such a change could force campaigns to adjust their calculus of contact and contact more low-income people during election season. Including the poor as targets of campaign mobilization would be an important first step toward a more egalitarian democracy.

I learn something every time I read work by either Bertrall or Doug - and so I'm really looking forward to checking out the product of the collaboration.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108749&title=Informational%20Incentives%20for%20Campaign%20Mobilization>
Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, political equality<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=69>, political parties<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>

'Diminished' NRA at crossroads ahead of 2020 election<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108747>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:04 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108747> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Speaking of mobilization, the Washington Times has questions<https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/5/national-rifle-association-wayne-lapierre-crossroa/>:

The National Rifle Association, after shedding its president and top lobbyist this year amid a string of internal disputes and legal battles, finds itself at a crossroads with Republican politicos wondering whether the group is still high powered or a campaign dud.

The cloud of doubts about the NRA is stunning just four years after the gun rights group helped Donald Trump win the presidential election.

The NRA says it plans to play a pivotal role, as always, in elections this year, especially because gun rights advocates are rallying against gun control platforms of the Democratic presidential contenders.

It's an open question, however, whether Mr. Trump and like-minded political candidates can expect the same level of financial and organizational support as they did in 2016.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108747&title=%E2%80%98Diminished%E2%80%99%20NRA%20at%20crossroads%20ahead%20of%202020%20election>
Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, lobbying<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

Campaign finance compliance hits the WWE with steel-chair-like force<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108745>
Posted on January 6, 2020 2:03 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108745> by Justin Levitt<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=4>

Former WWE star Rhino was a 2016 candidate for Congress ... and seems to think that the rigors of campaign finance compliance<https://www.sescoops.com/rhino-talks-about-his-last-wwe-run-keeping-his-name/> may have impacted his last run in the WWE.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108745&title=Campaign%20finance%20compliance%20hits%20the%20WWE%20with%20steel-chair-like%20force>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

"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.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108743&title=%E2%80%9CFresh%20Cambridge%20Analytica%20leak%20%E2%80%98shows%20global%20manipulation%20is%20out%20of%20control%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D>
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 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.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D108741&title=%E2%80%9CDeceased%20GOP%20Strategist%E2%80%99s%20Daughter%20Makes%20Files%20Public%20That%20Republicans%20Wanted%20Sealed%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election law biz<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


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

[LLS logo]<https://lls.edu/>

Burns 335
919 Albany Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Research on SSRN<https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=698321>
lls.edu<https://lls.edu/> | Privacy + Legal<https://www.lmu.edu/copyright/>
Office
213.736.7417<tel:+12137367417>
Email
justin.levitt at lls.edu<mailto:justin.levitt at lls.edu>

[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lmuemailsignature/email-fb.png]<https://www.facebook.com/LoyolaLawSchool>[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lmuemailsignature/email-tw.png]<https://twitter.com/_justinlevitt_>[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lmuemailsignature/email-in-1.png]<https://www.instagram.com/loyolalawschool/>[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lmuemailsignature/email-li.png]<https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinlevitt/>[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lmuemailsignature/email-yt.png]<https://www.youtube.com/user/loyolalawschool>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2021 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 13782 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2234 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2362 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0003.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1582 bytes
Desc: image005.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0004.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2284 bytes
Desc: image006.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0005.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image007.png
Type: image/png
Size: 2268 bytes
Desc: image007.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200106/61bbb60e/attachment-0006.png>