[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/24/20

Fri Jan 24 09:19:22 PST 2020

I appreciate Rick's take on the possibility of an "Election Meltdown" after
the 2020 presidential election.  I am confident everyone on the listserv
joins me in hoping that won't happen.   But I want to thank Rick for his
honesty in recognizing that both major parties and their candidates could
have a meltdown.  Too often that possibility is attributed only to Trump
and/or his most ardent supporters.  Thank you, Rick, for a fair
assessment.  Now, let's all do our part to dispel the myth that our
elections are not fair, and that there is widespread cheating.

Joseph
___________________
*Joseph E. La Rue*
cell: 480.737.1321
email: joseph.e.larue at gmail.com

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On Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 9:45 AM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> “The loser of November’s election may not concede. Their voters won’t,
> either.” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109146>
>
> Posted on January 24, 2020 8:37 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109146>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I have written this commentary for the Washington Post Sunday Outlook
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-loser-of-novembers-election-may-not-concede-their-voters-wont-either/2020/01/23/4d81be8c-3d6c-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html>,
> a preview of my book, Election Meltdown
> <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300248199/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=slatmaga-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0300248199&linkId=69abbd9d274db52e081b6d392baf38c8>,
> out Feb. 4. It begins:
>
> *When the polls closed on Nov. 5, 2019, the initial count showed the
> governor of Kentucky, Republican Matt Bevins, losing to his Democratic
> challenger, Andy Beshear. But rather than concede that he fell short in
> what should have been an easy reelection, Bevins claimed
> <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/11/matt-bevin-andy-beshear-trump-stolen-kentucky-election.html> that
> “irregularities” had muddled the result — producing no evidence to support
> his accusations. At first, some Kentucky legislative leaders appeared to
> back him, and some pointed to the legislature’s power to resolve an
> election dispute and choose the governor regardless of the vote. But Bevins
> was not popular even within his own party, and eventually, he had to
> concede when the local GOP did not go along with him.*
>
> *We could imagine a similar scenario this November: What would happen if
> President Trump had an early lead that evaporated as votes were counted,
> and then he refused to concede? The idea isn’t too far-fetched; Trump has
> raised it himself. Before the 2016 election, he wouldn’t agree
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/20/donald-trump-says-he-will-accept-the-results-of-the-election-if-i-win/?tid=lk_inline_manual_2> to
> accept the results if he lost. After winning in the electoral college but
> losing the popular count by about 3 million votes, Trump claimed
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/23/at-white-house-trump-tells-congressional-leaders-3-5-million-illegal-ballots-cost-him-the-popular-vote/?tid=lk_inline_manual_2> —
> with no evidence whatsoever — that at least 3 million fraudulent votes had
> been cast for his opponent, Hillary Clinton. He set up an “election
> integrity” commission headed by then-Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach
> to try to prove that “voter fraud” is a major problem. But after the
> commission faced attacks from the left and the right for demanding state
> voter records with an apparent plan to use them to call for stricter
> registration rules, Trump disbanded it
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-abolishes-controversial-commission-studying-voter-fraud/2018/01/03/665b1878-f0e2-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_2>,
> with no work accomplished. In 2018, the president criticized elections
> in Florida <https://perma.cc/GT7Q-8MRE> and California
> <https://perma.cc/S7BK-VWFW>, where late-counted votes shifted toward
> Democrats, suggesting without evidence that there was foul play.*
>
> *It’s not just Trump who might not accept election results. Imagine that
> he wins in the electoral college, this time thanks to what Democrats
> believe is voter suppression in Florida. The Florida legislature and
> governor have already sought to stymie Amendment 4, a 2018 ballot
> initiative to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated felons. When
> the state Supreme Court agreed
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/florida-high-court-sides-with-governor-on-felon-voter-rights/2020/01/16/848f2d68-3882-11ea-a1ff-c48c1d59a4a1_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_3> that
> felons could not register to vote until paying all their outstanding fines,
> Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) praised the ruling and called voting a “privilege
> <https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1217867897906913282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1217867897906913282&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F>,”
> rather than a right. Some Democrats have called
> <https://www.thecentersquare.com/florida/democrats-gillum-say-florida-poll-tax-on-felons-will-fuel/article_dca6e4ac-70fd-11e9-90ab-57f1557e168e.html> the
> new rules a “poll tax,” and a Florida public TV station concluded
> <https://www.wuft.org/news/2020/01/16/florida-supreme-court-sides-with-desantis-in-felon-voter-rights-case/> that
> “the implications of the bill passed by a majority-Republican legislature
> preventing former felons from voting could work to ensure Trump wins the
> 2020 presidential election.” During Trump’s impeachment trial this past
> week, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said
> <https://www.axios.com/schiff-trump-impeachment-election-a5162595-dea0-404d-b099-582ae7e51b78.html> “we
> cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won” in November because of
> the allegations that Trump was trying to “cheat” by pressuring Ukraine to
> announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his family.*
>
> *External forces could cause an election meltdown, too. A recent NPR-News
> Hour-Marist poll
> <https://www.npr.org/2020/01/21/797101409/npr-poll-majority-of-americans-believe-trump-encourages-election-interference?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr> found
> that “almost 4 in 10 Americans . . . believe it is likely another country
> will tamper with the votes cast in 2020 in order to change the result.”
> What if Russians hack into Detroit’s power grid and knock out electricity
> on Election Day, seriously depressing turnout — and Trump wins the
> electoral college because he carries Michigan? Most states do not have
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-elections-are-wide-open-for-a-constitutional-crisis/2018/10/26/317cb7e0-d86a-11e8-83a2-d1c3da28d6b6_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_6> a
> Plan B to deal with a terrorist attack or natural disaster affecting part
> of a presidential election.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109146&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20loser%20of%20November%E2%80%99s%20election%20may%20not%20concede.%20Their%20voters%20won%E2%80%99t%2C%20either.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Election Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
> “The Impact of a Decade of Citizens United on Politics (Podcast)”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109144>
>
> Posted on January 24, 2020 7:47 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109144>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I spoke
> <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2020-01-23/the-impact-of-a-decade-of-citizens-united-on-politics-podcast> to
> June Grasso of Bloomberg about the case.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109144&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Impact%20of%20a%20Decade%20of%20Citizens%20United%20on%20Politics%20(Podcast)%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>
>
>
>
> “The Technology 202: Nonprofit expands free security services for
> campaigns as election season heats up”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109142>
>
> Posted on January 24, 2020 7:20 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109142>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WaPo reports.
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-technology-202/2020/01/24/the-technology-202-nonprofit-expands-free-security-services-for-campaigns-as-election-season-heats-up/5e29d43688e0fa6ea99d342d/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109142&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Technology%20202%3A%20Nonprofit%20expands%20free%20security%20services%20for%20campaigns%20as%20election%20season%20heats%20up%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in voting technology <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>
>
>
>
>
> “Libertarians Win Fight Against Kentucky on Voting”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109140>
>
> Posted on January 24, 2020 7:15 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109140>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Courthouse News
> <https://www.courthousenews.com/libertarians-win-fight-against-kentucky-on-voting/>
> :
>
> *A change to the deadline for independent political candidates to register
> for elections signed is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled
> <http://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Kentucky-election-statute.pdf> Wednesday.*
>
> *Kentucky House Bill 114, signed into law by former Governor Matt Bevin in
> March 2019, changed the deadline for state and local candidates to declare
> their candidacy from April 1 to the last Tuesday in January.*
>
> *The law was made retroactive to include 2019, and prevented several
> Libertarian candidates from filing their statements of candidacy with the
> board of elections.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109140&title=%E2%80%9CLibertarians%20Win%20Fight%20Against%20Kentucky%20on%20Voting%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in ballot access <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, third
> parties <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=47>
>
>
>
>
> City of Beverly Hills Sues Los Angeles County Over New BMD Voting Machine
> Design That Could Give Great Advantage to First Four Candidates Listed on
> the Ballot <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109135>
>
> Posted on January 23, 2020 5:02 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109135>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> You can find the emergency petition here.
> <https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/bh-v-la-county.pdf>
>
> Particularly concerning are the allegations in sections 22-23 of the
> complaint:
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109135&title=City%20of%20Beverly%20Hills%20Sues%20Los%20Angeles%20County%20Over%20New%20BMD%20Voting%20Machine%20Design%20That%20Could%20Give%20Great%20Advantage%20to%20First%20Four%20Candidates%20Listed%20on%20the%20Ballot>
>
> Posted in voting technology <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>
>
>
>
>
> “Wall Street donor influence shows unprecedented growth 10 years after
> Citizens United” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109133>
>
> Posted on January 23, 2020 3:42 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109133>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Open Secrets reports.
> <https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/01/wall-street-donor-influence-growth-10-years-citizens-united/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109133&title=%E2%80%9CWall%20Street%20donor%20influence%20shows%20unprecedented%20growth%2010%20years%20after%20Citizens%20United%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in campaign finance <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>
>
>
>
> “The Superfluous Fifteenth Amendment?”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109131>
>
> Posted on January 23, 2020 3:30 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109131>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Travis Crum has posted this draft
> <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3524597> on SSRN
> (forthcoming, *Northwestern U. L. Rev.*). Here is the abstract:
>
> *This Article starts a conversation about reorienting voting rights
> doctrine toward the Fifteenth Amendment. In advancing this claim, I explore
> an unappreciated debate—the “Article V debate”—in the Fortieth Congress
> about whether nationwide black suffrage could and should be achieved
> through a statute, a constitutional amendment, or both. As the first
> significant post-ratification discussion of the Fourteenth Amendment, the
> Article V debate provides valuable insights about the original public
> understandings of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and the
> distinction between civil and political rights.*
>
> *The Article V debate reveals that the Radical Republicans’ initial
> proposal for nationwide black suffrage included both a statute and an
> amendment. Moderate Republicans rejected the statutory option because they
> believed that Congress lacked enforcement authority under the Fourteenth
> Amendment to impose voting qualifications on the States and that an
> amendment was the only politically viable option.*
>
> *Given this historical evidence, this Article argues that the Fifteenth
> Amendment was a significant expansion of congressional authority to
> regulate voting rights in the States and that Congress’s Fifteenth
> Amendment enforcement authority is distinct from—and broader under current
> doctrine than—its Fourteenth Amendment enforcement authority. The Article V
> debate offers a persuasive reason for overturning Boerne’s congruence and
> proportionality test or, at a minimum, cabining it to the Fourteenth
> Amendment. Accordingly, laws enacted under Congress’s Fifteenth Amendment
> enforcement authority should be reviewed under Katzenbach’s rationality
> standard and the Voting Rights Act (VRA) would be on firmer constitutional
> ground.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109131&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Superfluous%20Fifteenth%20Amendment%3F%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “The New Voter Suppression” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109129>
>
> Posted on January 23, 2020 2:36 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109129>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> New Brennan Center report:
> <https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/new-voter-suppression>
>
> *On Election Day in 1960, four unanswerable questions awaited Clarence
> Gaskins, a Black voter in Georgia looking to cast his ballot for president.
> Upon arrival at his designated polling place, he was ushered into a room
> that held a jar of corn, a cucumber, a watermelon, and a bar of soap. He
> was informed that in order to vote, he first had to answer the following
> correctly:*
>
> *“How many kernels of corn are in the jar? How many bumps on the cucumber?
> How many seeds in the watermelon? And how many bubbles in the bar of soap?”*
>
> *Clarence didn’t bother guessing once the polling official admitted there
> were no right answers. His vote was neither cast nor counted.*
>
> *The connection between race and voter suppression did not end in the
> 1960s. While the overtly racist voter suppression tactics of the Jim Crow
> past are no longer with us, voter suppression remains a mainstay of
> electoral politics in the United States today.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D109129&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20New%20Voter%20Suppression%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in The Voting Wars <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, Voting
> Rights Act <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
>
>
>
> --
>
> 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
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
>
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