[EL] ELB News and Commentary 7/14/20

[Rick Hasen]

“Newsroom or PAC? Liberal group muddies online information wars”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113064>
Posted on July 14, 2020 8:21 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113064> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/newsroom-pac-liberal-info-wars-356800>:

The articles and Facebook ad dollars look like the efforts of a run-of-the-mill political group. But they are actually from a news outlet: CourierNewsroom.com, also known as Courier, which was created and funded by the Democratic-aligned digital organization Acronym. Courier has spent over $1.4 million on Facebook ads this election cycle, mostly to promote its flattering articles and videos about more than a dozen endangered House Democrats at the top of the Democratic Party’s priority list this November, according to Facebook’s political ad tracker<https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=political_and_issue_ads&country=US&impression_search_field=has_impressions_lifetime&q=rose&view_all_page_id=110749446963570&sort_data%5bdirection%5d=desc&sort_data%5bmode%5d=relevancy_monthly_grouped>.

But because Courier is organized as a media outlet, it does not have to disclose its donors or the total money it spends promoting Democratic politicians.

The $1.4 million in Facebook ads is likely just a fraction of the money behind the Courier project, which includes a newsroom of at least 25 people and eight separate websites with content often focused on local issues in presidential swing states. But this activity — creating an unregulated advertising stream promoting Democratic officeholders, more akin to a PAC than a newsroom — diverges from other partisan news outlets that are proliferating online as local newspapers struggle.

And in setting up the enterprise, Acronym — which is financed by some of the deepest pockets in progressive politics, such as liberal billionaires Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the majority owner of The Atlantic — has stirred outrage and provoked debate about the ethics of such political tactics and the future of the press.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113064&title=%E2%80%9CNewsroom%20or%20PAC%3F%20Liberal%20group%20muddies%20online%20information%20wars%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, social media and social protests<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


“Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting could lead to nightmare scenario, election expert warns”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113062>
Posted on July 14, 2020 8:12 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113062> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jon Ward<https://news.yahoo.com/trumps-attacks-on-mailin-voting-could-lead-to-nightmare-scenario-elections-expert-warns-213417202.html> for Yahoo News:

Anyone can spin out a worst-case scenario for the presidential election, but it’s worth paying particular attention to those that keep experts like Richard Hasen up at night.

Hasen, a law and political science professor at the University of California, Irvine, has written multiple books on elections, including one that was released just before the COVID-19 pandemic, “Election Meltdown<https://www.amazon.com/Election-Meltdown-Distrust-American-Democracy/dp/0300248199>.”

Even before the pandemic made it likely that there will be a historic number of mail-in ballots in this fall’s election, Hasen was worried<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/trump-jokes-rigged-elections-chaos.html> that if the election were close, President Trump might declare victory before all the votes were counted.

That concern is now much greater for Hasen. Since the emergence of the coronavirus, Trump has made numerous wild claims<https://news.yahoo.com/trump-ramps-up-attack-on-mailin-voting-with-a-warning-about-false-ballots-sent-by-foreign-countries-180918215.html> — without any evidence and in contradiction to known facts — that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud and cheating.

If most Republicans vote in person and most Democrats vote by mail, Hasen said, that could create a scenario well suited to Trump’s tendency to make unfounded accusations of wrongdoing.

“As Trump drives more and more of his supporters to vote in person and away from vote-by-mail, it’s quite likely that we’ll see Trump getting many more votes on election night, the votes that are counted on Election Day,” Hasen said in an interview on “The Long Game,” a Yahoo News podcast.<https://play.acast.com/s/thelonggame/theelectionnightmarescenariothatkeepsrickhasenupatnight>

“Then, four or five days later, [if] Biden becomes the winner as the absentee ballots are counted in Philadelphia or Detroit, that’s a recipe, if it’s close, for a really ugly election scenario,” he said.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113062&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20attacks%20on%20mail-in%20voting%20could%20lead%20to%20nightmare%20scenario%2C%20election%20expert%20warns%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“20 groups from across political spectrum urge Donald Trump and Joe Biden to reveal information about their campaign fundraisers”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113060>
Posted on July 14, 2020 8:08 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113060> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Good idea<https://www.issueone.org/20-groups-from-across-political-spectrum-urge-donald-trump-and-joe-biden-to-reveal-information-about-their-campaign-fundraisers/?platform=hootsuite> from Issue One.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113060&title=%E2%80%9C20%20groups%20from%20across%20political%20spectrum%20urge%20Donald%20Trump%20and%20Joe%20Biden%20to%20reveal%20information%20about%20their%20campaign%20fundraisers%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“The QAnon Candidates Are Here. Trump Has Paved Their Way. The conspiracy theorists accuse Democrats and even fellow Republicans of being beholden to a cabal of bureaucrats, pedophiles and Satanists. President Trump has cheered them on.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113058>
Posted on July 14, 2020 8:04 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113058> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/qanon-politicians-candidates.html>:

A Republican Senate candidate recently declared herself “one of the thousands of digital soldiers” in service of QAnon, a convoluted pro-Trump conspiracy theory<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/us/politics/what-is-qanon.html> about a “deep state” of child-molesting Satanist traitors plotting against the president. A congressional candidate in Colorado who made approving comments about QAnon<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/lauren-boebert-colorado.html> bested a five-term Republican incumbent in a primary last month.

And then there is Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is perhaps the most unabashedly pro-QAnon candidate for Congress and has drawn a positive tweet from President Trump<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/donald-trump.html>. She recently declared that QAnon was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.”

More than two years after QAnon, which the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, emerged from the troll-infested corners of the internet<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/us/politics/what-is-qanon.html>, the movement’s supporters are morphing from keyboard warriors into political candidates. They have been urged on by Mr. Trump, whose own espousal of conspiracy theories and continual railing against the political establishment have cleared a path for QAnon candidates.

And even as party leaders publicly distance themselves from the movement, they are quietly supporting some QAnon-linked candidates — demonstrating the thin line they are trying to walk between radical elements among their base and the moderate voters they need to win over.

Precisely how many candidates are running under the banner of QAnon is somewhat open to interpretation — estimates range to more than a dozen, with many more defeated in primaries — and nearly all are expected to lose in November. Some candidates have clear connections to the movement and use its language and hashtags on social media and in real-world appearances.

Scores more have cherry-picked some of the movement’s themes<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/us/politics/qanon-trump-conspiracy-theory.html>, such as claims that Jews, and especially the financier George Soros, are controlling the political system and vaccines; assertions that the risk from the coronavirus is vastly overstated; or racist theories about former President Barack Obama. Many have appeared on QAnon-themed podcasts and in news outlets.

All of the candidates, though, present a fresh headache for Republican leaders. They were already struggling to distance the party from conspiracy theories steeped in racist and anti-Semitic messaging. Now they must contend with candidates whose online beliefs have inspired real-world violence, including the killing of a mob boss<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/nyregion/gambino-shooting-anthony-comello-frank-cali.html>.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113058&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20QAnon%20Candidates%20Are%20Here.%20Trump%20Has%20Paved%20Their%20Way.%20The%20conspiracy%20theorists%20accuse%20Democrats%20and%20even%20fellow%20Republicans%20of%20being%20beholden%20to%20a%20cabal%20of%20bureaucrats%2C%20pedophiles%20and%20Satanists.%20President%20Trump%20has%20cheered%20them%20on.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, social media and social protests<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=58>


Connecticut: “Election officials expect flood of absentee ballots for Aug. 11 primary and potential delays in reporting results; Republicans concerned about fraud”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113056>
Posted on July 14, 2020 7:41 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113056> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Hartford Courant:<https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-connecticut-absentee-ballot-deluge-20200713-r4t7i3k5zjg4hi4vh7o7z7tape-story.html>

“We have evidence of people who received absentee ballot applications who have been deceased for more than a decade,” Romano said, adding that the ballots are supposed to be sent only to active voters. “We found an example of a voter in Enfield who had voted — it was a clerical error — and he had been dead since 2012, and someone accidentally checked his name off. … Who is checking the signatures? Who is checking all of this paperwork that is coming back?”

He predicted there will be problems in races with tight results.

“We end up in court, it seems, every election,” Romano said.

But Merrill and others have noted that instances of absentee ballot fraud are exceedingly rare. There have been 1.5 million absentee ballots cast in Connecticut in the past 30 years and fewer than 20 convictions for absentee ballot fraud, officials said.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113056&title=Connecticut%3A%20%E2%80%9CElection%20officials%20expect%20flood%20of%20absentee%20ballots%20for%20Aug.%2011%20primary%20and%20potential%20delays%20in%20reporting%20results%3B%20Republicans%20concerned%20about%20fraud%E2%80%9D>
Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


North Carolina: “Coronavirus fears spark ‘striking surge’ of mail-in ballot requests”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113054>
Posted on July 14, 2020 7:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113054> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Charlotte Observer<https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article244187737.html>:

A new report<https://www.oldnorthstatepolitics.com/2020/07/NC-july-ABM-requests-estimates.html> shows “a striking surge” in the number of absentee ballot requests in North Carolina, reflecting patterns seen across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

State election officials say as many as four of 10 voters, or more than 1.5 million, could cast mail-in ballots this fall. That’s 10 times the usual number.

Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, analyzed more than 65,000 absentee ballot requests made through Friday. Weeks before ballots are even printed, that’s a four-fold increase from the number requested at the same time in 2016.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113054&title=North%20Carolina%3A%20%E2%80%9CCoronavirus%20fears%20spark%20%E2%80%98striking%20surge%E2%80%99%20of%20mail-in%20ballot%20requests%E2%80%9D>
Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


California Supreme Court to Rule Friday on Redistricting Delay<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113051>
Posted on July 13, 2020 8:15 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113051> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

At the Lectern reports.<http://www.atthelectern.com/redistricting-delay-opinion-filing-friday/>
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113051&title=California%20Supreme%20Court%20to%20Rule%20Friday%20on%20Redistricting%20Delay>
Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


Fort Bend District Attorney, in Response to Texas State Bar President, Says that Wearing “Black Lives Matter” Shirt to Poling Place Does Not Violate Texas Electioneering Ban<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113045>
Posted on July 13, 2020 8:10 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113045> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
[cid:image002.png at 01D659B8.2F717EB0]
[cid:image003.png at 01D659B8.2F717EB0]

[cid:image004.png at 01D659B8.2F717EB0][cid:image005.png at 01D659B8.2F717EB0]
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113045&title=Fort%20Bend%20District%20Attorney%2C%20in%20Response%20to%20Texas%20State%20Bar%20President%2C%20Says%20that%20Wearing%20%E2%80%9CBlack%20Lives%20Matter%E2%80%9D%20Shirt%20to%20Poling%20Place%20Does%20Not%20Violate%20Texas%20Electioneering%20Ban>
Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


Read the Federal District Court Opinion Extending the Time for Oregon Initiative Proponents to Collect Signatures for Redistricting Ballot Measure<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113042>
Posted on July 13, 2020 5:34 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113042> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Following up on this post,<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113027> you can read this order<https://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/people-not-politicians-order.pdf>.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113042&title=Read%20the%20Federal%20District%20Court%20Opinion%20Extending%20the%20Time%20for%20Oregon%20Initiative%20Proponents%20to%20Collect%20Signatures%20for%20Redistricting%20Ballot%20Measure>
Posted in ballot access<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=46>, court decisions<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=129>, direct democracy<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>


“California rejected 100K mail-in ballots because of mistakes”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113040>
Posted on July 13, 2020 5:26 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113040> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP<https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/13/california-rejected-mail-ballots-mistakes/112169906/>:

More than 100,000 mail-in ballots were rejected by California election officials during the March presidential primary, according to data obtained by The Associated Press that highlights a glaring gap in the state’s effort to ensure every vote is counted.

With the coronavirus pandemic raging, California is part of a growing number of states increasing mail-in balloting to avoid crowds at polling places. President Donald Trump is among those questioning the integrity of vote-by-mail elections while supporters say they are just as reliable as polling places and offer greater flexibility for voters.

The California secretary of state’s election data obtained by the AP showed 102,428 mail-in ballots were disqualified in the state’s 58 counties, about 1.5% of the nearly 7 million mail-in ballots returned. That percentage is the highest in a primary since 2014, and the overall number is the highest in a statewide election since 2010.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113040&title=%E2%80%9CCalifornia%20rejected%20100K%20mail-in%20ballots%20because%20of%20mistakes%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Bloc voting is a bigger problem than electors going rogue. Here’s a fix.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113031>
Posted on July 13, 2020 9:41 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113031> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Kevin Johnson at The Fulcrum<https://thefulcrum.us/electoral-college-votes>.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113031&title=%E2%80%9CBloc%20voting%20is%20a%20bigger%20problem%20than%20electors%20going%20rogue.%20Here%E2%80%99s%20a%20fix.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in electoral college<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>


“Is the US supreme court having a liberal moment? Not on one crucial issue; John Roberts sided with the court’s liberal bloc in two notable recent cases, but critics say he’s no swing voter on voting rights”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113029>
Posted on July 13, 2020 8:35 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113029> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sam Levine<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/11/supreme-court-justices-liberal-conservatives> for The Guardian.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113029&title=%E2%80%9CIs%20the%20US%20supreme%20court%20having%20a%20liberal%20moment%3F%20Not%20on%20one%20crucial%20issue%3B%20John%20Roberts%20sided%20with%20the%20court%E2%80%99s%20liberal%20bloc%20in%20two%20notable%20recent%20cases%2C%20but%20critics%20say%20he%E2%80%99s%20no%20swing%20voter%20on%20voting%20rights%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Oregon: “Federal District Court Grants People Not Politicians an Extension”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113027>
Posted on July 13, 2020 8:33 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=113027> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release<https://www.peoplenotpoliticiansoregon.com/press-release/federal-district-court-grants-people-not-politicians-an-extension/>:

A federal district court issued a preliminary order granting People Not Politicians, a broad and diverse coalition to create an independent citizens commission for Oregon, relief to qualify its redistricting reform initiative for the November 2020 election. The judge’s order allows the Secretary of State to decide by 5:00pm Monday, July 13, 2020 to either accept People Not Politician’s signatures as submitted, or accept a reduced number of signatures to 58,789 and allow additional time to gather until August 17, 2020.

Judge Michael J. McShane in People Not Politicians v. Secretary of State Clarno ruled in favor of People Not Politicians which executed a no-contact statewide signature gathering campaign in order to qualify Initiative Petition 57 (IP 57) for the November 2020 ballot while observing Governor Kate Brown’s stay-at-home orders.

Judge McShane found that People Not Politicians exercised “reasonable diligence” in attempting to qualify for the ballot, specifically because of the hard work that the campaign did to do outreach, build a broad coalition and plan creatively to collect signatures in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D113027&title=Oregon%3A%20%E2%80%9CFederal%20District%20Court%20Grants%20People%20Not%20Politicians%20an%20Extension%E2%80%9D>
Posted in direct democracy<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>, redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


--
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<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0001.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/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0005.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 109141 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0006.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 461516 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0007.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 925194 bytes
Desc: image004.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0008.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 97434 bytes
Desc: image005.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20200714/d63fb5e3/attachment-0009.png>