[EL] ELB News and Commentary 6/7/20

[Rick Hasen]

“Amid Pandemic and Upheaval, New Cyber Risks to the Presidential Election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111934>
Posted on June 7, 2020 8:43 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111934> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/us/politics/remote-voting-hacking-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-share>

President Trump has repeatedly said that mail-in ballots invite voter fraud and would benefit Democrats. It is a baseless claim: Mail-in voting has resulted in little fraud in the five states that have used it for years, and a recent study<https://siepr.stanford.edu/news/new-research-voting-mail-shows-neutral-partisan-effects> at Stanford University found that voting by mail did not advantage either party and might increase voter turnout for both parties.

But there are different worries. The rush to accommodate remote voting is leading a small number of states to experiment with or expand online voting, an approach the Department of Homeland Security deemed “high risk” in a report last month. It has also put renewed focus on the assortment of online state voter registration systems, which were among the chief targets of Russian hackers in 2016. Their security is central to ensuring that, come November, voters actually receive their mail-in ballots or can gain access to online voting.

While Russian hackers stopped short of manipulating voter data in 2016, American officials determined the effort was likely a dry run for future interference. To head off that threat, last summer the Department of Homeland Security hired the RAND Corporation to re-evaluate the nation’s election vulnerabilities, from poll booths to the voter registration systems. RAND’s findings only heightened the longstanding fears of government officials: State and local registration databases could be locked by hackers demanding ransomware or manipulated by outside actors….

Mr. Krebs’s agency is also concerned about vulnerabilities surrounding internet voting that Delaware, West Virginia and other states are using. In May, it issued a confidential report to voting vendors and election officials in all 50 states opposing online voting, warning that ballots “could be manipulated at scale,” meaning hackers could change large volumes of votes undetected.

Separately, researchers at the University of Michigan and M.I.T. released a study on Sunday<https://internetpolicy.mit.edu/omniballot-advice/> concluding that one platform already facilitating internet and remote voting could, in certain cases, be manipulated to alter votes — without being detected by the voter, election officials or the company that owns it….
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Election Day 2020 could yield a catastrophic mess”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111932>
Posted on June 7, 2020 5:19 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111932> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

E.J. Dionne<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-last-thing-we-need-is-a-disastrous-election-day/2020/06/07/ee86e40c-a76a-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html?wpmk=MK0000200> in WaPo:

All who rightly insist that remedying embedded racism and economic injustice requires both organized protests and election victories must reckon with this possibility: Election Day 2020 could be a catastrophic mess.

Whose interest would a chaotic election serve? The chaos president. President Trump would challenge the results of such an election if he lost, and he might win it by blocking enough of those who oppose him from casting ballots.

Last Tuesday’s primaries<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/voting-problems-in-dc-maryland-lead-to-calls-for-top-officials-to-resign/2020/06/03/24b47220-a5a8-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_3> are a cautionary tale. They showed what can go wrong even in places that operate with the best will in the world.

Both the District of Columbia and Maryland hoped to push as much voting by mail as possible. It was an admirable instinct during a pandemic, but it didn’t work out so well.

Writing in Slate, Mark Joseph Stern called <https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/dc-election-curfew-police-long-lines.html> primary day in the nation’s capital “an unmitigated disaster.” The Post’s Julie Zauzmer, Jenna Portnoy and Erin Cox reported<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/voting-problems-in-dc-maryland-lead-to-calls-for-top-officials-to-resign/2020/06/03/24b47220-a5a8-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_6> that many are calling for election officials in both D.C. and Maryland “to resign after botched delivery of absentee ballots and hours-long waits at polling places left some voters disenfranchised.”

A big problem in both places: Optimism about voting by mail encouraged election officials to slash the number of polling places and voting centers — in Washington from the normal 143 to a mere 20<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-pennsylvania-officials-prepare-for-coronavirus-civil-unrest-to-disrupt-tuesday-primary/2020/06/02/96a55c40-a4be-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_8>. In Baltimore, a city with 296 precincts, there were only six <https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/elections/bs-md-pol-voting-20200602-i74lzxu7jvf27ni42kcqzoqela-story.html> Election Day voting sites.

One more thing: Mail voting means that even efficient systems can take a long time to get to a final result. Mailed ballots typically count as long as they are postmarked on Election Day. This means votes are still flowing in a week or more after the election. Americans need to be prepared for the possibility that because of mail voting, we may not know the winner until well after election night. Forewarning is the vaccine against the virus of Trump’s voter fraud claims.
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“Long lines, missing mail-in ballots and confusion this week exposed the problems that could plague the November election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111930>
Posted on June 6, 2020 3:33 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111930> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Grace Panetta<https://www.businessinsider.com/missing-ballots-long-lines-foreshadow-november-election-problems-2020-6> for Business Insider.

MORE<https://www.nationalmemo.com/june-2-primaries-offered-sneak-peek-at-november-election> from Steven Rosenfeld at National Memo.
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Posted in election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>


“Lawyer says ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin illegally voted in Florida, asks Aramis Ayala to pursue charges”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111928>
Posted on June 6, 2020 3:29 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111928> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Orlando Sentinel<https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-candidate-alleges-voter-fraud-derek-chauvin-20200605-6hdffv6huvglrmgdpfc5krthym-story.html>:

A man running for election supervisor in Pinellas County is asking Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala pursue charges against Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis ex-cop accused of killing George Floyd, alleging he voted illegally in two Florida elections.

Dan Helm, a Democrat and attorney, sent Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala a letter notifying her of Chauvin’s voting record.

“While living in Minnesota, working there, paying taxes there, Derek Chauvin cannot claim residency in Orange County. His home, residency and where he intends to live is in Minnesota, not Florida,” Helm wrote.

His letter cites the Florida statute prohibiting false swearing and the submission of false voter registration information, adding that violation of the statute is a third-degree felony.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111926>
Posted on June 6, 2020 3:26 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111926> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage>

Over the past five years, as demands for reform have mounted in the aftermath of police violence in cities like Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore and now Minneapolis, police unions have emerged as one of the most significant roadblocks to change. The greater the political pressure for reform, the more defiant the unions often are in resisting it — with few city officials, including liberal leaders, able to overcome their opposition.

They aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct, often in arbitration hearings that they have battled to keep behind closed doors. And they have also been remarkably effective at fending off broader change, using their political clout and influence to derail efforts to increase accountability.

While rates of union membership have dropped by half nationally since the early 1980s, to 10 percent, higher membership rates among police unions<https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm> give them resources they can spend on campaigns and litigation to block reform. A single New York City police union has spent more than $1 million on state and local races since 2014.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“George Floyd protests created a surge in voter registrations, groups say”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111924>
Posted on June 5, 2020 9:12 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=111924> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNBC<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/george-floyd-protests-created-surge-in-voter-registrations-groups-say.html>:

Voter registrations, volunteer activity and donations for groups linked to Democratic causes are surging in the midst of protests following the death of George Floyd, according to voting advocacy groups.

This surge in registrations could end up being one of the factors that helps tip the election between apparent Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. The efforts are by groups including Latino voter registration organizations, Rock the Vote and one co-chaired by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Latino voter registration groups in recent weeks have noticed an uptick in their communities mobilization to vote, particularly from younger voters. The leaders of these organizations said that many are registering after nationwide outrage directed at police brutality and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has left over 100,000 dead and tens of millions jobless in the United States. Unemployment rates for Hispanic and black workers remained high at 17.6% and 16.8%, respectively, even after the nation added 2.5 million jobs last month<https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/jobs-report-may-2020.html>.
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Posted in voter registration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>


--
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/>


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