[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/12/20

Thu Mar 12 08:16:43 PDT 2020

Today’s Must-Read: Dale Ho: “How to Protect the Election from the Coronavirus”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109967>
Posted on March 12, 2020 8:13 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109967> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Dale in NYT Opinion:<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/opinion/coronavirus-election-vote-mail.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage>

We can take four simple steps to reduce the risk of disenfranchisement:

Ramp up public education on voting by mail. The good news is that in most states, eligible voters can already vote by mail. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia <https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx> either conduct their elections by mail or permit “no excuse” absentee voting. Americans have been increasingly voting by mail: More than 23 percent<https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-early-absentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview> of voters cast their ballots by mail in the 2016 presidential elections, up from about 12 percent in 2004….

Broaden access to voting by mail. As noted, most states already offer universal access to mail-in voting. It’s a good idea in general and encourages higher turnout. In the 2018 midterms, for example, states that permit voting by mail had, on average, a 15.5 percentage point<https://www.nonprofitvote.org/documents/2019/03/america-goes-polls-2018.pdf/> higher turnout than states that did not….

Permit early processing of absentee ballots. At present, 15 states do not permit absentee ballots to be tabulated until Election Day. Among them is Michigan, which is allowing absentee voting for the first time in a presidential election (rather than limiting it to those with a particular excuse). Unsurprisingly, absentee ballots were heavily requested the primary, which has raised concerns that results could be substantially delayed if there is a similar surge in November.

A worst-case scenario would be if Michigan, the state with the closest win-loss margin in 2016, is again one of the decisive states in the 2020 election and we are unable to project a winner on election night. (Another decisive state, Pennsylvania, which also just adopted no-excuse absentee voting, also forbids processing absentee ballots until Election Day and could find itself in a similar situation.) It’s worrisome that the Michigan Legislature, however, has so far resisted<https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/02/ahead-of-michigan-primary-sen-mike-shirkey-shoots-down-bills-to-speed-up-absentee-ballots.html> calls to make the job of elections administrators easier by permitting the processing of early ballots….

Protect the rights of absentee voters. Absentee ballots are rejected<https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/us/politics/as-more-vote-by-mail-faulty-ballots-could-impact-elections.html> at a higher rate than ballots cast in person. One reason may be that voters who cast their ballots by mail cannot obtain help from poll workers. Voters who need assistance must be able to get it, regardless of how they vote.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“Meet the Trump Fan Accused of Registering Democrats as Republicans”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109965>
Posted on March 12, 2020 8:03 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109965> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/us/cheryl-hall-voter-registration-fraud.html>:

Something was indeed amiss: Ms. Hall, a 63-year-old and very ardent Republican whose ranch house in Clermont sports life-size cutouts of Donald and Melania Trump and a MAGA poster in the window, was charged last week with 10 felony counts of submitting false voter registration forms. On at least 10 forms traced to Ms. Hall, officials said, the party affiliations of already-registered Democrats and Independents had been switched to Republican. More than 100 others that may be tied to her contained missing or bogus data such as wrong birth dates.

Ms. Hall was a canvasser for Florida First Inc.<https://flafirst.org/>, a recently created nonprofit that is financed at least in part by a dark-money group formed by Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and other Trump associates.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“Coronavirus forcing changes in campaigning and voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109963>
Posted on March 12, 2020 8:01 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109963> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Boston Globe<https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/11/nation/coronavirus-forcing-changes-campaigning-voting/>:

Sudden changes to election procedures could lead to long lines and confusion, Hasen said.

“You’ve got to have good planning, and you have to have good messaging. If people don’t know where to go, then they can be disenfranchised,” he said.

States should give voters alternatives like voting by mail in the general election, Hasen said, and lawmakers need to make plans now in order to ensure Americans are ready to vote this fall in case the outbreak continues.

“As you make plans closer to an election, there’s more of a sense that decisions might be made for political gain,” he said. “Better to make the decisions now under the veil of ignorance before we know who might benefit or be hurt by particular changes in election rules.”
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, election administration<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

“From handshakes to kissing babies, virus upends campaigning”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109961>
Posted on March 12, 2020 7:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109961> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports.<https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/politics/handshakes-kissing/L2I6NHYHYPPFOSZCNNSYFVLQJE/>
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

“Exclusive: DNC chair says he’s ‘not contemplating’ an online convention”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109959>
Posted on March 12, 2020 7:50 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109959> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I’m skeptical.<https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-tom-perez-democratic-convention-42102ac4-4dc9-4dc6-95e4-aef2f8de0615.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Wisconsin voter purge case appealed to state Supreme Court”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109957>
Posted on March 12, 2020 7:47 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109957> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP<https://apnews.com/f07a6407a419b7a3b1420ab41387bfd7>:

A conservative law firm asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday to quickly overturn an appeals court ruling that stopped the purging of more than 200,000 people <https://apnews.com/ea39036616cb894830236e091ab4bb08> from the state’s voter rolls, a move that Democrats argued was intended to make it more difficult for their voters to cast ballots.

Moments after the filing, a conservative justice on the Supreme Court who previously sat out the case because he’s on the ballot on April 7 said he would “rethink” that decision after the election. The court deadlocked 3-3 without Justice Dan Kelly’s participation when asked to take the case earlier, so he could be a deciding vote.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which is representing three voters, asked the state Supreme Court to expedite its consideration of the case so it can be resolved before the November presidential election. Wisconsin is a narrowly divided state that is expected to be one of a handful that could determine whether President Donald Trump wins re-election.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“What Edgar Allan Poe’s Death And Voter Fraud Myths Have In Common”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109955>
Posted on March 12, 2020 7:43 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109955> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting read<https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/cafe-edgar-allan-poe-death-voter-fraud-myth> from Ciara Torres-Spelliscy.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Elections officials scramble for options as coronavirus worries mount”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109953>
Posted on March 11, 2020 5:11 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109953> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/elections-officials-scramble-for-options-as-coronavirus-worries-mount/2020/03/11/10ba1d2c-63a1-11ea-845d-e35b0234b136_story.html>:

Elections officials have stocked up on hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. Many are urging voters to cast absentee ballots or vote early to avoid crowds.

But as the coronavirus pandemic worsens<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/11/coronavirus-live-updates/?tid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_2>, local and state officials are scrambling to identify other options if public health leaders ultimately determine that there are risks to visiting polling places — an assessment that could change the basic mechanics of running an election midstream in a presidential campaign year.

“If you’re talking about something on that level, then we’re clearly facing a crisis and not just an emergency, and public health and safety will have to dictate whatever we do,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who said he would follow the advice of public health officials and law enforcement.

“One of the very few things that would take precedent over a free and fair election is public health and safety, right?” LaRose said, adding that such a move would be a last resort.

The spiraling covid-19 pandemic that has shaken the global economy and upended millions of Americans’ routines in the past month has emerged in the past week as a unique and unprecedented challenge for elections officials already grappling with a range of threats such as online disinformation and security vulnerabilities.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Another reason to worry: Coronavirus could upend our election”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109951>
Posted on March 11, 2020 3:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109951> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Greg Sargent<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/11/another-reason-worry-coronavirus-could-upend-our-election/> in WaPo:

All states allow vote by mail in certain circumstances, and this trend has been advancing here and there. But what Wyden is envisioning is something much broader: a federal mandate that states make this option fully available, if one quarter of them declare an emergency requiring it.

As voting rights expert Ari Berman noted<https://twitter.com/AriBerman?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor>, if this is going to happen, the states will have to start preparing right now. There are good voting access reasons for this: People may be reluctant to vote because they fear coronavirus, and that’s a terrible choice for folks to have to make.

But there’s another reason this may end up being important: It centers on poll workers, who tend to be seniors. You’ve all seen the elderly-but-civically-committed volunteers at your local polling place. Now they may be reluctant to serve, given that their advanced years may subject them to heightened health risks.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

Remainder of Election Meltdown Events (including Boston and Philadelphia) Cancelled/Postponed<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109949>
Posted on March 11, 2020 10:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109949> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Travel restrictions and COVID-19 precautions strike again.

You can still buy the book<https://www.amazon.com/Election-Meltdown-Distrust-American-Democracy/dp/0300248199/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hasen+election+meltdown&qid=1565015345&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr>!
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

--
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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