[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/7/20

[Rick Hasen]

“Trump and allies ratchet up disinformation efforts in late stage of campaign”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114849>
Posted on September 6, 2020 7:38 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114849> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-disinformation-campaign/2020/09/06/f34f080a-eeca-11ea-a21a-0fbbe90cfd8c_story.html>

For President Trump and his allies, it was a week spent spreading doctored and misleading videos.

On Aug. 30, the president retweeted footage of a Black man violently pushing a White woman<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/01/trump-retweets-video-tying-blm-antifa-an-assault-neither-group-was-involved/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3> on a subway platform under the caption, “Black Lives Matter/Antifa” — but the man was not affiliated with either group, and the video was shot in October. White House social media director Dan Scavino shared a manipulated video<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/02/white-house-social-media-director-tweets-manipulated-video-biden/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3> that falsely showed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden<https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3> seeming to fall asleep during a television interview, complete with a fake TV headline.

And Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican, released a video splicing together quotes from activist Ady Barkan<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/30/ady-barkan-scalise-twitter-video/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5> — who has Lou Gehrig’s disease and uses computer voice assistance — to falsely make it sound as if he had persuaded Biden to defund police departments.

For the president and his top supporters, it was a campaign push brimming with disinformation — disseminating falsehoods and trafficking in obfuscation at a rapid clip, through the use of selectively edited videos, deceptive retweets and false statements.

The slew of false and misleading tweets and videos stood in contrast to the approach taken by Biden, the former vice president, who in 2019 took a pledge<https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/14/biden-deep-fakes-disinformation-2020-campaign-1365569> promising not to participate in the spread of disinformation over social media, including rejecting the use of “deep fake” videos.

Trump has built a political career around falsehoods, issuing more than 20,000 false or misleading statements<https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?utm_term=.27babcd5e58c&itid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_10> during the first three-plus years of his presidency. But many experts said the onslaught of the disinformation efforts by Trump and his team in the late weeks of the campaign make the deception particularly difficult to combat, not to mention dangerous to the country’s democratic institutions.
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Posted in campaigns<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, cheap speech<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=130>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Michigan secretary of state warns Election Day could be Election Week”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114847>
Posted on September 6, 2020 7:23 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114847> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politico:<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/06/michigan-secretary-election-day-409405>

Michigan’s secretary of state said on Sunday her state’s full results of the Nov. 3 elections won’t be available on Election Day, advising voters it could take a week for a final tally.

“We should be prepared for this to be closer to an election week as opposed to an election day,” Jocelyn Benson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The bottom line is we are not going to have the full results and a counting of all of our ballots on election night. We already know that. We’ve asked the legislature to make changes to the laws to give us more ability to be prepared and count those ballots more efficiently.”

But Benson added the legislature hasn’t acted on her requests, though her office has increased tabulators and capacity to count ballots. The most important aspect to this year’s elections, she said, is accuracy.

“If it takes a few extra days to ensure we have a full and accurate counting as a result of every race, that’s what it’s going to take,” Benson said. “We’re going to be transparent throughout that whole process to make sure every citizen knows exactly where we are in the counting process and how many more ballots we have to get through.”

She said yes when asked by NBC host Chuck Todd whether she was concerned over candidates being falsely declared as the winner on election night.

“To me, that’s just going to be another example of the type of misinformation and disinformation that we’re seeing multiple ways from multiple platforms and voices in this election cycle,” Benson said. “So, we are going to counter that misinformation with truth and accuracy.”
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>


“Here’s what the media must do to fend off an election-night disaster”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114845>
Posted on September 6, 2020 7:18 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114845> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Margaret Sullivan WaPo column<https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/heres-what-tv-news-must-do-to-fend-off-an-election-night-disaster/2020/09/04/c94cee50-ed1c-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Sources Close to the President’s Reelection Campaign Tell Axios” That “Trump trashes mail voting in part because he sees the messaging as good cover if he loses to Joe Biden in November”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114843>
Posted on September 6, 2020 7:10 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114843> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

That’s in an article<https://www.axios.com/republicans-mail-in-voting-trump-a75b7b58-6405-4840-a48f-e26caf72b0fc.html> entitled “Scoop: Kevin McCarthy Warns Trump’s War on Mail Could Screw GOP.”

The idea that Trump is attacking mail-in voting to give himself an excuse if he loses to Biden in November is the most benign explanation of Trump’s actions.

As I wrote in this NYT piece<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/opinion/trump-usps-mail-voting.html>:

The most benign explanation for Mr. Trump’s obsessive focus on mail-in balloting is that he is looking for an excuse for a possible loss to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in November. The less benign explanation is that he is seeking to sow chaos to drive down turnout and undermine the legitimacy of the election, laying the groundwork for contesting a close election if he loses. I fear that the latter explanation is correct, and that makes it all the more urgent that election administrators, the media and others take steps to avoid a crisis of confidence in the 2020 election results….

If Mr. Trump is not really concerned about fraud, what’s the real end game? His unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud may be aimed at sowing chaos during the election and depressing turnout to help his side win election. Worse, it could be calculated to delegitimize the election results, which could allow Mr. Trump to contest a close election or weaken a Biden presidency.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Kanye West’s Nearly $7 Million Presidential Bid Has Hit Some Legal Snags”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114841>
Posted on September 6, 2020 4:40 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114841> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lots in here from Ben Jacobs<https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/kanye-wests-nearly-7-million-dollar-campaign-hits-legal-snags.html>, including a mostly Republican legal and campaign team behind the West campaign.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Allegations Postmaster General DeJoy Reimbursed His Employees for Political Contributions in Violation of Federal and NC Laws Against Conduit Contributions<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114836>
Posted on September 6, 2020 2:42 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=114836> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Big story<https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/louis-dejoy-campaign-contributions/2020/09/06/1187bc2c-e3fe-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html> in WaPo.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


--
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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