[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/11/21

[Rick Hasen]

“The Only Way to Save American Democracy Now”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120393>
Posted on January 11, 2021 8:12 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120393> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this piece<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/biden-pelosi-schumer-john-lewis-save-democracy.html> for Slate. It begins:

What’s next to save American democracy?

The events of the past week have left many in this country reeling and worried seriously for the fate of democratic governance in the United States. In one of the most destructive acts in American political history, President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday exhorted his supporters, some armed, to march to the Capitol as Congress began the formal task of counting Electoral College votes to confirm the election of his opponent, Joe Biden. Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, leading to a bloody rampage and the death of a Capitol Hill police officer and four others. Members of Congress, staff, and journalists<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/politics/capitol-lockdown.html> rightly feared for their lives from this domestic terrorism, as gangs of masked Trump supporters swarmed the House and Senate chambers carrying zip-tie handcuffs<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/was-there-a-plan-for-hostages-or-killings-at-the-capitol.html> intended for our nation’s leadership. The Senate chamber was desecrated, as was the office of the speaker of the House. Trump supporters smeared feces<https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-capitol-riot-poopers-20210107-prlsqytyabgdhnexushotl4nam-story.html> in the halls of Congress. National Guard troops were delayed as reinforcements, reportedly because the president refused to authorize them, increasing the terror and damage. And after order was restored following this unprecedented assault on the seat of American governance, eight Republican senators and 139 Republican members of Congress still voted<https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/politics/congress-electoral-college-count-tracker/> to sustain bogus objections to the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona. The Trump-based objections were based upon false claims of voter fraud and election irregularities.

All of this occurred in the aftermath of the Georgia Senate elections, in which voters elected a Black preacher and a Jewish son of immigrants in runoff elections on Tuesday, flipping control of the Senate to Democrats—and after which Georgia Republicans plotted ways to make voting more difficult<https://www.ajc.com/politics/strict-absentee-voting-limits-proposed-after-record-georgia-turnout/BLDBKKOLCJDU7FWUAM4CPNZ43I/> in future elections.

It goes without saying that Trump needs to be removed from office<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120303> immediately for plotting insurrection and for acting at every turn to thwart the will of the voters, including through a likely criminal attempt<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/donald-trump-should-be-prosecuted-georgia-brad-raffensperger.html> to get Georgia’s secretary of state to commit voter fraud to flip the Georgia presidential election from Biden to Trump. But removing Trump is far from enough to excise the cancer on our body politic. Instead, we need bold changes to deal with the threat to democracy from an authoritarian wing of the Republican Party that appeared ready to abet Trump’s stealing of the election, as well as the separate problem that the Republican Party can continue to consistently win elections with minority support thanks to backward American election rules we have in place….

If Democrats can partially kill the filibuster, here’s what should be on the agenda in terms of voting reform: First, Congress should vote to make the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (assuming its residents approve) into U.S. states. Had D.C. been a state, it would have almost certainly been easier for the District’s leaders to call up the National Guard to help put down the insurrection. More fundamentally, there is no reason that residents in these two U.S. areas should be denied full representation in the Senate. Adding additional states would help tilt the balance in the Senate, giving a better chance for the body not to reflect minoritarian Republican preferences.

Next, Congress needs to provide greater protection for voting rights. Although there will be great pressure to do so, Congress should not first try to pass H.R. 1, the massive voting reform bill containing some proposals that are very controversial and could well split the narrow coalition it would take to get things through the current Congress. Instead, focus should be pinpointed more directly on protecting the right to vote in the states. A John Lewis Voting Rights Act would restore federal preclearance of voting changes made in states with a history of racial discrimination in voting, requiring states to show that the changes would not make minority voters worse off. It would also require states to provide easy access to online voter registration for federal elections, block the kinds of voter purges that could disenfranchise legitimate voters, and assure that all voters in federal elections have easy access to early voting, both in person and by mail.

Making these kinds of changes will help assure that elections are fairer and that results will more likely reflect the will of the people. But they won’t do enough to deal with the Trumpian wing of the Republican Party, which needs to be weakened to re-create a system in which both political parties are led by responsible actors, and where leaders cannot be held hostage to a radical minority within the Republican party.

To that end, we need structural change to help Republican moderates fend off primary challenges from Trumpians in the House and Senate. There are a number of forms such changes can take. As the Supreme Court recognized in Rucho v. Common Cause<https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/588/18-422/>, Congress has broad power to set the rules for congressional redistricting even if states object. Congress can require districts to be drawn with bipartisan or nonpartisan commissions, which can help eliminate some of the more extreme forms of gerrymandering that lead to the election of more extreme Republican candidates. In light of the fact that moderate Republicans fear getting primaried by more extreme insurgents within the party, Congress can require the use of ranked choice voting, or other methods of voting that require winners to represent true electoral majorities….
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Posted in Election Meltdown<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>, Voting Rights Act<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>


“Supreme Court won’t fast-track Trump challenges to election results”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120391>
Posted on January 11, 2021 8:03 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120391> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/trump-election-fraud-supreme-court/2021/01/11/0d8ab026-541e-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_politics>

As expected, the Supreme Court refused Monday to fast-track a batch of challenges to the presidential election filed by President Trump and his allies.

The rejections came without comment or noted dissent<https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011121zor_5he6.pdf>, and were formal notifications of what already had become clear. Some of the petitions asking for the court to move quickly were filed in early December, and the court had not even called for responses from officials in the states where the results were challenged.

President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in Jan, 20, and the cases presumably will become moot after that.

Among the cases the court declined to expedite were Trump v. Biden and Trump v. Boockvar, which challenged the results in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, respectively. Other cases filed by Trump allies objected to the outcomes in Michigan and Georgia.

The Supreme Court has uniformly rejected challenges to the election results.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


“ESS voting machine company sends threats”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120389>
Posted on January 11, 2021 7:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120389> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Andrew Appel:<https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2021/01/11/ess-voting-machine-company-sends-threats/>

For over 15 years, election security experts and election integrity advocates have been communicating to their state and local election officials the dangers of touch-screen voting machines. The danger is simple: if fraudulent software is installed in the voting machine, it can steal votes in a way that a recount wouldn’t be able to detect or correct. That was true of the paperless touchscreens of the 2000s, and it’s still true of the ballot-marking devices (BMDs) and “all-in-one” machines such as the ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machine (see section 8 of this paper<https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~appel/papers/bmd-insecure.pdf>*). This analysis is based on the characteristics of the technology itself, and doesn’t require any conspiracy theories about who owns the voting-machine company.

In contrast, if an optical-scan voting machine was suspected to be hacked, the recount can assure an election outcome reflects the will of the voters, because the recount examines the very sheets of paper that the voters marked with a pen. In late 2020, many states were glad they used optical-scan voting machines with paper ballots: the recounts could demonstrate conclusively that the election results were legitimate, regardless of what software might have been installed in the voting machines or who owned the voting-machine companies. In fact, the vast majority of the states use optical-scan voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots, and in 2020 we saw clearly why that’s a good thing.

In November and December 2020, certain conspiracy theorists made unsupportable claims about the ownership of Dominion Voting Systems, which manufactured the voting machines used in Georgia. Dominion has sued for defamation<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/politics/dominion-voting-defamation-lawsuit/index.html>.

Dominion is the manufacturer of voting machines used in many states. Its rival, Election Systems and Software (ES&S), has an even bigger share of the market.

Apparently, ES&S must think that amongst all that confusion, the time is right to send threatening Cease & Desist letters to the legitimate critics of their ExpressVote XL voting machine. Their lawyers sent this letter<https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2021-01-04-cease-and-desist-letter-to-smart-elections-0029787725-1/> to the leaders of SMART Elections<https://smartelections.us/>, a journalism+advocacy organization in New York State who have been communicating to the New York State Board of Elections, explaining to the Board why it’s a bad idea to use the ExpressVote XL in New York (or in any state).

ES&S’s lawyers claim that certain facts (which they call “accusations”) are “false, defamatory, and disparaging”, namely: that the “ExpressVote XL can add, delete, or change the votes on individual ballots”, that the ExpressVote XL will “deteriorate our security and our ability to have confidence in our elections,” and that it is a “bad voting machine.”

Well, let me explain it for you. The ExpressVote XL, if hacked, can add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots — and no voting machine is immune from hacking. That’s why optical-scan voting machines are the way to go, because they can’t change what’s printed on the ballot. And let me explain some more: The ExpressVote XL, if adopted, will deteriorate our security and our ability to have confidence in our elections, and indeed it is a bad voting machine. And expensive, too!…
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Posted in voting technology<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>


“How to Ensure This Never Happens Again”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120387>
Posted on January 11, 2021 7:51 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120387> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Beverly Gage and Emily Bazelon for the NYT<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/opinion/election-reform.html>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Capitol Riot Prompts Some Big Banks and Companies to Pause Political Funding”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120385>
Posted on January 11, 2021 7:50 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120385> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ:<https://www.wsj.com/articles/capitol-riot-prompts-some-big-banks-and-companies-to-pause-political-funding-11610315288?mod=itp_wsj&mod=djemITP_h>

Two of the biggest U.S. banks and other corporations said they are pausing or reviewing their political action committee donations in the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol<https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-protesters-are-in-the-building-inside-the-capitol-stormed-by-a-pro-trump-mob-11609984654?mod=article_inline>.

JPMorgan<https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/JPM> JPM -0.01% <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/JPM?mod=chiclets> Chase & Co. and Citigroup<https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/C> Inc. C -0.09% <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/C?mod=chiclets> said they are pausing all PAC donations to Republicans and Democrats in the coming months. Other companies, including the Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance group and Marriott International<https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/MAR> Inc., MAR -1.11% <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/MAR?mod=chiclets> said they would pause donations to Republican lawmakers who objected to President-elect Joe Biden<https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/joe-biden>’s Electoral College win after supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol<https://www.wsj.com/articles/riot-at-the-u-s-capitol-11610068066?mod=article_inline> on Wednesday.

The actions follow a week in which businesses and their chief executives have sought ways to ensure a peaceful transition of power<https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-ceos-fire-rioters-call-for-president-trumps-removal-from-office-11610070410?mod=article_inline>, with some calling for Mr. Trump’s removal from office by invoking the 25th amendment<https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-splits-over-post-trump-path-11610147555?mod=article_inline> or impeachment<https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-prepares-for-trump-impeachment-could-add-charges-on-georgia-allegations-11610295488?mod=article_inline>. Others say they are holding back on such action as they await Mr. Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

The announcements could reflect an acceleration of recent trends among large companies to limit or better disclose political spending<https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-curb-their-political-spending-1538472601?mod=article_inline>.
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Posted in campaign finance<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>


“Democrats promise quick move to impeachment if 25th Amendment push fails”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120383>
Posted on January 10, 2021 8:23 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120383> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN:<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/10/politics/james-clyburn-impeachment-senate-trial-biden-cnntv/index.html>

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said for the first time Sunday the House will move to impeach President Donald Trump if Vice President Mike Pence does not remove him<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/mike-pence-25th-amendment/index.html>.

Pelosi said the House will attempt to pass a resolution by unanimous consent Monday morning calling for Pence and Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment <https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/25th-amendment-explainer/index.html> and remove Trump from office.

If the resolution doesn’t pass by unanimous consent — and it most assuredly won’t given likely Republican resistance — then the measure will be brought to the floor for a full vote on Tuesday.

The resolution will call on Pence to respond within 24 hours and, if not, the House would move to impeach the President.

“Next,” Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic colleagues, “we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the Floor.”
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Trump’s Effort To Overturn The Election Should Be Investigated Like 9/11”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120381>
Posted on January 10, 2021 8:13 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120381> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

John Harris<https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/10/trump-election-overturn-investigated-911-457269> in Politico:

No previous transition has raised similar doubts about whether the executive branch, including the military, is being run with a clear and lawful chain of command, with a psychologically competent individual at the top.

It is imperative that a multitude of urgent questions be answered in a comprehensive way, by an independent body with subpoena power to review documentary evidence and compel testimony under oath. The crisis Trump initiated needs to be examined with the equivalent of the 9/11 Commission<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Commission> established after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

At first blush, the comparison may seem overwrought. Obviously, nothing that has happened in the past ten weeks — including the grotesque and deadly mob takeover ofthe Capitol during the official certification of Biden’s victory — is of the same horrific, history-altering magnitude of 9/11.

The similarity flows from the way that both events demand public understanding and accountability. Both events represented attacks on the basic functioning of U.S. institutions. Both revealed vulnerabilities in our customs and procedures that many people did not sufficiently appreciate until disaster struck.

Here’s what we know for sure: There was an assault on rule of law at the U.S. Capitol led by people who were inspired by Trump and believed they were acting as he would wish them to do. If events had unfolded even slightly differently, the five fatalities could have been many times greater, and included many members of the House and Senate.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“Republicans largely silent about consequences of deadly attack and Trump’s role in inciting it”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120379>
Posted on January 10, 2021 8:06 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120379> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo:<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-trump-impeachment-attack/2021/01/09/62e4aea0-5289-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html>

Three days after a mob attack on the U.S. Capitol carried out in President Trump’s name, Republican leaders had yet to outline plans to hold anyone accountable or to alter a platform and priorities lashed to the outgoing Republican president.

Trump and some congressional Republicans, meanwhile, stepped up their efforts Saturday to head off Democratic efforts to impeach Trump over what they call his incitement of violence.

Behind closed doors, Trump and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner have encouraged allies to fight against a potential impeachment by issuing statements on social media or elsewhere that discourage or condemn the move, people familiar with the calls said.

It was not clear whether those efforts were having much success. Republican allies of the president were mainly muted Saturday, as pressure continued to mount among Democrats to try to force Trump from office before his term expires Jan. 20.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“The GOP’s sudden and convenient distancing from Trump’s voter fraud claims”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120377>
Posted on January 10, 2021 8:04 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120377> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Aaron Blake<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/08/gops-sudden-convenient-distancing-trumps-voter-fraud-claims/> for WaPo.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Fact-checking Josh Hawley’s claim about Pennsylvania’s election law | PolitFact”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120375>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:59 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120375> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Politfact reports.<https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/09/fact-checking-josh-hawleys-claim-about-pennsylvanias-election-law-politfact/>

Hawley’s central argument is that a new state law about voting by mail — passed not “last year” but in the fall of 2019 — conflicts with the state’s constitution. The courts have not backed up his argument, and he omits the full story about the new law. The state constitution doesn’t have an explicit ban on mail-in voting, and the law permitting mail-in voting passed with strong Republican support…..

Hawley said, “Last year, Pennsylvania elected officials passed a whole new law that allows universal mail-in balloting, and did it irregardless of what the Pennsylvania Constitution said.”

To suggest that lawmakers passed a law that plainly violated the state constitution is wrong. The point Hawley raised is debatable, not clear cut.

Additionally, Pennsylvania lawmakers cared enough about constitutionality to give a window of time — 180 days — for people to challenge the law’s constitutionality. No one did until Trump lost the election there.

Finally, it’s important context to note that election experts said that what Hawley argued for — congressional intervention — was the wrong remedy for a question about the state constitution.

We rate this claim Mostly False.
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>


“Records Prove The Obvious: Fervent Trump Fans Fueled The Capitol Siege”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120373>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120373> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://www.huffpost.com/entry/records-prove-trump-fans-fueled-capitol-siege_n_5ffbaa09c5b66f3f795f1169>

They came from across America, summoned by President Donald Trump<https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump> to march on Washington in support of his false claim that the November election was stolen and to stop the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden<https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/joe-biden> as the victor.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump tweeted a week before Christmas. “Be there, will be wild!”

The insurrectionist mob that showed up at the president’s behest and stormed the U.S. Capitol was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party<https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/republican-party> officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals. Records show that some were heavily armed and included convicted criminals, such as a Florida man recently released from prison for attempted murder.

The Associated Press reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 unrest or who, going maskless amid the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee.

The evidence gives lie to claims by right-wing pundits and Republican officials such as Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that the violence was perpetrated by left-wing antifa thugs rather than supporters of the president.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Alaska Supreme Court confirms Rep. Lance Pruitt’s 11-vote loss in Anchorage state House race”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120371>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:47 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120371> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Anchorage Daily News reports.<https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2021/01/09/alaska-supreme-court-confirms-rep-lance-pruitts-11-vote-loss-in-anchorage-state-house-race/>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Trump’s voter fraud lies encouraged a riot. GOP allies are still giving them oxygen.”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120369>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:43 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120369> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jane Timm<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-voter-fraud-lies-encouraged-riot-gop-allies-are-n1253509> for NBC News:

Allegations of voter fraud and irregularities have been used by Republicans to sow distrust in the American electoral system for decades, experts said, laying the groundwork for Trump’s sweeping claim that widespread fraud denied him a second term and priming the party’s base to believe him despite his inability to prove it. These same falsehoods, the experts said, will be used to restrict ballot-box access in the future<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-s-false-fraud-claims-are-laying-groundwork-new-voting-n1250059>.

“The same lies that drove the insurrections were also being repeated on the floor of the Congress by the people trying to upend the people’s votes,” said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. “And those are the same lies we’re going to hear in state capitols by people trying to restrict the vote.”

Hawley and Cruz, who are widely believed to be eyeing bids for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, have been fiercely criticized<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-josh-hawley-becomes-public-enemy-no-1-capitol-hill-n1253470> for their roles in stoking the unrest that led to the deadly clashes in the nation’s capital.

After weeks of defending Trump’s stolen election claims with statements of concern about widespread voter fraud that doesn’t exist, they led the effort in the Senate to object to the certification<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/live-blog/electoral-college-certification-updates-n1252864/ncrd1253215> of Biden’s victory in the Electoral College while ignoring the facts. Since November, there had been numerous hand counts, audits, legal challenges and investigations into voter fraud that turned up nothing to support Trump’s claim and the senators’ justification for challenging Biden’s victory. Nonetheless, Republican senators have argued further investigation is warranted.

In an interview with NBC DFW Thursday<https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-sen-cruz-answers-questions-after-events-at-us-capitol/2522604/>, Cruz said he was “debating” election integrity, “that has nothing to do with this criminal terrorist assault.”

Responding to calls for his resignation, Hawley stood by his decision to object to the certification of the 2020 election. “I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections. That’s my job, and I will keep doing it,” he said in a Thursday statement<https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/hawley-stands-by-decision-object-calls-resignation-trump-capitol/63-9ae45b2a-afcf-45cf-ba9e-3ac7de4a59a2>.

Before the election, Trump and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits trying to limit mail voting<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/all-out-war-over-mail-voting-has-erupted-courts-across-n1235216> and make it more difficult, challenging longstanding mail voting mechanisms like drop boxes. Some courts protested at the lack of evidence the campaign presented as proof of the threat of fraud. After Biden’s win, the president and his allies filed at least 57 lawsuits across the county contesting the results with allegations of fraud and irregularities; 50 have been denied, dismissed, or withdrawn, according to NBC News’ tally. Former Attorney General William Barr, still leading the Department of Justice at the time, said no widespread fraud was evident<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/barr-says-no-evidence-widespread-voter-fraud-defying-trump-n1249581>. Republican officials in Arizona and Georgia, states Biden flipped blue, withstood enormous pressure from Trump<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-begs-georgia-secretary-state-overturn-election-results-remarkable-hourlong-n1252692> and his allies to vouch for the integrity of the results, with some fact-checking the president in public and private to try and counter misinformation.

“There have already been investigations conducted by election officials, by investigative journalists and by courts. There’s really nothing left to investigate,” said Rick Hasen, a professor and election law expert at the University of California, Irvine. “This election was perhaps the most watched, and perhaps for that reason, the cleanest election I think we’ve seen in American political history.”
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D120369&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%E2%80%99s%20voter%20fraud%20lies%20encouraged%20a%20riot.%20GOP%20allies%20are%20still%20giving%20them%20oxygen.%E2%80%9D>
Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Nebraska Bill Would Eliminate Split Electoral College Vote (That Helped Biden)<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120367>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:36 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120367> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

KMTV:<https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/ne-bills-would-combine-electoral-votes-and-require-voter-id-ne-02-would-not-be-counted-separately>

This past election, Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which includes Omaha and most of the metro, gave their electoral college vote to Joe Biden. It was the first time it went blue since 2008.

Now one Republican state senator wants to change the system, giving all the state’s votes to the statewide winner.

“I think that going back to the winner take all system gives all Nebraskans a say in how we distribute all five of our electoral college votes and is structurally a more sound system,” said State Sen. Julie Slama.

It led to President Donald Trump visiting Omaha just a week before the election.
[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D120367&title=Nebraska%20Bill%20Would%20Eliminate%20Split%20Electoral%20College%20Vote%20(That%20Helped%20Biden)>
Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


Profound, Personal, Eloquent Video Statement From Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120364>
Posted on January 10, 2021 7:51 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120364> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
[cid:image002.jpg at 01D6E7F1.B88EF700] [cid:image003.png at 01D6E7F1.B88EF700]  Arnold<https://twitter.com/schwarzenegger?s=11> ⁦‪@Schwarzenegger⁩<https://twitter.com/schwarzenegger?s=11> [cid:image004.png at 01D6E7F1.B88EF700]  My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week’s attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5<https://t.co/blOy35LWJ5>   1/10/21, 7:45 AM<https://twitter.com/schwarzenegger/status/1348249481284874240?s=11>


[Share]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D120364&title=Profound%2C%20Personal%2C%20Eloquent%20Video%20Statement%20From%20Former%20Gov.%20Arnold%20Schwarzenegger>
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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