[EL] Announcing the New Fair Elections and Free Speech Center at UCI Law

Tue Jul 20 08:48:04 PDT 2021

I am glad UCI has established the Fair Elections & Free Speech Center.  I hope its leaders will include election law problems that impact voters who want to vote for minor party and independent candidates.
Alabama has kept all parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, and all non-presidential independent candidates, off its ballot for over 20 years, and even handles its list of registered voters in a discriminatory fashion (Dem & Rep Parties get the list free; other parties must pay $36,000).
Arizona has kept all minor party nominee for office other than president off its ballots in 2016, 2018, and 2020, and appears likely to do the same in 2022.  The Arizona petition deadline for a new or previously unqualified party is in November of the year before the election, and outrageous deadline when one looks at when new parties have been founded in history, including the founding of the Republican Party in July of an election year.
Arkansas's deadline for a new or previously unqualified party is September of the year before the election.
California has kept all minor parties for office other than president off its general regularly-scheduled elections starting in 2012, except in the rare races when only one major party runs anyone.
Georgia has not had a minor party or independent candidate for US House on the ballot of a regularly-scheduled election since 1964.  That law was held unconstitutional on March 29, 2021, but the legislature has ignored it so far.
Illinois has not had a successful petition for US House by either an unqualified party or an independent since 1974, except in cases when no one challenged such a petition.  Also this generalization does not apply to election years ending in "2", when the requirements are far easier.
Indiana has not had a successful minor party or independent candidate petition for statewide office in over 20 years.
Kansas has not had a successful petition for a new or previously unqualified party since 2000, except for Americans Elect in 2011, but Americans Elect then didn't run anyone.
Massachusetts, for the las5 50 years, has had only one candidate on the general election ballot for US House in over one-third of its races, and always has only one candidate on the ballot for its legislative races in over half the races.
Minnesota's petition for party status is so severe, it has existed since 1913 and has never been successfully used.
North Carolina's petition for independent candidates, including president, is in the first week of March, which completely contradicts Anderson v Celebrezze, but the Fourth Circuit upheld it in 2020 and the US Supreme Court declined cert.

Pennsylvania's law on how a party automatically is on the ballot (without multiple general election petitions for each of its nominees) is so severe, if it were the law in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and D.C., the Republican Party would not be on the ballot without substantial petitioning for each nominee; the Democratic Party would not be on the ballot in Idaho and Utah.
Tennessee's petition for a new or previously unqualified party to get on the ballot has not been used successfully since 1968.  Even Americans Elect in 2011 failed to comply, despite the organization's being backed by a multi-millionaire, almost a billionaire.
And the exclusion of minor party and independent candidates from the general election presidential debates is a major rejection of free speech values that has no parallel in the remainder of the democratic world.  Britain at election time has held seven-party debates, and Canada has had five-party debates.

Richard Winger 415-922-9779 PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147 

    On Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 8:20:21 AM PDT, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:  

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https://electionlawblog.org/?p=123550

I’m delighted to share the news, scooped by Politico, that my UCI Law colleague David Kaye and I have started the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center at the law school. Why such a Center?

As I state in our opening press release, American democracy is under increasing strain, and the 2020 election exacerbated threats to the rule of law and to public confidence in fair elections. Much of that is thanks to the rise of social media. The new Center will look at what’s wrong, and what can be done, to strengthen democratic institutions in the U.S. and around the world.

And as David Kaye says, ““We are launching the Center at a moment when democratic participation is under attack not only in the United States but worldwide. In addition to a domestic focus rooted in the fundamentals of American law, we will bring a global perspective, using human rights norms to research and advocate for freedom of expression and public participation as central pillars of democratic societies.”

As we explain at the Center’s website:

Established in 2021 after the contentious 2020 U.S. Presidential elections, which culminated in the dangerous January 6, 2021 insurrection in the United States Capitol, the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center at UCI Law is unique in its focus among U.S. and global institutions. It is dedicated solely to advancing an understanding of, and offering means to counter, threats to the stability and legitimacy of democratic governments exacerbated by the unregulated growth of digital media and other technological changes in mass communication. The Center will facilitate deep scholarship on American law, politics, and democracy as well as on global norms and institutions.

We have assembled a world-class advisory board to help guide our mission, which is to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the digital age both in the U.S. and around the world. I’m blown away by the folks who signed on to advise us.

And we are going to hit the ground running, with a series of free, virtual events, open to all in the fall. Among the most important events is a conference on Election Subversion, on Friday Sept. 24. Speakers include Georgia SOS Brad Raffensperger. Here’s the tentative agenda:

The Fair Elections and Free Speech Center will also have a three-part lunch series on challenges in global elections, beginning w a Sept. 1 event looking at disinformation in elections in Uganda, Israel, and the Netherlands.

will also have a three-part lunch series on disinformation in American elections. One panel features Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Orange County Registrar Neal Kelly. Others will feature social scientists and law profs.

I’m also excited to moderate a Fair Elections and Free Speech Center conversation on Sept. 9, Is the U.S. Constitution Up to the Task of Preserving American Democracy?, with Jack Balkin, Michele Goodwin, and Michael Klarman.

We have much bigger plans for the Center going forward, as we begin our building and fundraising efforts. David Kaye and I cannot thank former UCI Law Dean Song Richardson enough for her early leadership on this project, and the tremendous law school staff.

You can watch this video, in which David Kaye and I explain why we started the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center, and what we hope to do.

-- 

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

http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/

http://electionlawblog.org

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