[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/9/21

Tue Mar 9 07:15:00 PST 2021

“From vote to virus, misinformation campaign targets Latinos”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121121>
Posted on March 9, 2021 7:08 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121121> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP:<https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-race-and-ethnicity-media-misinformation-9696392bf389ba8ca3441d2314abcefa>

The effort showed how social media and other technology can be leveraged to spread misinformation so quickly that those trying to stop it cannot keep up. There were signs that it worked as Donald Trump swung large numbers of Latino votes in the 2020 presidential race in some areas that had been Democratic strongholds.

Videos and pictures were doctored. Quotes were taken out of context. Conspiracy theories were fanned, including that voting by mail was rigged, that the Black Lives Matter movement had ties to witchcraft and that Biden was beholden to a cabal of socialists.

That flow of misinformation has only intensified since Election Day, researchers and political analysts say, stoking Trump’s baseless claims that the election was stolen and false narratives around the mob that overran the Capitol.

More recently, it has morphed into efforts to undermine vaccination efforts against the coronavirus.

“The volume and sources of Spanish language information are exceedingly wide-ranging and that should scare everyone,” Perez said.

The funding and the organizational structure of this effort is not clear, although the messages show a fealty to Trump and opposition to Democrats.

A nonpartisan academic report<https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:tr171zs0069/EIP-Final-Report.pdf> released this past week said most false narratives in the Spanish-language community “were translated from English and circulated via prominent platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as in closed group chat platforms like WhatsApp, and efforts often appeared coordinated across platforms.”
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Posted in cheap speech<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=130>, chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

“After 2020 fraud claims, Donald Trump requests mail ballot”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121118>
Posted on March 9, 2021 7:04 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121118> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Palm Beach Post<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2021/03/08/former-president-trump-requests-mail-ballot-after-2020-fraud-claims/4628538001/>:

Former President Donald Trump is set to fulfill his civic duty as a private citizen and vote in the town of Palm Beach’s municipal election<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2021/02/14/what-you-need-know-2021-municipal-elections-palm-beach-county/6736622002/>.

Despite his false claims about mail voting during the 2020 election cycle, Trump requested a mail ballot on Friday for the third time in his Palm Beach County voter history.

The request was made nearly a week after the deadline to have a ballot be sent by mail. Mail ballots can be requested through Tuesday but must be picked up in person by the voter or a designee.

It is likely that Trump had an associate pick up the ballot in person on his behalf, as he did for the presidential primary last March<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20200311/president-trump-requests-absentee-ballot> and for the August<https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/county/2020/08/13/floridas-most-famous-mail-in-voter-will-do-it-again-trump-requests-ballot/113181618/> primary.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Georgia Senate votes to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121116>
Posted on March 9, 2021 7:00 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121116> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AJC:<https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-senate-votes-to-eliminate-no-excuse-absentee-voting/NGQOBV6XB5GGDCCNLTAJFQIDJI/>

The Georgia Senate passed a bill Monday to roll back no-excuse absentee voting and require more voter ID, which would create new obstacles for voters after Republicans lost elections for president and the U.S. Senate.

The legislation would reduce the availability of absentee voting, restricting<https://www.ajc.com/politics/senate-panel-backs-bill-to-end-automatic-voter-registration-in-georgia/HLQU3OUNKNDYPJHGXXWQRPMC7U/> it to those who are at least 65 years old, have a physical disability or are out of town. In addition, Georgians would need to provide a driver’s license number, state ID number or other identification.

The Senate approved the bill on a party-line 29-20 vote, a one-vote majority of the chamber’s 56 senators required by the Georgia Constitution for legislation to pass.

Democrats unified against the voting limitations over three hours of passionate debate, saying the restrictions would especially harm Black voters after struggles for ballot access during the civil rights movement. Four Republican senators excused themselves, along with Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, the Senate’s presiding officer who opposed the bill<https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/georgias-no-2-republican-boycotts-debate-over-election-restrictions/EUJNGU34MFG3XFBC4I5RZVLJ3Q/> but doesn’t get a vote. The bill now advances to the state House of Representatives.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“The Recount Arizona Republicans Are Calling for Has Big Implications”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121114>
Posted on March 9, 2021 6:58 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121114> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Steven Rosenfeld:<https://billmoyers.com/story/the-recount-arizona-republicans-are-calling-for-has-big-implications/>

After winning a lawsuit to take possession of all of the 2020 presidential ballots and election equipment in Arizona’s most populous county, Arizona’s Republican-led Senate is poised to take 2020’s post-election brawls into new territory where investigating unproven claims of electronically stolen votes, not widespread illegal voting, will be center stage.

Many Republicans, including Arizona legislators, have voiced their belief that former President Trump was unfairly denied a second term, citing<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfC2T7UpxkI> various vote-centered conspiracies. In 61 out of 62<https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2021/01/06/trumps-failed-efforts-overturn-election-numbers/4130307001/> post-election lawsuits filed by Trump’s allies across the country, scores of federal and state judges rejected those assertions as groundless and lacking proof.

But now that Arizona’s Senate has affirmed its authority to investigate the accuracy of 2020’s presidential vote count in America’s second-largest<https://www.maricopa.gov/5539/Voting-Equipment-Facts> election jurisdiction—Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located—the focus has shifted from legislators fanning<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfC2T7UpxkI> unproven claims of stolen votes to whether Republican lawmakers will conduct a credible evidence-centered inquiry.

“The Senate has and is doing a 100 percent audit, which is why we fought so hard to have access to all the data and documents,” Arizona Senate President Karen Fann wrote<https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2038601889620645&id=100004125614914> on Facebook on March 2. “We are doing extensive research, interviewing, and background checks to make sure we find the best team available… This is and has always been about election integrity and getting answers to our constituents’ questions and concerns.”

The exercise will not change the election results, which have been certified. Trump lost Arizona by 10,457 votes<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-arizona-president.html>, a closer margin than in Georgia<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-georgia-president.html>, where that GOP-led state conducted a manual hand count of all of its presidential election ballots, and then electronically recounted those same paper ballots. It twice confirmed Joe Biden’s victory over Trump before certifying the result. The investigation that is taking shape in Arizona could be as thorough as what was undertaken in Georgia, or it could descend into political theater to placate Trump’s base.

“As you know, there is no credible evidence for any of the conspiracy theories that have abounded about the 2020 General Election,” wrote<https://independentmediainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Fann-Letter-3_3_2021.pdf> Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, to Fann and Sen. Warren Petersen on March 3. “If your goal is truly to rebuild public confidence in our democracy, it is imperative that you establish and abide by clear procedures and parameters for the security and confidentiality of the ballots and election equipment while in your custody and ensure independence and transparency should you proceed with any further audit.”
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Posted in fraudulent fraud squad<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>

“Iowa governor signs controversial law shortening early and Election Day voting”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121112>
Posted on March 9, 2021 6:57 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=121112> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN<https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/08/politics/kim-reynolds-voting-iowa/index.html>:

Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed into law a controversial bill <https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/politics/iowa-voting-gop-bill-governor/index.html> aimed at limiting voting and making it harder for voters to return absentee ballots, her office announced Monday<https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/gov-reynolds-signs-legislation-into-law-6>.

The legislation, which passed both Republican-controlled chambers of the state legislature last month, will reduce the number of early voting days from 29 days to 20 days. It will also close polling places an hour earlier on Election Day (at 8 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.).

The bill additionally places new restrictions on absentee voting including banning officials from sending applications without a voter first requesting one and requiring ballots be received by the county before polls close on Election Day.
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Posted in absentee ballots<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53>, The Voting Wars<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

--
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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