[EL] Ranked choice voting valid ballots in irginia (was Re: ELB News and Commentary 5/10/21)

Mon May 10 13:05:12 PDT 2021

Relating to Rick Pildes' observation about the London elections, what's
coming out of the use of ranked choice voting in the Republican Party of
Virginia unassembled convention to nominate candidates for governor, lt.
governor and attorney general is instructive.

Although the Virginia GOP used RCV to select its party chair last year and
nominate some candidates in governor's races, this was a first-ever use of
ranked choice voting for many of the 30,566 delegates casting ballots this
weekend. Of that number, only 42 (0.14%) did not register a valid first
choice. And were seeing very high rates of ranking candidates. In the
attorney general race that was hand-tallied yesterday, for example, nearly
a third of ballots were cast for the two candidates in 3rd and 4th. But of
ballots cast for those candidates, 89% ranked at least one of the two
finalists as a backup choice. The "retention" of votes from first round to
the instant runoff is much higher than the 38% dropoff seen on average
in congressional primary runoffs that FairVote has studied
<https://www.fairvote.org/primary_runoff_elections_and_decline_in_voter_turnout>over
the past 25 years.

For those interested in tracking the Virginia results today, FairVote is
providing updates here <https://www.fairvote.org/va_gop_results>. Vpap.org
has a very helpful Twitter feed <https://twitter.com/vpapupdates> with
visuals and analysis as well.

Rob Richie

On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 10:01 AM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> “Trump 2020 Election Lawsuits Lead to Requests to Discipline Lawyers;
> Courts, licensing bodies consider whether attorneys abused the legal system
> in challenging vote results” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122063>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:49 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122063> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WSJ reports.
> <https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-2020-election-lawsuits-lead-to-requests-to-discipline-lawyers-11620568801?st=3lb0thf77gpqr22&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122063&title=%E2%80%9CTrump%202020%20Election%20Lawsuits%20Lead%20to%20Requests%20to%20Discipline%20Lawyers%3B%20Courts%2C%20licensing%20bodies%20consider%20whether%20attorneys%20abused%20the%20legal%20system%20in%20challenging%20vote%20results%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Opinion: Close this FEC loophole that killed the case over Trump’s
> payment to Stormy Daniels” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122059>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:46 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122059> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub’s WaPo oped
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/09/fec-trump-stormy-daniels-case-ellen-weintraub/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_opinions&utm_campaign=wp_opinions>
> :
>
> *But when the FEC’s professional legal staff recommended the commission
> investigate, two Republican commissioners instead tanked the case without a
> word about its merits. Since Cohen had already been prosecuted, they said
> <https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7313/7313_27.pdf>, “pursuing these
> matters further was not the best use of agency resources.”*
>
> *Now, we’re pretty busy at the FEC, digging out from all the matters that
> piled up for more than a year while we were short on commissioners — and
> therefore unable to decide cases.*
>
> *But are we too busy to enforce the law against the former president of
> the United States for his brazen violation of federal campaign finance laws
> on the eve of a presidential election? No.*
>
> *Would pursuing this matter have been an unwise use of resources? Of
> course not. Taxpayers entrust us with resources exactly so that we can
> pursue enforcement in important cases and ensure that no one is above the
> law. This dismissal of the allegations against Trump is arbitrary,
> capricious, outrageous and contrary to the law that Congress created the
> FEC to enforce.*
>
> *It gets worse. The Republican commissioners’ grossly inadequate
> justification for dismissal is effectively insulated from review because of
> the last 13 words of their statement
> <https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7313/7313_27.pdf>: “We voted to
> dismiss these matters as an exercise of our prosecutorial discretion.” The
> courts have turned “prosecutorial discretion” into magic words that render
> any administrative decision invulnerable to appeal.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122059&title=%E2%80%9COpinion%3A%20Close%20this%20FEC%20loophole%20that%20killed%20the%20case%20over%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20payment%20to%20Stormy%20Daniels%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in federal election commission
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
>
>
>
>
> “Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman blasts Trump-inspired Arizona
> election audit” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122057>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:42 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122057> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Seattle Times reports.
> <https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/washington-secretary-of-state-kim-wyman-blasts-trump-inspired-arizona-election-audit/>
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122057&title=%E2%80%9CWashington%20Secretary%20of%20State%20Kim%20Wyman%20blasts%20Trump-inspired%20Arizona%20election%20audit%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “In Arizona, a Troubled Voting Review Plods On as Questions Mount”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122055>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:41 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122055> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT:
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/us/arizona-vote-count-republicans.html>
>
> *Directly outside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum near downtown Phoenix,
> the Crazy Times Carnival
> <https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2021/04/28/crazy-times-carnival-take-place-same-grounds-election-audit/4876686001/> wraps
> up an 11-day run on Sunday, a spectacle of thrill rides, games and food
> stands that headlines the Arizona State Fair this year.*
>
> *Inside the coliseum, a Republican-ordered exhumation and review of 2.1
> million votes in the state’s November election is heading into its third
> week, an exercise that has risen to become the lodestar of rigged-vote
> theorists — and shows no sign of ending soon.*
>
> *Arizona’s Secretary of State Katie Hobbs noted the carnival’s presence
> outside the coliseum when she challenged the competence and objectivity of
> the review last week, expressing concern about the security of the ballots
> inside in an apparent dig at what has become a spectacle of a very
> different sort.*
>
> *There is no evidence that former President Donald J. Trump’s narrow loss
> in Arizona’s presidential election in the fall was fraudulent. Nonetheless,
> 16 Republicans in the State Senate voted to subpoena ballots in Maricopa
> County, home to Phoenix and two-thirds of the state’s vote in November, for
> an audit to show Trump die-hards that their fraud concerns were taken
> seriously.*
>
> *As recently as a week ago, officials said the review would be completed
> by May 14. But with that deadline a week away, only about 250,000 of the
> county’s 2.1 million ballots have been processed in the hand recount that
> is a central part of the review, Ken Bennett, a liaison between those
> conducting the review and the senators, said on Saturday.*
>
> *At that rate, the hand recount would not be finished until August.*
>
> *The delay is but the latest snag in an exercise that many critics claim
> is wrecking voters’ confidence in elections, not restoring it. Since the
> State Senate first ordered it in December, the review has been dogged by
> controversy
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/us/Election-audit-Arizona-Republicans.html?searchResultPosition=2>.
> Republicans dominate the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which
> supervised the election in the county. They said it was fair and accurate
> and opposed the review….*
>
> *After a week marked by mounting accusations
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/us/arizona-vote-count-republicans.html?searchResultPosition=4> of
> partisan skulduggery, mismanagement and even potential illegality, at least
> one Republican supporter of the new count said it could not end soon
> enough.*
>
> *“It makes us look like idiots,” State Senator Paul Boyer, a Republican
> from suburban Phoenix who supported the audit, said on Friday. “Looking
> back, I didn’t think it would be this ridiculous. It’s embarrassing to be a
> state senator at this point.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122055&title=%E2%80%9CIn%20Arizona%2C%20a%20Troubled%20Voting%20Review%20Plods%20On%20as%20Questions%20Mount%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “The making of a myth” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122053>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:38 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122053> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> WaPo deep dive:
>
> *Key elements of the baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from
> President Donald Trump took shape in an airplane hangar here two years
> earlier, promoted by a Republican businessman who has sold everything from
> Tex-Mex food in London to a wellness technology that beams light into the
> human bloodstream.*
>
> *At meetings beginning late in 2018, as Republicans were smarting from
> midterm losses in Texas and across the country, Russell J. Ramsland Jr. and
> his associates delivered alarming presentations on electronic voting to a
> procession of conservative lawmakers, activists and donors.*
>
> *Briefings in the hangar had a clandestine air. Guests were asked to leave
> their cellphones outside before assembling in a windowless room. A member
> of Ramsland’s team purporting to be a “white-hat hacker” identified himself
> only by a code name…*
>
> *The enduring myth that the 2020 election was rigged was not one claim by
> one person. It was many claims stacked one atop the other, repeated by a
> phalanx of Trump allies. This is the previously unreported origin story of
> a core set of those claims, ideas that were advanced not by renowned
> experts or by insiders who had knowledge of flawed voting systems but by
> Ramsland and fellow conservative activists as they pushed a fledgling
> company, Allied Security Operations Group, into a quixotic attempt to find
> evidence of widespread fraud where none existed.*
>
> *To assemble a picture of the company’s role, The Washington Post obtained
> emails and company documents and interviewed 12people with direct knowledge
> of ASOG’s efforts, as well as former federal officials and aides from the
> Trump White House. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
> private matters or out of fear of retribution. Three individuals who were
> present in the hangar for those 2018 meetings spoke about the gatherings
> publicly for the first time.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122053&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20making%20of%20a%20myth%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “GOP’s Voting Curbs Show Long Reach of 2013 Supreme Court Ruling”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122051>
>
> Posted on May 10, 2021 6:32 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122051> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Bloomberg
> <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-08/gop-s-voting-curbs-show-long-reach-of-2013-supreme-court-ruling?sref=aUHU1jme&utm_source=url_link>
> :
>
> *Republicans across the U.S. can thank the Supreme Court and Chief Justice
> John Roberts as they enact the country’s most significant voting
> restrictions in generations.*
>
> *The court’s watershed 2013 Shelby County ruling created a glide path for
> many of election changes GOP
> <https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/0120676D:US>-controlled legislatures are
> pushing this year. The Roberts-written decision wiped out the 1965 Voting
> Rights Act’s requirement that jurisdictions with a deep history of
> discrimination get federal preclearance before changing their voting rules.*
>
> *Texas is poised to join Georgia as a GOP-controlled state using its
> newfound freedom from that requirement to enact measures that critics say
> suppress voting by racial minorities. Other states that weren’t subject to
> preclearance, including Florida, are also passing restrictions, creating a
> cascade of new voting laws that could boost Republicans in the 2022 and
> 2024 elections.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122051&title=%E2%80%9CGOP%E2%80%99s%20Voting%20Curbs%20Show%20Long%20Reach%20of%202013%20Supreme%20Court%20Ruling%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Supreme Court <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting
> Rights Act <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
>
>
>
>
> Bad Ballot Design in London Mayor’s Race Leads 1 out of 30 Votes Cast to
> be Rejected <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122048>
>
> Posted on May 9, 2021 1:49 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122048> by *Richard
> Pildes* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> For this race, Londoners used an RCV system, in which they were permitted
> to rank their first and second choices. But a terrible, confusing ballot
> design led a significant number of voters to cast a first choice for two
> different candidates — resulting in their ballots being tossed out. This is
> a problem of ballot design, not inherent to RCV. But I would not be
> surprised to see this debacle being used in arguments against RCV. Here’s
> the ballot:
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122048&title=Bad%20Ballot%20Design%20in%20London%20Mayor%E2%80%99s%20Race%20Leads%201%20out%20of%2030%20Votes%20Cast%20to%20be%20Rejected>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “After Facing Numerous Recall Attempts, Democratic Lawmakers Want To
> Change Rules” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122044>
>
> Posted on May 9, 2021 8:53 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122044> by *Richard
> Pildes* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> This story is out of Colorado, from the CPR Ne
> <https://www.cpr.org/2021/05/06/after-facing-numerous-recall-attempts-democratic-lawmakers-want-to-change-rules/>ws.
> Proponents assert that there are good government reasons for these changes.
> But the story notes that the vote in committee to report out this bill was
> on a straight party-line basis.
>
> *As voters have installed Democrats in the state’s top offices,
> conservative activists have increasingly turned to recalls to reverse the
> blue tide.*
>
> *Gov. Jared Polis has been the target of two recall efforts
> <https://www.cpr.org/2020/11/13/latest-polis-recall-effort-misses-signature-deadline/>,
> although neither turned in enough signatures to force an election. Groups
> also circulated recall petitions against two state senators
> <https://www.cpr.org/2019/08/01/recalls-excite-the-base-but-are-they-the-right-move-for-colorados-gop/> in
> 2019, and they threatened to try to recall two representatives, too. Those
> efforts also fell short of the needed signatures. *
>
> *Now, as part of a larger election law “clean up” bill
> <http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-250>, lawmakers could change some of
> the rules for future recalls.*
>
> *If the bill becomes law, recall petitions would be required to include an
> estimated cost of conducting a special election, as well as a statement
> from the official being targeted for recall, if they provide one.*
>
> *“This is a big, disruptive force in our democratic process. I think it’s
> important that voters have, maybe not the full picture, but at least a
> sentence from both sides,” said Sen. Majority Leader Steve Fenburg, one of
> the bill’s sponsors. “It’s really just to make sure the information is out
> there, in that these recall efforts are being used for legitimate purposes
> and not for purely routine political attacks.”*
>
> *The bill also bans recall efforts against an official whose office will
> be up for election within six months.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122044&title=%E2%80%9CAfter%20Facing%20Numerous%20Recall%20Attempts%2C%20Democratic%20Lawmakers%20Want%20To%20Change%20Rules%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> Why Puerto Rican House Members Are Divided Over Puerto Rican Statehood
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122042>
>
> Posted on May 8, 2021 7:57 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122042> by *Richard
> Pildes* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>
>
> Given the intense politics within Puerto Rico over statehood v.
> commonwealth status, it is rare to find journalistic stories that capture
> well the positions in this debate. This long essay
> <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/colonialism-or-democracy> from
> Ben Jacobs at the DC Examiner is one of the best efforts to do so I’ve read
> recently. A strength of the piece is the way it links the political
> dynamics within Puerto Rico to the surprising politics within the mainland
> political parties, particularly the Democratic Party.
>
> Here’s a couple small excerpts, but those interested in the issue should
> read the full piece;
>
> *So, what’s the holdup? Some of the most ardent opposition to Puerto Rican
> statehood comes from the Left.*
>
> *It may seem counterintuitive, but the debate over Puerto Rico’s status
> has become a primarily intra-Democratic fight, one that doesn’t fall along
> neat ideological lines and divides the four Democrats of Puerto Rican
> heritage within the caucus. Darren Soto of Florida and Ritchie Torres of
> New York support it, while Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
> <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez?utm_campaign=autolink&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=autolink> and
> Nydia Velazquez, both of New York, oppose the proposals….*
>
> *Instead, the battlefield shifted to two competing bills on Capitol Hill.
> The first would grant Puerto Rico statehood after one final, binding
> referendum, along the same model through which Alaska and Hawaii were
> admitted to the union in the 1950s. The second is more amorphous. It is
> entitled the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act
> <https://velazquez.house.gov/sites/velazquez.house.gov/files/VELAZQ_043_xml_3_18_21.pdf> and
> would create a “semi-permanent” status convention to which Puerto Ricans
> would elect delegates in order to negotiate with a congressional commission
> on the island’s future. The results would be subject to a ranked-choice
> referendum in which every option except the status quo would be on the
> ballot and would purportedly bind Congress to the result….*
>
> *However, opponents of the statehood bill see the vote as illegitimate, a
> ploy by statehood supporters that did not offer the full range of options
> to vote. In an April hearing on the topic held by the House Committee on
> Natural Resources, Velazquez argued, “This should be about a process that
> respects the will of the people, not try to stack the deck or use millions
> of dollars to skew the outcome.”…*
>
> *A convention process, in contrast, would allow a broad, free-ranging
> discussion about a variety of status options ranging from statehood to
> independence. “Self-determination in Puerto Rico shouldn’t come down to a
> simple ballot referendum,” tweeted
> <https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1390017311466311682?s=20> Ocasio-Cortez on
> May 5, calling it “a process that states use to resolve questions like dog
> racing or cannabis & are easily challenged. Determination of status,
> citizenship, and decolonization merit a constitutional convention.” The
> problem is that there really are not a lot of options available.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122042&title=Why%20Puerto%20Rican%20House%20Members%20Are%20Divided%20Over%20Puerto%20Rican%20Statehood>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “Republicans continue their nationwide campaign to restrict voting”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122038>
>
> Posted on May 7, 2021 4:27 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122038> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Fredreka Schouten
> <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/politics/voting-rights-florida-texas/index.html> for
> CNN:
>
> *Republicans in key states intensified their push to roll back access to
> the ballot this week — with the GOP-led Texas House passing new voting
> limits Friday, a day after Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed
> into law an array of new restrictions in his state.*
>
> *Republicans in the Texas House pushed past objections from corporate
> giants
> <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/04/politics/businesses-texas-voting-restrictions/index.html> such
> as American Airlines and Microsoft, and fierce protests from Democratic
> lawmakers and voting rights advocates.The vote came after an often-heated
> debate on the floor of the Texas House with Democratic lawmakers pressing
> the bill’s author, GOP Rep. Briscoe Cain, to cite examples of the election
> fraud the bill sought to prevent.”We don’t need to wait for bad things to
> happen” to take action, Cain responded at one point/*
>
> *The vote moves Texas closer to joining a host of other states racing to
> change the ground rules for future elections, following former President
> Donald Trump’s repeated and unfounded claims that voter fraud contributed
> to his loss last November. Around the country, Republicans have cast their
> effort as needed to restore voter confidence in the integrity of elections.
> But critics say the nationwide push aims to retain GOP power in key
> battlegrounds by making it harder for people of color and younger voters to
> cast their ballots.*
>
> *There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122038&title=%E2%80%9CRepublicans%20continue%20their%20nationwide%20campaign%20to%20restrict%20voting%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in The Voting Wars <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
>
>
>
>
> “Arizona’s dangerous vote audit includes a hunt for bamboo”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122036>
>
> Posted on May 7, 2021 11:28 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122036> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> New Josh Douglas CNN oped
> <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/opinions/arizona-dangerous-audit-destabilize-democracy-douglas/index.html>
> .
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122036&title=%E2%80%9CArizona%E2%80%99s%20dangerous%20vote%20audit%20includes%20a%20hunt%20for%20bamboo%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in fraudulent fraud squad <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>
>
>
>
>
> “Texas GOP’s voting restrictions bill could be rewritten behind closed
> doors after key House vote” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122034>
>
> Posted on May 7, 2021 10:42 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122034> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Alexa Ura
> <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/07/texas-voting-restrictions/> for
> Texas Tribune:
>
> *As opposition to Texas Republicans’ proposed voting
> restrictions continues to intensify
> <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/04/texas-voting-restrictions/>, state
> lawmakers’ deliberations over the GOP priority legislation
> <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/22/texas-republicans-voting-restrictions/> could
> soon go behind closed doors.*
>
> *The House early Friday voted 81-64 to advance a pared down version
> of Senate Bill 7
> <https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=SB7>,
> leaving out various far-reaching voting restrictions that have
> prompted widespread outcry from voting rights advocates
> <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/09/Texas-voting-GOP-suppression/>,
> advocates for people with disabilities, and local officials in the state’s
> biggest counties. The legislation still contains some provisions opposed by
> those groups — including a prohibition on counties sending unsolicited
> applications to vote by mail
> <https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/08/texas-elections-vote-by-mail-applications/>.*
>
> *Facing more than 130 proposed amendments from Democrats late Thursday —
> and a procedural challenge that could have delayed the entire bill’s
> consideration — lawmakers huddled off the chamber’s floor throughout the
> night to cut a deal and rework SB 7 through a flurry of amendments passed
> without objection from either party.*
>
> *But the final contours of the bill remain uncertain.*
>
> *The bill will need a second House vote, expected later Friday, before it
> can head back to the Senate. It will then likely go to a conference
> committee made up of members of both chambers who will be able to pull from
> both iterations of the legislation in crafting the final version largely
> outside public view.*
>
> *SB 7 has emerged as the main legislative vehicle for changing the state’s
> voting rules, though the versions passed in each chamber differ
> significantly.*
>
> *As passed in the Senate, the legislation restricted early voting rules
> and schedules to do away with extended hours and ban drive-thru voting. It
> also required large counties to redistribute polling places under a formula
> that could move sites away from areas with more Hispanic and Black
> residents.*
>
> *Those and other provisions fell off when it was reconstituted in the
> House Elections Committee, with little notice and without a public hearing,
> to match the House’s priorities contained in House Bill 6
> <https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=HB6>.*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122034&title=%E2%80%9CTexas%20GOP%E2%80%99s%20voting%20restrictions%20bill%20could%20be%20rewritten%20behind%20closed%20doors%20after%20key%20House%20vote%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> “‘Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts’: The Age of Misinformation; Social and
> psychological forces are combining to make the sharing and believing of
> misinformation an endemic problem with no easy solution.”
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122032>
>
> Posted on May 7, 2021 9:46 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122032> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> NYT talks
> <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/world/asia/misinformation-disinformation-fake-news.html> with
> Brendan Nyhan.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122032&title=%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Belonging%20Is%20Stronger%20Than%20Facts%E2%80%99%3A%20The%20Age%20of%20Misinformation%3B%20Social%20and%20psychological%20forces%20are%20combining%20to%20make%20the%20sharing%20and%20believing%20of%20misinformation%20an%20endemic%20problem%20with%20no%20easy%20solution.%E2%80%9D>
>
> Posted in Uncategorized <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
>
>
>
>
> Sounds Like Joe Manchin, in Negotiating on Voting Rights Bill, Wants
> Preclearance Expanded to All 50 States
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122030>
>
> Posted on May 7, 2021 8:03 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=122030> by *Rick
> Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Interesting report:
> <https://www.theintermountain.com/news/local-news/2021/05/manchin-working-on-compromise-on-voting-rights-package/>
>
> *A former two-term governor of West Virginia and a former secretary of
> state, the chief elections officer in West Virginia, Manchin said he sees
> the need for some changes. However, he also believes the authority for
> managing elections needs to remain at the state and local level.*
>
> *Manchin said any election reform effort needs to focus on three key
> areas.*
>
> *“The main thing is, being a former governor and a former secretary of
> state, we should have accessibility at the polling place, you should have
> fairness in the voting process, and it should be secured,”** Manchin
> said. “Those three things have to be done.”*
>
> *One part of For the People Manchin likes is the restoration of the Voting
> Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act was gutted in 2013 in a ruling by
> the U.S. Supreme Court.*
>
> *Manchin and others have tried to restore the Voting Rights Act through
> the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, named for the late civil rights leader
> and Georgia congressman John Lewis. The most recent version of the bill
> passed the House in 2019, but the Senate version of the bill died in
> committee in 2020.*
>
> *The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would restore the original Voting Rights
> Act to ensure any changes to state election laws do not violate the civil
> rights of minorities and people of color. Many states have started making
> changes to voting laws in the wake of the November 2020 elections,
> believing without evidence that the election was stolen from former
> president Donald Trump. Election rights advocated believe those changes
> could make it more difficult for people to register and vote.*
>
> *“We already have the John L. Lewis (Voting Rights Act),”** Manchin
> said. “We should basically expand the John L. Lewis Voting Act to all 50
> states, not just to those that we designate, and protect the voters. Those
> are the main things that we should be doing.”*
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D122030&title=Sounds%20Like%20Joe%20Manchin%2C%20in%20Negotiating%20on%20Voting%20Rights%20Bill%2C%20Wants%20Preclearance%20Expanded%20to%20All%2050%20States>
>
> 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
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> https://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

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