| Subject: news of the day 6/22/05 |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 6/22/2005, 7:31 AM |
| To: election-law |
I'm leaving tommorrow for the Russell Sage
conference on the Voting Rights Act in New York. Regular blogging
(and news of the day for listserv subscribers) will resume Monday.
See page 2 of this
Field Poll. A snippet: "Currently 50% of registered voters and 60%
of likely voters have seen or heard something about this proposition.
When asked how they would vote if the election were being held today,
those opposing the initiative outnumber those who favor it both among
all registered voters (44% No, 33% Yes, 23% Undecided), as well as
likely voters (46% No, 35% Yes, 19% undecided)."
Rep. Susan Davis offers this Roll
Call oped (paid subscription required). A snippet: "Critics of
voting by mail claim that it causes a rise in voter fraud. Yet studies
show that there are more incidents of alleged fraud at polling places
than in voting by mail. There are also extremely low incidences of
fraud with voting by mail when compared to other methods of voting. The
state of Oregon, which runs its elections entirely by mail, has
prosecuted only four cases of fraud in the last six elections."
Newsday offers this
article on Muntaqim v. Coombe, the Second Circuit felon
disenfranchisement case being reheard en banc today. For those in NYC,
the hearing is at 2 pm at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, 40 Foley
Square, 17th Floor.
The Asbury Park Press offers this
report, which begins: "Echoing criticism leveled by Republican
Party leaders at the Statehouse, Assemblyman Steven J. Corodemus,
R-Monmouth, said the state's experiment to duplicate Arizona's publicly
funded elections system is fraught with cumbersome requirements and
lacks several 'crucial safeguards.'"
In this
Opinion Journal piece on Gov. Schwarzenegger, Former Delaware Gov.
Du Pont writes: "Finally comes the most politically explosive
Schwarzenegger proposal--mandating the drawing of legislative district
lines by retired judges. There is no question that when legislators of
both parties work together to draw district lines there is political
collusion to safeguard their own seats. As California economist Art
Laffer (a supporter of the proposition) pointed out, among the 80 state
Assembly seats, 20 Senate seats and 53 U.S. House seats up for election
in 2004, 'not one seat of the 153 changed party affiliation.' The
Declaration of Purpose of the proposition has it right: 'Partisan
gerrymandering, uncompetitive districts, [and] ideological
polarization' govern the redistricting process. No doubt three
bipartisan, retired judges selected by lot from pool will do better
than partisan, self-interested pols. But judges are no less human than
the rest of us and no less inclined to follow their political
instincts--Roe v. Wade being one example and the decision upholding
McCain-Feingold's limitations on free speech another--so sooner or
later the retired California judges will make ideological decisions in
drawing district boundaries. Nevertheless this is a visionary solution
to a political problem that will not be solved in any other way."
Yesterday I wrote this lengthy
post talking about how election law might change if Chief Justice
Rehnquist retired to be replaced by Tenth Circuit judge Michael
McConnell. Today's Chicago Tribune features this
article on who might be on the White House's short list in the
event that the Chief retires. A snippet: "Sources close to the White
House said McConnell and Pryor are long shots. McConnell, a former
University of Chicago Law School professor, is seen as too
unpredictable--conservative on some issues, such as religion, but less
so on others, including a recent opinion that exposes law-enforcement
officers to liability. He also has criticized the reasoning of Bush vs.
Gore, which ended the statewide recounts in Florida and handed the
presidency to Bush."
I just received a copy of this new book
by Ronald Hayduk. I read this book in draft form. It is a very
interesting case study of New York election adminstration issues, and
in particular the role that politics has played in election
administration reform.
Dan Tokaji offers these
interesting thoughts on the question.
Guy Charles's has published "Judging the Law of Politics," 103
Michigan Law Review 1099 (2005) reviewing my book, The
Supreme Court and Election Law. Those with Westlaw access can find
the review here.
-- Rick Hasen William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law Loyola Law School 919 Albany Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211 (213)736-1466 (213)380-3769 - fax rick.hasen@lls.edu http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html http://electionlawblog.org