| Subject: Electionlawblog news and commentary 1/12/06 |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 1/12/2006, 8:49 AM |
| To: election-law |
See this
Atlanta Journal-Constitution oped, which concludes:
"However, even this version of the bill is unlikely to pass muster
[with the federal courts], since Republicans still lack any proof
whatsoever of the widespread fraud they claim to be fighting. Without
such proof, the bill will be judged for what it is, an illogical
expression of pent-up resentment that strips legal voters of their
right to participate, and does so for no good reason."
See Hill
Weighs Curbs on Lobbying; More Disclosure, Ban on Sponsored Trips Under
Consideration and Lobbyists'
Emergence Reflects Shift in Capital Culture.
The New York Times offers this
report, which begins: "The federal Justice Department has
threatened to sue New York State over its failure to modernize its
voting system, saying New York 'is further behind' every other state in
complying with new guidelines stemming from the 2000 presidential
election dispute." This should not be too much of a surprise to anyone
who has read Ron Hayduk's book, Gatekeepers
to the Franchise: Shaping Election Administration in New York.
The New York Times offers Texas Redistricting Is One More Hurdle for DeLay. A snippet: "The redistricting led to the loss of six Democratic seats in Texas in 2004, but it also shifted thousands of Democratic voters to strong Republican districts. Among those, Mr. DeLay's 22nd District added several Democratic-leaning parts of Galveston County; several political analysts estimate they may have raised the district's Democratic vote around 5 percent. 'There is huge irony here,' said Richard Murray, a University of Houston political scientist. 'Six Democrats in Congress were eliminated, but the seventh victim may turnout to be the author of the plan.'" Will this fact come up at the March 1 Supreme Court oral argument in the Texas cases?
Jim Bopp, who is representing parties seeking to strike down the
campaign finance laws in the WRTL and Vermont spending limits cases,
has written this
Wall Street Journal oped on the cases.
-- Rick Hasen William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law Loyola Law School 919 Albany Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211 (213)736-1466 - voice (213)380-3769 - fax rick.hasen@lls.edu http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html http://electionlawblog.org