| Subject: Electionlawblog news and commentary 3/20/06 |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 3/20/2006, 8:04 AM |
| To: election-law |
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune offers this report.
You can find my earlier commentaries on this issue here,
here and here. The
election law listserv is currently having a contentious
debate on the question (including the competing House bills, 1606 and
4900). You can access the postings by following this
thread.
The Talahassee Democrat offers this
editorial, which begins: "Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion
Sancho's failure to reach an accord with any of the three voting
equipment companies that Florida now certifies has served the important
purpose of shining a klieg light on a significant weakness in state
elections law. Why on earth do private companies hold so much sway -
with relatively little oversight - in a process so central to
democracy?"
The LA Times offers this
fascinating front page report. It begins: "SACRAMENTO-- Almost
everywhere Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger travels, he is shadowed by
another sturdy Austrian: Dieter Rauter, his stunt double on 'Terminator
3' and other films.Rauter today is a member of the governor's vast and
expensive political apparatus. When Schwarzenegger meets the public,
Rauter's hand-held digital camera records the event for posterity, a
service that has cost about $62,000 since Schwarzenegger entered
politics about four years ago. Another longtime Schwarzenegger friend
gets $100,000 a year as a speech coach. A Hollywood acquaintance makes
campaign jackets and T-shirts, a $69,000 expense so far. Schwarzenegger
hires scores of the best political operatives, travels exclusively by
private jet and insists on a sought-after cinematographer to film his
commercials — productions that involve casting agents, caterers,
dry-cleaners. In flashiness and magnitude, his public appearances have
exceeded anything else in modern California politics."
The Oakland Tribune offers this
report, which begins: "An East Bay lawyer, a Stanford professor and
a former Bay Area congressman are among those trying to change how U.S.
presidents are elected, and to basically do away with a constitutional
institution. But the nonprofit advocacy group National Popular Vote
Inc. doesn't aim to amend the Constitution. Instead, it aims to
persuade some states to unite and exercise constitutional power to make
the Electoral College a largely ceremonial relic."
The Boston Globe offers this
report from Rhode Island.
The Boston Globe offers this
report, which begins: "The US Department of Justice is conducting
an investigation into voting problems in the city of Lowell, as
advocates called for an increase in voting assistance to growing
immigrant populations in the Bay State."
In this
St. Paul Pioneer Press story, outgoing House Judiciary
Chairman Jim "Sensenbrenner said that his most important goals in his
final months as chairman are passing immigration reform and renewing
the Voting Rights Act."
-- 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