Monthly Archives: April 2016

Join Trevor Potter and Me May 5 in DC for #PlutocratsUnited Event

April 7, 2016, 10:17 amcampaign finance, Plutocrats United, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

We’ve rescheduled from our earlier event which was postponed due to the DC Blizzard: Campaign financing is one of today’s most divisive political issues. The Left asserts that the electoral process is rife with corruption. The Right protests that the… Continue reading

“RBG, Originalist”

April 7, 2016, 10:13 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

David Gans: After Justice Antonin Scalia died, many speculated that originalism would die as well, without one of its most tireless adherents on the bench. Not if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has anything to say about it. While Justice Ginsburg… Continue reading

“What Keeps Election Officials Up At Night? Fear Of Long Lines At The Polls”

April 7, 2016, 9:46 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Pam Fessler for NPR: Election officials around the country are nervously planning how to avoid long lines at the polls this year, after voters waited for hours at some Wisconsin sites earlier this week. That came after voters in Maricopa… Continue reading

Politifact Rates “True” Claim that People Struck by Lightning More Common than Voter Fraud

April 7, 2016, 7:55 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Politifact limits the claim to impersonation voter fraud, and this seems correct.

“Group wants investigation of Kris Kobach and federal election official Brian Newby”

April 7, 2016, 7:53 amchicanery, election administration, Election Assistance CommissionRick Hasen

AP: A nonprofit public advocacy group called Wednesday for an investigation of a top federal elections official in the wake of a media report about his communications with one of the nation’s leading advocates of voting restrictions. Washington, D.C.,-based… Continue reading

A True, Troubling Case of Voter Fraud with Huge Implications

April 7, 2016, 7:50 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

CBS Denver: The mascot contest for Frontier Airlines has been canceled because of suspicious or fraudulent voting activity. The airline had launched a contest where passengers could vote to have their choice of mascot on the tail of… Continue reading

“SEC Nominee Vote Postponed as Schumer, Menendez, Merkley, Warren record ‘No Votes’ Which Echo the Call for Strong Support of Corporate Spending Disclosure Rule”

April 7, 2016, 7:42 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Release: Statement of Lisa Gilbert, Director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division Note: Today, members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs postponed votes on block of banking nominees based on the two Securities and… Continue reading

“Addressing Conservatives and (Mis)Using Social Sciences in the Debate Over Campaign Finance”

April 7, 2016, 7:40 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Michael Franz book review essay in Tulsa Law Review: It is this perspective that invites the commentary and analysis in the three recent books by Robert Post, Timothy Kuhner, and Zephyr Teachout discussed in this essay. Indeed, these are all… Continue reading

“The conservative gladiator from Kansas behind restrictive voting laws”

April 7, 2016, 7:35 amelection administration, Election Assistance Commission, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Important Sari Horwitz WaPo piece on Kobach: Kobach, 50, first entered the national spotlight several years ago when he advised Mitt Romney on the idea of “self-deportation” for illegal immigrants during the 2012 presidential campaign. A former chairman of the… Continue reading

“Introducing the Public Primary”

April 7, 2016, 7:32 amalternative voting systems, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

Rob Richie: airVote believes that every vote should matter and be heard in every public election. The fundamental goal of any primary election system should be to help foster a general election that will include meaningful choices, real competition,… Continue reading

“One FEC Commissioner’s Answer to Citizens United”

April 7, 2016, 7:30 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Bauer: FEC Commissioner Weintraub believes that she has hit upon a regulatory maneuverto stop publicly traded corporations from making independent expenditures, or unlimited contributions to independent expenditure committees. At a time when newspaper editorialists carry on with attacks on… Continue reading