Monthly Archives: July 2017
“Kris Kobach says Trump’s voter fraud panel will keep voter data secure. Some states aren’t buying it”
“‘You don’t seem serious,’ federal judge tells NC legislative leaders about redistricting efforts”
News & Observer:
Federal judges had pointed questions and comments Thursday for the lawyer representing North Carolina lawmakers who have not yet complied with the panel’s order to draw new districts for electing General Assembly members.
The judges want the… Continue reading
“Partisan Gerrymandering and the Illusion of Unfairness”
Jacob Eisler has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Catholic Law Review). Here is the abstract:
Partisan gerrymandering is frequently condemned for distorting democracy and causing unfair representation, and many reformers have called upon federal courts to prohibit the practice.… Continue reading
“How Oregon Increased Voter Turnout More Than Any Other State”
The Nation:
Recently, policy-makers have begun examining automatic voter registration (AVR). It has generated a lot of excitement, and rightly so. New research from Demos examines the effects of Oregon’s recent adoption of AVR on the level and composition of… Continue reading
CA: “DA: Hackers Penetrated Voter Registrations in 2016 Through State’s Election Site”
KQED:
Hackers successfully penetrated state-run online voter registration systems in 2016, triggering confusion and heated exchanges between voters, poll workers and poll watchers during California’s June 7 primary, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said Friday.
“I think that pretty… Continue reading
“Steve Bannon has a shadow press office. It may violate federal law.”
CPI:
In an arrangement prominent ethics experts say is without precedent and potentially illegal, the White House is referring questions for senior presidential adviser Stephen K. Bannon to an outside public relations agent whose firm says she is working for… Continue reading
Tam Cho on the Efficiency Gap
Important piece at the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online by Wendy Tam Cho on the “efficiency gap,” at the centerpiece of the Wisconsin redistricting case. It begins:
The efficiency gap has recently been touted as a general partisan fairness… Continue reading
“Don’t Let Our Democracy Collapse: A Q&A with Richard Hasen”
Interview over at FairVote.
“Pence’s voter fraud commission will almost certainly ‘find’ thousands of duplicate registrations that aren’t duplicates. Here’s why”
Stephen Pettigrew and Mayya Komisarchik for the Monkey Cage:
Presumably, the commission will use the names and birthdays in these lists to identify potential duplicate registration records between states. That’s the method used by the Interstate Crosscheck Program pioneered… Continue reading
“The way out of partisan gerrymandering”
New Texas Bill Aimed at Absentee Ballot Fraud Could Violate First Amendment By Criminalizing Some Discussions of Candidates
I’ve said for years that if Republicans were serious about combatting voter fraud, at the top of the list would be measures to stop absentee ballot fraud. Voter fraud is rare, but when it does happen, it more often involves… Continue reading
“GOP mapmaker behind NC’s illegal gerrymanders back at the drawing table again”
News and Observer:
Republican leaders have tapped a familiar consultant to help with the drawing of new districts for electing General Assembly members after maps he drew six years ago were found by the federal courts to include illegal racial… Continue reading
Kobach Promises Pence-Kobach Commission Will Deliver “Statistical Conclusions” from Voter Data He Won’t Let the Public Check
Seems fair.
(Earlier post on Kobach’s pattern of misleading court in voting litigation)
“Worried about election hacking, L.A. County officials are turning to hackers for help”
LAT:
Local election officials are looking for some good hackers.
As part of an effort to create a new voting system, Los Angeles County computer specialists are headed this week to Defcon, one of the world’s largest hacking conventions, where… Continue reading