Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Would Bar Vivette Applewhite From Voting
Businessweek considered the ineffectiveness of the Federal Election Commission in regulating what is expected to be the most expensive election in US history. The Supreme Court may revisit its controversial Citizens United decision. Americans Elect has delayed their “online caucuses” for a month due to lack of interest. Over a month after a municipal election marred by ballot shortages and mismanagement, the Anchorage Assembly has certified the results but ordered a hand recount in 15 precincts. Already unhappy with sweeping election law changes last year, Florda election officials are also unhappy with the implementation of those laws. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has voided a special election for the State House. Several senior citizens who would be barred from voting by Pennsylvania’s new Voter ID law are plaintiffs in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the law before the election in November. An American political operative who was convicted of making illegal phone calls in the 2002 New Hampshire Senate election commented on Canada’s growing robocall scandal calling the operation sophisticated and suggested the techniques had been imported from US elections.
May 05, 2012
National: The FEC: A Toothless Watchdog for a $6 Billion Election | Businessweek
Worried about election fraud in 2012? Consider this: The Federal Election Commission has six members, and five of them are serving on borrowed time. Cynthia Bauerly’s and Matthew Petersen’s terms expired in 2011, Steven Walther’s and Donald McGahn’s in 2009. Then there’s Ellen Weintraub: She was supposed to be replaced five years ago. The FEC, which enforces the nation’s campaign finance laws, has one of the most important jobs in the federal government. This year the watchdog will oversee an election season in which political parties and a collection of outside groups are expected to lay out $6 billion. Yet, the lack of fresh blood on the commission has rendered it nearly powerless. President George W. Bush nominated five of the panel’s members in 2008; since then, the commissioners have deadlocked 34 times along party lines over whether to investigate campaigns for violating election laws. On 25 of those occasions, its own lawyer recommended they do so.
“You’ve reached a real major shift here, when the commission can’t even start investigations,” says Kent Cooper, who helped keep the agency’s vast trove of records for two decades. “It sends a bad signal to people who are regulated by the law and voters who count on the law to be fully implemented and carried out.”
Compared with other federal agencies, the FEC has always had more bark than bite. The panel has an even number of commissioners, three from each party, and almost everything it does—launching investigations, meting out penalties, issuing rules—requires four votes. Still, the commissioners were once more willing to cross party lines. In 2007, they levied $4 million in penalties against campaigns, compared with $2 million for all of 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Full Article: The FEC: A Toothless Watchdog for a $6 Billion Election – Businessweek.
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May 05, 2012
National: Citizens Dis-United: Justices May Take Another Look at Campaign Finance Case | ABA Journal
After Newt Gingrich became the victim of attack ads paid for by Mitt Romney’s $30 million “super PAC,” Gingrich struck back with his own. His Winning Our Future political action committee hauled in at least $10 million from a loyal casino multimillionaire. And, while observing the damage done by Republican super PACs, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign decided to use administration and campaign aides to raise his campaign’s own funds. These multimillion-dollar PACs were made possible byCitizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, aka the McCain-Feingold Act, which placed limits on corporate campaign spending. Super PACs can accept unlimited corporate contributions and make unlimited expenditures for—or against—federal candidates like Gingrich and Obama. But while super PACs are enlivening the 2012 campaign, the Supreme Court may not yet be done with Citizens United. In late February it stayed a surprising Montana Supreme Court ruling that stunned election experts by ignoring Citizens United altogether and upholding the state’s ban on independent corporate spending in state elections.
A petition for a writ of certiorari was filed March 27. If the court accepts the petition, the case will be argued during the court’s 2012 session—possibly in time for election day, Nov. 6. In granting the stay, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, said that “Montana’s experience—and experience elsewhere since [Citizens United]—make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations ‘do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.’ ” A petition for cert, Ginsburg continued, “will give the court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway.”
Full Article: Citizens Dis-United: Justices May Take Another Look at Campaign Finance Case – Magazine – ABA Journal.
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May 05, 2012
Editorials: Americans Elect: They Built It, And Nobody Came | TechPresident
Americans Elect has postponed their online “caucuses” for a month. The problem, it seems, is twofold: 1. They don’t have a candidate and 2. Lacking a candidate, they don’t have much online traffic. I’ve written about this before, in relation to my spiffy new hat. But the lesson here deserves further examination. I’m going to go ahead and call this one a failure. If the mainstream media blitz and SXSW awards of the past year haven’t generated enthusiasm, it isn’t going to appear out of the ether in the 11 days between now and May 15th first “caucus.” What’s more, Americans Elect is evidence of a common misunderstanding of Internet politics. Elsewhere, I’ve termed this the “Field of Dreams Fallacy.” The Field of Dreams Fallacy (“if you build it, they will come”) plagues all sorts of expensive, half-baked projects in online politics. A few years ago, dozens of interest groups looked at the success of social networking sites like Facebook and became convinced that they should launch their own, branded social networks. Millions of dollars later, it turned out that they were all building virtual ghost towns. Technology alone doesn’t create political communities. If your members are already happily on Facebook, they’re unlikely to divert that time and spend it on a Sierra Club- or NRA-specific social network instead. The real successes in online politics comes at the intersection of motivated communities-of-interest and supportive technological platforms.
Americans Elect was founded on the gimmicky premise that the power of the Internet would “break the gridlock of Washington” by letting online citizens vote in their own non-party primary. Set aside the obvious flaws in that premise (putting a candidate on the ballot does not elect them to office. Electing a president doesn’t remove the gridlock-inducing Senate filibuster.). An awful lot of citizens already vote in primaries — Mitt Romney has received over 5 million votes in the Republican primaries, and he’s constantly criticized for being unpopular. In a country of 311 million mostly-disaffected citizens, one can certainly make that case. The promise of Americans Elect is that the Internet be a bridge to involvement for the rest of us.
Full Article: [OP-ED] Americans Elect: They Built It, And Nobody Came | TechPresident.
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May 04, 2012
Alaska: Anchorage Assembly certifies election, subject to recount in 15 precincts | adn.com…
The Anchorage Assembly voted 8 to 3 Thursday to finally certify the flawed April 3 city election, subject to the results of a recount of 15 precincts. The election was plagued by ballot shortages at precincts all around town. Some people voted on sample ballots that couldn’t be counted until after election day. Some would-be voters said they gave up and went home. But a private lawyer hired to advise the Assembly on certification told the Assembly it can’t arbitrarily decide not to certify the election.
If someone formally contests the results — and no one did by the deadline — that person must establish that there was corruption or reckless conduct, wrote Timothy Petumenos, the independent counsel. Petumenos said even “outright corrupt or criminal conduct which may have been aimed at affecting the outcome” wouldn’t be sufficient grounds not to certify unless the conduct could have changed the outcome. In fact, Petumenos said, failure to follow the certification procedures in place before the election could result in federal constitutional violations.
Full Article: Assembly certifies election, subject to recount in 15 precincts: 2012 Municipal election | Alaska news at adn.com…….
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May 04, 2012
Florida: Election officials frustrated with reform law’s implementation | electionlineWeekly
In 2011 Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law sweeping election reform legislation that limits third-party registrations, decreases the length of time for early voting and creates more reasons to cast a provisional ballot. At the time the governor signed the legislation into law, many supervisors of elections throughout the Sunshine State were concerned about the impacts the new law could have not only on their offices, but also on voters. Now, just about a year later, some of those concerns, in the eyes of the people responsible for administering elections, seem justified. “Several of the changes were very unpopular with supervisors of elections, but at the end of the day, barring court intervention, we must implement any new laws passed by the legislature and signed by the governor,” said David Stafford, supervisor of elections for Escambia County. Stafford is also the current president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. “That said, as an association we will continue to advocate for changes to Florida’s statutes, including provisions contained in HB 1355, to improve the administration of elections in our state,” Stafford said.
Elections supervisors across the state noted that the new law has involved changing training manuals, re-training volunteers and more administrative work, on top of an already busy presidential election year. “Any time we are faced with significant statutory changes, there is a period of adjustment in implementing the new provisions. This can be particularly challenging in a presidential election year,” Stafford said. “One of the biggest challenges was that most of the law went into effect upon enactment, unlike previous years when there was a delay between enactment and the effective date.”
The fiscal impacts of the law have varied from county to county and provision to provision. In Lee County, Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington said there has been an increase in costs because of the increased use of provisional ballots. There have also been other cost increases.
Full Article: electionlineWeekly.
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May 03, 2012
Oklahoma: Supreme Court Voids Special State House Election | Election Academy
On Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously voided the results of a special election for a state House seat in Tulsa. The court’s order came after a series of problems cast doubt on the true outcome of the election. … The Court, after reviewing the “totality of the evidence presented,” found it “impossible to determine with mathematical certainty which candidate is entitled to a certificate of election” and thus voided the election entirely. In the wake of the order – and due to the delays occasioned by the case – the state board of elections is going to keep the seat vacant until it can be filled at this November’s general election.
A few observations:
1. While it appears that the Tulsa board didn’t necessarily cover itself in glory (indeed, the Court took a dig to that effect in its order), one has to agree that two separate problems that put a very close result in doubt in two different directions is the very definition of a bad-luck nightmare for any election official;
2. The Tulsa case may prompt the state legislature to look at whether and how to update its procedures to keep pace with new voting machines – and resolve disputed elections more quickly (as we discussed last week in Minnesota); and
3. Generally, courts don’t like to pick winners unless the election is clear. In this case, the court was essentially willing to throw up its hands rather than risk picking the wrong winner. The lesson here is that – unlike in other disputes – judges are not necessarily going to come to the rescue when other procedures break down.
Full Article: Oklahoma Supreme Court Voids Special State House Election – Election Academy.
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May 03, 2012
Pennsylvania: Voter ID Law Would Keep 93-Year-Old Who Marched With Martin Luther King From Voting | TPM
If there’s a contest for most sympathetic plaintiff in a lawsuit opposing a state voter ID law, Pennsylvania’s Viviette Applewhite wins. The 93-year-old has voted in almost every election since 1960. Her daughter was a public servant. She has five grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. She’s a widow. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Macon, Georgia during the civil rights movement and traveled to Atlanta to hear him preach. Under Pennsylvania’s voter ID law, Applewhite wouldn’t be able to vote. Applewhite is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the Advancement Project, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP) and the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP on behalf of ten Pennsylvania voters.
The suit charges that that state’s voter ID law, signed on March 14 by Gov. Thomas Corbett, violates the Pennsylvania Constitution (Pennsylvania isn’t covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, so federal authorities couldn’t intervene). They want the court to issue an injunction stopping enforcement before the November election.
Applewood doesn’t drive and her purse containing her identification card was stolen. She’s been unable to obtain an identification card since because officials can’t track down her birth certificate.
Full Article: PA Voter ID Law Would Keep 93-Year-Old Who Marched With Martin Luther King From Voting | TPMMuckraker.
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May 02, 2012
Canada: U.S. voter fraud convict calls Canada’s robocall scandal ‘sophisticated’ | Montreal Gazette
A Republican political operative who spent three months in an American prison for making illegal political calls says that fraudulent calls in the last Canadian election are likely an American import. In his 2008 book How to Rig an Election, Allen Raymond tells the story of his 10-year political career, which ended abruptly when he was convicted of jamming the New Hampshire Democrats’ phone bank during a Senate election. When the FBI closed in, officials on the Republican National Committee cut off Raymond, and rather than face 25 years in prison, he co-operated with the investigation. Raymond, who now works in Washington as a lobbyist for a labour organization, suspects whoever made illegal voter-suppression calls in Canada in the last election likely learned their dirty tricks south of the border.
“We have a lot of elections down here,” he said. “We essentially have them every year, whether it be state or federal. So if you’re a political operative and you live in Canada, it might make a lot of sense to come to the United States and gain some experience, and in gaining that experience you might pick up some bad traits.”
Dirty telephone tricks aren’t new. In the 1972 Democratic primary, callers with African-American accents woke up white New Hampshire voters in the middle of the night calling on them to support Ed Muskie “because he’s been so good for the black man” — an early example of voter suppression calls. In every election cycle in the United States, there are instances of deceptive calls, but they tend to be isolated local events.
Full Article: U.S. voter fraud convict calls Canada’s robocall scandal ‘sophisticated’.
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