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February 24, 2016By Liz

Clean Elections Texas

17 hours ago

"...The Sept. 13 editorial “A call to action against gerrymandering” was a welcome recap of the damage partisan redistricting has done to the ability of centrist legislators to govern our country. The editorial mentioned the need to establish standards for judicial oversight. Readers should know that standards exist today that would enable courts to measure partisan gerrymandering. Gill v. Whitford will look at wasted votes where the winning candidate gets more votes than needed to win. A mathematical algorithm then provides an “efficiency gap,” which reflects a built-in advantage over the loser. Plaintiffs will argue that if the gap is more than 7 percent, the map is rigged and the court has a workable standard for ruling against gerrymandering.

Let’s hope the Supreme Court ruling in the upcoming Wisconsin case will favor standards that will then apply to all states as the 2020 Census draws near." ...

Opinion | The Supreme Court can set workable standards on gerrymandering

washingtonpost.com

The Sept. 13 editorial “A call to action against gerrymandering” was a welcome recap of the damage partisan redistricting has done to the ability of centrist legislators to govern our country. The e...

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Clean Elections Texas

21 hours ago

Oh, dear - this does not bode well.
"...Trainor's stance on disclosure is counter to the position that Trump himself took during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he called for more transparency of donors behind big-money groups. “I don’t mind the money coming in,” the then-candidate told Time magazine in August 2015. “Let it be transparent. Let them talk, but let there be total transparency.”

In media appearances and public forums, Trainor has made the case that the Federalist Papers succeeded in promoting the ratification of the Constitution because Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote them under the pseudonym Publius. And he appeared to erroneously suggest that the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision endorsed anonymous political contributions..." ...

Trump’s FEC nominee has questioned the value of disclosing political donors

washingtonpost.com

James E. “Trey” Trainor III has argued that voters could be distracted from the content of political messages if they focus on who is financing ads.

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Clean Elections Texas

21 hours ago

Judicial Selection
Texas has partisan election of judges where judicial candidates can solicit donations directly from the law firms unlike most states

"The Founders understood that a co-equal, independent judiciary is essential to check the elected branches, and electoral factions. So our Constitution vests federal judges with lifetime appointments.

Insulated from politics after politicking for nomination, this theory goes, federal judges can analyze the law without fearing for their livelihoods. These unelected judges are meant to be accountable to law and Constitution alone.

But most states do things differently. Judicial elections offer the popular accountability designed out of our national government. But the consequences are exactly what the Founders feared : Influence is vested in layperson emotion and campaign benefactors..." ...

Elected judges are bad for the republic and the law

kentucky.com

‘Soft on crime’ charges, dark-money donations result in emotion-laden campaigns

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Clean Elections Texas

2 days ago

This is such a dangerous group - we have to be vigilant in calling it out and support hte organizations and elected officials who are doing so.

"...The justice department (DoJ) has also begun issuing legal opinions to support states that have passed restrictive new voting rules, even when they appear to contradict existing federal law. Voting rights activists say these efforts are kicking voter suppression into a higher gear at a time when federal courts are ruling that a flurry of strict new voter ID laws in several Republican-run states discriminate against minority voters and college students.

“There are three major aspects of the voting process – getting registered, making sure you stay registered, and actually voting – and in all three areas we are seeing efforts to suppress the vote,” said Ezra Rosenberg, a voting rights specialist with the Lawyer’s Committee on Human Rights Under Law..." ...

Trump's 'election integrity' group is waging war on the right to vote

theguardian.com

The president’s commission lead by Kris Kobach, a champion of repressive voting laws, could do significant damage to hard-won voting rights

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Clean Elections Texas

2 days ago

Clean Elections Texas shared California Disclose Act's post. ...

California Disclose Act

WE DID IT! After 7 years work by thousands of Clean Money volunteers, the Assembly passed AB 249 the California Disclose Act on a huge bipartisan vote of 59-15. Now on to Governor Brown's desk! SIGN PETITION URGING GOVERNOR BROWN TO SIGN AB 249 ==> bit.ly/sign-ab249-37

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