Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

[link removed]

The Briefing

The Iowa caucus was a mess, painful to watch. But at least we will know who won soon enough. That’s because paper backups ensured the integrity of the vote. When a fancy new phone app failed, paper enabled a true count.

That should shake us awake. Technology often fails, but the best election officials know how to prepare ([link removed]). Make sure there are enough emergency ballots. Ensure every vote has a paper backup. Audit the paper record of all votes. In Iowa, party officials seemed paralyzed, unsure of next steps. We have time now for the public officials who run primaries (not caucuses) to be better prepared.

As we saw in Iowa, reactionary activists and political operatives will seize any opportunity to sow distrust in our elections when problems arise. Even before the reporting miscues became known, a prominent conservative group began to falsely insist that there were registration irregularities. It didn’t matter. The lies took social media by storm.

Not surprisingly, Monday night offered dry tinder for these rumors. President Trump’s sons suggested the caucuses were rigged, and his campaign manager said people would be right to “doubt the fairness of the process.” Expect more claims of fraud with metronomic regularity between now and the November election.

The Brennan Center stands ready to counter false narratives ([link removed]) of voter fraud and work to ensure that our elections are free ([link removed]), fair ([link removed]), and secure ([link removed]). Most election glitches are not cause for alarm, but fearmongering always is. Let’s keep in mind what truly threatens our democracy.

Democracy

Countering Citizens United

A decade ago, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the way for essentially unchecked political spending by megadonors and corporate interests. In the 2016 presidential race, fewer than 5,000 donors provided more than half of all campaign funding, while money from the 5 million donors who gave less than $200 made up just over one-fifth of donations.

But there is a powerful antidote. For decades, presidential campaigns benefitted from a system of public financing. It has withered and is now unused. A modernized approach could fight the corrosive effects of today’s money system, write the Brennan Center’s Hazel Millard and Joanna Zdanys: “Public financing … won’t stop big spending in elections. But it can pave the way for candidates — and voters — to counter the influence of big money.” // READ MORE ([link removed])

Constitution

Bringing Sunlight to Foreign Surveillance

When does government have the power to put an individual under surveillance? A reform enacted in the 1970s, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, requires the government to show probable cause to a special court that the target is a foreign power or agent of a foreign power. The aftermath of the Trump-Russia investigation called that into question. The Justice Department’s inspector general in December showed deep flaws in the protections offered. The IG suggested that corner-cutting and application-padding are par for the course in FISA applications.

The Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Goitein urges steps to better notify targets of surveillance and to boost internal oversight of the FISA process. // READ MORE ([link removed])

News

- Chisun Lee and Lawrence Norden on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s flip-flopping on public financing // NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ([link removed])

- Harsha Panduranga on the fight against Trump’s Muslim ban // THE HILL ([link removed])

- Yurij Rudensky on nonpartisan redistricting reforms in New Hampshire // NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER ([link removed])

- Wendy Weiser on voting rights across states in 2020 // PEW ([link removed])

Have an issue you'd like us to cover? Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]

[link removed]

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750
New York, NY 10271
T 646 292 8310
F 212 463 7308

[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences.
[link removed]

Want to stop receiving these emails?
Click here to unsubscribe.
[link removed]

[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]