Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice

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The Briefing

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) long has been derided as dysfunctional. Now it is edging closer to non-functional. Last week, Vice Chairman Matthew Petersen announced his resignation. Petersen’s departure will bring down the number of commissioners to three, short of the four needed for a quorum to vote on proposed actions. This will prevent the FEC from issuing formal guidance to campaigns or enforcing campaign finance laws just as the 2020 election looms.

Even more troubling, it will likely further stall proposed rules to protect against foreign efforts to influence the U.S. electorate. “You’ve got no cop on the beat running into an election where the Russian government and other rivals will almost certainly take action to influence the American electorate,” said ([link removed]) Daniel Weiner, senior counsel at the Brennan Center and former counsel to FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub.

Weiner was also featured ([link removed]) on NPR’s Morning Edition discussing the FEC’s lack of quorum and foreign interference ahead of the 2020 election. “To not have the FEC able to take action right now is deeply concerning,” he said.

Democracy

Indiana Can’t Kick Voters Off Rolls Without Warning, Appeals Court Says
Americans move around a lot. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 7 million Americans move to a different state every year. A federal appeals court last week upheld a ruling that barred Indiana from aggressively canceling eligible registrations if a voter was found to be registered in another state. The Brennan Center and other groups had sued, arguing that the law violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which requires officials to provide notice and a waiting period before removing a voter from the rolls.

“Especially in states that have an early registration deadline, it may be perfectly rational for a voter to register in a new location before getting around to canceling the old Indiana registration, selling an Indiana house, or severing other formal connections with Indiana,” said Chief Judge Diane Wood. “The only way to know whether voters want to cancel their registration is to ask them.”

The ruling comes amid an uptick in voter purges. Nationwide, at least 17 million people have had their voter registrations canceled since the 2016 election, according to a Brennan Center analysis ([link removed]). // HUFFINGTON POST ([link removed])

Video Shows Electronic Machine Changing Ballot in Mississippi

A video uploaded to Facebook captured an electronic voting machine repeatedly changing the ballot of a Mississippi voter in the state’s gubernatorial runoff. Mississippi is one of eight states that will use paperless machines as primary polling place equipment in some counties and towns in 2020. These devices are vulnerable to hackers and mistakes. In a recent analysis ([link removed]), the Brennan Center urged states to use machines with paper back-ups to make elections more secure. // WASHINGTON POST ([link removed])

Constitution

‘Domestic Terrorism’ Bills Create More Problems Than They Solve
In the wake of a mass shooting by a white supremacist in El Paso, Texas, lawmakers have introduced bills to enlarge the government’s powers to prosecute “domestic terrorism.” But new laws are not the way to address white nationalist violence, argue the Brennan Center’s Harsha Panduranga and Faiza Patel. “There is no lack of legal authority to investigate or prosecute perpetrators, but rather a lack of will and focus to do so,” the pair write. Additionally, these proposals would dangerously expand the definition of “terrorism” to include crimes that involve property destruction and threats, which could threaten political protesters and advocacy protected by the First Amendment. // JUST SECURITY ([link removed])

Justice

Fewer Prisoners, Lower Crime

Twenty years ago, the prevailing belief was that increasing incarceration was needed to reduce crime involved. But Boston Globe columnist Renée Loth argues that attitudes toward that assumption have reversed, citing a recent Brennan Center report ([link removed]) which found that between 2007 and 2017, 34 states reduced both their prison populations and their crime rates. The report concluded that the data showed clearly that “reducing mass incarceration does not come at the cost of public safety.” // BOSTON GLOBE ([link removed])

Coming Up

- Next Tuesday, Brennan Center Fellow and former FBI special agent Michael German releases his new book, Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy ([link removed]).

- Next Thursday, September 12, the Brennan Center hosts noted civil liberties lawyer Burt Neuborne in New York for a discussion on the structure of the U.S. constitutional system and its ability to withstand authoritarianism. ([link removed])

News

- Michael German on protecting communities that are victims of far-right violence // THE ATLANTIC ([link removed])

- Michael Li on a lawsuit challenging Michigan’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission // HUFFINGTON POST ([link removed])

- Faiza Patel on the implications of school surveillance programs that monitor students’ social media activity // MARKETPLACE ([link removed])

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

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