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Defense introduces controversial expert witness in NC VIVA trial (Includes interview and first-hand account)

Defense attorney Thomas Farr introduced Sean Trende as an expert witness Monday afternoon. Trende, who is Senior Elections Analyst for the website Real Clear Politics, described himself as an expert in ‘Psephology.’

Psephology is a branch of political science, Trende said.

A graduate of Yale, Trende is the author of The Lost Majority: Why the Future of Government Is Up for Grabs and Who Will Take It. His work is posted at both RealClearPolitics and Sabato’s Crystal Ball. He is a frequent guest on Fox News and NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.

He was also a student of Dr. Paul Gronke, who appeared as an expert witness for the Plaintiffs July 16.

Trende submitted an expert report in NAACP v. Husted, a federal case challenging Ohio’s attempt to cut early voting, but has never testified in court as an expert.

Trende said he was asked to place North Carolina voting law in a “national context.” He said he would use his expertise in regression analysis to examine the effect of H.B. 589 on minority voters.

“Hallmarks of Expertise”

Plaintiff’s attorney Dale Ho rose to challenge Trende’s expert status. He pointed out that Trende had never earned a PhD in any discipline and had taken only two statistics courses during his six years in graduate school. He said Trende only published articles online, without “the rigors of peer review.”

Ho read aloud from the Wikipedia entry for RealClearPolitics, calling it “right-leaning.” He said Trende’s previous work studying early voting “consisted of some back-and-forth on Twitter.”

Ho said Trende’s expert report contained errors, including listing California as a state that offered same-day registration.

An expert, said Ho, “must have the hallmarks of expertise.”

“There’s a first time for everything”

Judge Thomas Schroeder asked Ho to tell him why Trende was not qualified to speak about election law. He said Trende used public records in his analysis, just as previous expert witnesses had.

Ho said Trende had never examined election laws in all 50 states before being asked to testify.

“What’s that saying — ‘There’s a first time for everything?'” Judge Schroeder responded.

Farr said Trende was more than qualified.

“I’m going to listen to what [Trende] has to say,” Judge Schroeder told Ho. “And I’ll be very interested in your cross-examination.”

Trende’s testimony will continue tomorrow.

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