On September 27, proponents of Arkansas initiatives filed a brief in U.S. District Court in Liberty Initiative Fund v Thurston, e.d., 4:21cv-460. The issue is the new Arkansas ban on out-of-state circulators for initiatives. The Arkansas initiative proponents’ brief points out that recently, a U.S. District Court in Maine struck down Maine’s ban on out-of-state circulators.
On September 28, the New York legislature finally sent S 7191 to the Governor. It had passed on June 10, 2021. This is the bill to make it more difficult for non-members to obtain a party nomination via write-ins in the primary. It is an idea that the Green Party in particular has long worked for, because the Green Party doesn’t like it when non-members of the party seize a party nomination without support from the Green Party.
On September 28, the Democratic and Republican nominees for Governor of Virginia debated each other. The third candidate on the ballot, Princess Blanding of the Liberation Party, was not invited to the debate. However, she and some of her supporters disrupted the debate. See this story. Thanks to Political Wire for the news.
On September 28, the Ohio Libertarian Party filed this brief in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Crites. This is the case over the Ohio law that says no member of a party other than the Republican and Democratic Parties can ever serve on the Ohio Elections Commission. The Libertarian reply rebuts the arguments of the state that the party doesn’t have standing and that the case is moot.
This NPR story says that with both German major parties polling such a relatively small share of the vote, the smaller and new parties will determine the next government.
On September 27, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed some bills that change election law. He did not act on AB 446, which makes it somewhat easier for a new party to qualify. Nor did he act on SB 660, which makes it illegal to pay circulators on a per-signature basis.
The most significant bill he did sign on September 27 provides that in the future, all registered voters will receive a postal ballot in the mail. See the Governor’s press release here.