U.S. District Court Expedites Lawsuit over How Many Signatures are Required for Local Missouri Initiatives

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A U.S. District Court in Missouri is expediting a lawsuit over how many signatures are needed to place local initiatives on the ballot in certain cities. The case is being expedited because the election is scheduled for April 3, 2012.

Missouri state law says a local initiative needs signatures equal to 25% of the last Mayoral vote. But in Poplar Bluff, voters don’t elect Mayors directly. Voters merely vote for city councilmembers, and they choose a Mayor. City officials determined that because there is no direct popular vote for Mayor, initiatives need 25% of the number of registered voters in Poplar Bluff. Proponents of an initiative sued because they say the number of signatures should be 25% of all the votes cast for City Council. Proponents of an initiative did collect enough valid signatures, if their theory of how to calculate the requirement is accepted. The case is Rexroat v City of Poplar Bluff, eastern district, 1:11-cv-224. Here is the complaint. The ACLU is handling the case.

The initiative concerns city-provided cable TV services. The city government is clearly hostile to the initiative. The city’s web page has a prominent place on the opening page, explaining how residents may delete their signatures from the petition. Thanks to Nate Carraw for this news.

Massachusetts Libertarian Party Files Brief in State Supreme Court on Presidential Stand-ins

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On January 6, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party filed this brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in the party’s lawsuit over whether the law permits an unqualified party to list a stand-in presidential candidate on its ballot access petition. If the Libertarians win the case, the decision will help not only the Libertarian Party, but also will help Americans Elect and any other parties in 2012 or in future years that want to get started petitioning before they have chosen their presidential nominee.

Six Republicans File in Illinois Presidential Primary, but not All File Complete Delegate Slates

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On January 6, filing closed for the Illinois presidential primaries. The only candidate who filed in the Democratic primary was President Obama. In the Republican primary, six candidates filed the 3,000 signatures needed to be listed on the “beauty contest” presidential choice portion of the ballot. However, not all of the Republicans filed complete slates of candidates for delegate, because delegates require additional petitions of 600 signatures from any particular U.S. House district. Illinois has 18 districts. See this story.

The six presidential candidates who will appear in the Republican primary are: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Notable by his absence is Jon Huntsman. Santorum only filed delegates for 41 of the 54 slots; Perry only filed one delegate candidate; Roemer only filed three. Gingrich, Paul and Romney filed complete slates. Santorum was the last to file; his petitions came in at 4:22 p.m. on the last day. UPDATE: Santorum filed 46 delegate candidates; thanks to the commenter below for this news.

It is conceivable that some petitions could be challenged, but it is very rare, almost unheard of, for presidential primary candidate petitions to be challenged in Illinois or any other challenge state.

California “Top-Two” Supporters Hope to Eliminate Write-in Space on California General Election Ballots at January 10 Hearing

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On January 10, at 1:30 p.m., the California Senate Elections Committee will hear AB 1413. The bill abolishes write-in space on general election ballots for Congress and partisan state office. It also makes various other technical changes that will alter the top-two system passed by the voters in June 2010, when they approved Proposition 14 by a 53.7-46.3% margin.

Existing law says the ballot should contain write-in space, but that write-ins cannot be counted. It is wildly irrational for the existing law to leave write-in space on the ballot and yet say they can never be counted. There are two obvious ways to fix this: either repeal the law that says write-ins can’t be counted; or change the law to eliminate write-in space on ballots. The author of AB 1413, Assemblyman Paul Fong, has chosen the more repressive choice.

The California Senate Elections Committee has five members: Democrats Lou Correa of Orange County, Kevin deLeon of Los Angeles County, and Ted Lieu of Los Angeles County; and Republicans Doug LaMalfa of far northern California, and Ted Gaines from the Sacramento suburbs. If you happen to live in the district of any of these five Senators, please communicate to them before January 10 that you favor keeping write-in space on ballots.

The proponents of Proposition 14, despite their high-flown rhetoric about voter choice, are responsible for persuading the bill’s author to act against voter choice. Not all proponents of Proposition 14 favor eliminating write-in space, but the most powerful proponents, including the Nielsen Merksamer law firm, are strongly pushing to eliminate write-in space.

Wisconsin State Court Says Election Officials Must Check Gubernatorial Recall Petition for Duplicate Names

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On January 5, a state court in Wisconsin ruled that state election officials must determine how many duplicate signatures exist on the petition to recall the Governor. In Wisconsin, anyone who is eligible to register to vote is permitted to sign petitions. Furthermore, election officials assume any petition that has enough raw signatures to match the required number is valid, and leave it up to opponents of the petition drive to challenge if they feel the petition lacks sufficient valid signatures. See this story.

The number of signatures is so huge (over 400,000), the Governor and his supporters sued, arguing that they almost certainly will want to challenge the petition when it is finally submitted, and that they don’t have the resources, in the short amount of time permitted, to find all the duplicates. There is apparently some evidence that some voters have signed the petition more than once.

Massachusetts Secretary of State Says 2012 Non-Presidential Primary Will Remain on September 6, Despite Conflict with Democratic National Convention

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According to this story, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin says it is not practical for the legislature to move the 2012 non-presidential primary, which is set for September 6, a Thursday. Many Democratic Party activists are upset with that date because it is also the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Democratic Party presidential convention of 2012 is the latest national presidential convention ever held by a major party in the United States. Because that national convention is so late, all states have had to permit any qualified party to wait until September 6 to certify the names of their presidential and vice-presidential nominees. Until recently, Texas required such certification on an earlier date, but the state ignored that deadline in 2008 and since then has relaxed it.