On October 6, the Montana Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Ellingson v State, DA25-0142. It strikes down the $3,700 filing fee for initiatives. Here is the decision.
The Court also struck down the law that says if an initiative is defeated, no similar initiative can qualify for the ballot for the next four years.
On October 6,GBH News hosted a debate on Question Three, the top-two initiative. The chief sponsor, Professor Danielle Edwards, spoke in favor. State Senator Lydia Edwards of Boston, a Democrat who is running for re-election, opposed it. Here is a link to the debate.
Neither debater mentioned that top-two keeps minor party candidates off the November ballot. That has what it has done in California and Washington, for races that have a candidate from both major parties on the primary ballot.
Proponents criticize the small number of candidates who run for legislature and U.S. House in Massachusetts. But no one pointed out that a major reason there are so few candidates are because the ballot access barriers are so steep. But Question Three does nothing to lower those barriers. Professor Allen came close to mentioning the ballot access barriers at minute 23, but she didn’t mention the petition barriers; she mentioned the hurdle that Democratic candidates must show some support at party meetings before they can run, even if they are capable of meeting the petition requirement.
Neither side mentioned that Question Three makes it more difficult for parties to obtain and keep qualified status.
Senator Edwards spoke in favor of legislative term limits, and in favor of Ranked Choice Voting. Professor Allen implied that she is in favor of Ranked Choice voting also.
On Octoer 6, the Republican and No Labels Party nominees for Arizona Governor debated each other. The debate was televised. See this story.
U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney will hold a hearing on Friday, October 23, in Peace & Freedom Party v Weber, n.d., 3:24cv-8308, in San Francisco. This is the lawsuit in which four minor parties challenge the California top-two system. The courthouse is at 450 Golden Gate Ave. The courtroom for Judge Chesney is on the 19th floor. The hearing is at eleven a.m. Anyone attending a federal court hearing needs to go through a metal detector, so it is best to arrive somewhat early in case there is a line to get through the metal detector.
The Courthouse is near the BART Civic Center Station.
Earlier this year, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in New York, Bruce Blakeman, arranged for a petition to qualify himself as the nominee of the “Vote Affordable” Party. Several other Republican candidates for for legislative office completed petitions under the same name for their own races as well.
It is possible Blakeman will receive a vote total on the Vote Affordable line equal to 2% or more of the vote cast for Governor. If he does, that party would become a qualified party.
