The 5th circuit will hear arguments in Libertarian Party v Dardenne, 08-582, on December 3, 2009. Law Professor Mark Brown will argue that the U.S. Constitution says only state legislatures may write laws relating to presidential electors. This is based on the second paragraph of Article II, section 1, of the Constitution. It says, “Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…”.
This theory was upheld in the various Ohio minor party ballot access cases in 2008, and similar cases are pending in the 3rd circuit against Pennsylvania, and in the 5th circuit against Mississippi. In each of the three cases, state elections officials created their own rules, rules that the legislature had never passed, and these rules were used to keep certain minor party presidential candidates off the ballot. Those candidates were Bob Barr in Louisiana, Brian Moore in Mississippi, and Chuck Baldwin in Pennsylvania.
Legislature = legislative power ??? — in States having voter approval of laws. Duh.
How many State regimes *delegate* legislative power to party hack executive officers — allegedly to fill gaps in the laws ???
See earlier posting about the time bomb Electoral College — one more of the EVIL compromises in the top secret 1787 Federal Convention — due to a conspiracy of the small States and the slave States.
Electors in Colorado are appointed in a manner that is directed by its constitution, rather than the legislature, in a much more substantive way than whether an office performing a administrative task closes at 5 pm or accepts filings pushed through the transom. These electors were critical in determining the outcome of the 1876 and 2000 elections.