Washington State Legislature Adjourns; Only Two Election Law Bills Passed

Posted on by March 12, 2022
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The Washington State Legislature adjourned on March 10. The 2022 session only passed two election law bills. HB 1357 provides that overseas voters may obtain an electronic copy of the Voters Pemphlet from their county elections office. HB 1716 concerns voting centers.

Interesting bills that failed to pass include: two bills to use ranked choice voting in presidential primaries (HB 1926 and SB 5851); and HB 1265, which would have provided for a presidential primary ballot for voters who don’t want to sign in as members of a party that is holding a presidential primary.

Bill to Revive Mississippi Initiative Process Passes Senate

Posted on by March 11, 2022
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On March 8, the Mississippi Senate passed HC 39, the constitutional amendment to restore the statewide initiative process. However, the Senate amended the bill, so now it must return to the House for concurrence. The Senate vote was unanimous.

Mississippi had the initiative until last year, when the State Supreme Court ruled that it was fundamentally flawed and could not be used until it was fixed. The old law, part of the State Constitution, said signatures are needed from all five U.S. House districts, but Mississippi doesn’t have five districts any more. It only has four.

If the bill passes, then the voters will vote on it in November 2022.

Federal Court Strikes Down Montana Public Service Commission Districts

Posted on by March 11, 2022
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Montana has five districts, each one to elect a Public Service Commissioner. On March 8, a 3-judge U.S. District Court struck down the boundaries of the districts, because their populations are far from equal. The most populous district has 24% more population than the least populous district.

Here is the decision in Brown v Jacobsen, 6:21cv-92. The Court set forth new boundaries for each of the five districts. The state legislature is free to change them in 2023, but for the 2022 election, the districts drawn by the ruling are in place.

The reason the old districts were so unequal is that they were last drawn after the 2000 census.

U.S. District Court Judge Explains Why He Ruled in Favor of Congressman Madison Cawthorn

Posted on by March 11, 2022
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On March 10, U.S. District Court Judge Richard E. Myers issued a written opinion in Cawthorn v Circosta, e.d., 5:22cv-50. This is the North Carolina case filed by Congressman Madison Cawthorn, to stop election officials from determining if he meets the constitutional qualifications to run for Congress. On March 4, Judge Myers had ruled from the bench that the Fourteenth Amendment, section three, is longer in force because Congress passed bills in 1872 and 1898 giving everyone an amnesty. See the part of the opinion that starts on page 19.

On March 11, North Carolina election officials filed a notice of appeal. In the Fourth Circuit the case number is 22-1251.