On January 22, the U.S. Solicitor General filed this brief in Tangipa v Newsom, 25A839. It agrees with the California Republicans who filed the case that the new California U.S. House districts violate the federal Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the state to respond by January 29.
Here is the original application filed by California Republicans on January 20.
On January 22, U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney, an Obama appointee, issued an opinion in King v O’Bannon, e.d., 3:23cv-408. He ruled that Virginia cannot continue to bar many felons from registering to vote. The basis for the decision is the 1870 act of Congress that readmitted Virginia to the union. The 1870 law said that Virginia was readmitted as a state, only if it promised not to limit voting, except that the bill said Virginia could continue to disenfranchise persons who had committed a felony “at common law.”
Since then, Virginia has barred all persons who committed a felony from registering to vote. The list of “felonies at common law” back in 1870 only included about a dozen crimes. Of course, nowadays there are many more felonies.
The plaintiffs are voters who had been disenfranchised because they violated certain drug laws, laws which did not exist in 1870. Therefore, they and similar members of a class may now register to vote. It is not known if the state will appeal. See this news story.
Missouri Representative Peggy McGaugh has introduced HB 1871, to restore presidential primaries in Missouri. Candidates would qualify by paying a fiing fee of $5,000. All qualified parties would be able to have presidential primaries.
Missouri state Senator Sandy Crawford (R-Buffalo) has filed a similar bill, SB 836.
The Georgia Libertarian Party is currently challenging the Georgia campaign law that lets individuals contribute more to some gubernatorial candidates than other gubernatorial candidates. The U.S. District Court had dismissed the case on standing, because the party at the time didn’t have a gubernatorial nominee. But the party nominated Chase Oliver at its state convention last weekend. The party has notified the Eleventh Circuit of this development. The case is Libertarian Party of Georgia v Attorney General, 25-12553.
Georgia holds a special election on Tuesday, March 10, to fill the vacancy in the U.S. House, 14th district. In Georgia special elections, there are no party nominees. Candidates qualify by paying a filing fee; there is no petition. Seventeen Republicans, three Democrats, one Libertarian, and one independent are on the ballot. If no one gets 50%, there will be a run-off on April 7. See this story, which lists all the candidates.
