On April 1, a Vermont state trial court upheld a state law that lets Vermont towns decide for themselves whether to let adult non-citizens vote in local elections. Ferry v City of Montpelier, Washington Co. Superior Court, 21cv-2963. See this story, which has a link to the opinion. The law had been challenged by several units of the Republican Party, including the National Committee.
On April 5, the U.S. House passed H.Res.831, to establish a Center for Democratic Resilience in NATO. Only 63 U.S. House members voted “no”. They are all Republicans.
Here is the roll-call vote. Among the 63 “no” votes were only 14 members from states in which independent voters could not vote in Republican primaries (Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania).
Many journalists routinely assert that closed primaries produce extreme politicians, whereas letting independents vote in primaries causes moderate politicians to be elected. This is not true; it has been rebutted in many political science studies.
This post does not take a position on whether H.Res.831 is good or bad policy. It merely points out that voting against strengthening democracy inside NATO is considered an “extreme” position, compared to the post-war consensus in the United States.
This Detroit News story explains why five states still don’t have U.S. House redistricting completely settled. The five states are Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, and Ohio.
Betsy Johnson, an independent candidate for Governor of Oregon, has raised $5,100,000 for her campaign. According to this story, that is more than any other candidate for that office has raised so far. Johnson is a former Democratic State Senator.
Oregon last elected an independent governor in 1930, when Julius Meier won with 54.5% of the vote.
This Charlotte Observer newspaper story explains that North Carolina has severe ballot access petition requirements for independent candidates. It could have mentioned, but didn’t, that North Carolina has never had a statewide independent candidate on a government-printed ballot, except for Ross Perot for president in 1992. It could also have said, but didn’t, that North Carolina has never had an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. House.
