New York State Trial Court That Invalidated U.S. House Districts Refuses to Extend Independent Petitioning Deadline

Posted on by May 26, 2022
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On May 20, the same New York state trial court judge who first invalidated the U.S. House district boundaries refused to extend the petitioning deadline for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. Harkenrider v Hochul, Steuben County Supreme Court E2022-0116.

Here is the four-page Order, which fails to mention any of the precedents from other states that when the normal petitioning period is shortened by late redistricting, states must either extend the deadline or cut the number of signatures.

The new U.S. District Court boundaries were not released until late on May 20, and the petition deadline is May 31. The statewide petitions must have at least 500 signatures from each of half of the U.S. House districts.

Virginia Republican Party Chose its Nominees in Two U.S. House Districts This Year by Ranked Choice Voting

Posted on by May 26, 2022
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The Republican Party of Virginia frequently uses conventions instead of primaries to choose its nominees. This year, it chose U.S. House nominees in the Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Districts with conventions. Party rules now permit ranked choice voting in these nominating meetings, and ranked choice voting was used in two meetings: the Tenth District, on May 21; and the Eleventh District, on May 7. See this Fairvote story.

New York Special Election Results for Assembly

Posted on by May 26, 2022
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On May 24, New York held a special election for Assemblymember, 58th district, in Brooklyn. The results: Democratic 74.85%; independent 18.09%; Working Families 4.74%; Republican 1.64%; Conservative .67%. The Democratic and Working Families Party had the same nominee; the Republican and Conservative Parties had the same nominee.

When this seat was last up, in November 2020, there had only been one candidate, who received 95.19% of the vote on the Democratic line, and 4.81% on the Working Families line.

Arizona Legislature Passes Bill Allowing Independent Candidates to Use Electronic Signatures

Posted on by May 26, 2022
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On May 25, the Arizona House passed SB 1460 unanimously. It is an omnibus election law bill. It lets independent candidates use electronic signatures. Existing law only allows candidates running in a primary to use electronic signatures. The bill is now through the legislature.

Unfortunately, it also moves the deadline to file as a declared write-in candidate from September to July, which defeats the whole purpose of having write-in space available on ballots. Write-in candidates, when they have won, have usually been candidates who entered the race late in the season, due to something unexpected having happened.