On February 8, some of the plaintiffs in a separate Alabama U.S. House redistricting case asked the original 3-judge panel to rule in their favor, notwithstanding the U.S. Supreme Court stay in a different Alabama redistricting case on the afternoon of February 7. The plaintiffs have a theory under which the 3-judge court could do that. See their filing here. Singleton v Merrill, n.d., 2:21cv-1291. Singleton v Merrill, n.d., 2:21cv-1291.
On February 1, the Texas Supreme Court stayed a ruling of a trial court that would have removed a Republican candidate from the March 1 primary ballot. Rachel Leal-Hudson needed 250 signatures. She submitted 530 and there were enough valid. However, her primary opponent sued to remove her on the grounds that ten signatures had been witnessed by the candidate’s husband, and yet the candidate had signed the petition form indicating she had been the witness. The trial court removed her from the ballot, but the Texas Supreme Court disagreed and kept her on the ballot. See this story.
On February 19, the Alabama Republican Party barred three legislative candidates from its May 24 primary. Alabama case law allows parties to bar candidates from running in its primary for reasons having to do with political stances and association.
Tripp Powell was barred from running for State Senate because in 2018, he donated $500 to the Democratic nominee for Governor.
Anson Knowles was barred from running for State House because at some time in the past, he was chair of the Libertarian Party of his county.
It is not known why the Republican Party barred Teresa Rhea from running. See this story.
California Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) has introduced AB 2808. It makes the use of ranked choice voting illegal, even for charter cities and charter counties. Here is the text of the bill. Section One sets forth statements criticizing ranked choice voting and denying that is has any benefits.
O’Donnell has been in the legislature since 2014. He has not previously authored election law bills, and he is not a member of the Assembly Elections Committee.
As previously noted, on February 17, a U.S. District Court in Arkansas ruled against the NAACP in a racial gerrymander case, on the grounds that only the federal government can sue states over voting rights, under Section Two of the Voting Rights Act. Ian Millhiser, a journalist who specializes in legal matters, here writes clearly why the Arkansas judge is mistaken.
