On September 3, the Alaska Supreme Court unanimously struck down a state law limiting payment to initiative petitioners to only $1 per signature. The decision is unanimous. Resource Development Council for Alaska v State of Alaska, S-17834. Here is the 32-page opinion. Thanks to Ken Jacobus for the news.
On September 3, U.S. District Court Judge John Sinatra, a Trump appointee, enjoined the May petition deadline for New York independent candidates. Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, w.d., 1:21cv-982. The decision orders that the Board place independent candidate Byron Brown on the November ballot, as a candidate for re-election for Mayor. The ruling was oral and is not yet in writing. The judge said the burden of the May deadline is severe, and there is no compelling reason for a deadline that early.
The New York petition deadline for independent candidates had always been in August, September, or October of election years, in the entire history of government-printed ballots. Then, in 2019, the legislature moved it to May. UPDATE: also on September 3, in a parallel lawsuit in State Supreme Court, the petition deadline was also enjoined.
On September 3, the Eighth Circuit upheld the Minnesota law that requires noon-presidential independent candidate petitions to carry this language: “I solemnly swear (or affirm)…that I do not intend to vote at the primary election for the office for which this nominating petition is made.” The decision is only five pages, is unsigned, and will not be published. The decision simply declares that the plaintiffs had abandoned their challenge to this wording at the oral argument. There is no mention of any state interest in requiring this wording on the petition.
Here is the decision in Libertarian Party of Minnesota v Simon, 20-2244.
The decision also upholds some other characteristics of the law. The Libertarians had argued that the whole petition process is discriminatory because whereas voting is secret, petition signatures are not. The party had also argued that the process is discriminatory because voters can cast postal ballots, whereas petitions must be circulated in person. But the court said that Minnesota allows anyone to download a blank petition form, sign it, and mail it in. The three judges on the case are Raymond Gruender, Morris Arnold, and David Stras.
Many Republican Party officials in Wyoming have been working to change the primary system in time for the 2022 election, because they are opposed to the re-election of Liz Cheney (the state’s only U.S. House member). They are afraid that she will be renominated in the Republican primary in 2022 because many pro-Trump Republican candidates will split the anti-Cheney vote.
On September 2, the committee that hears election law bills, the Joint Corporation, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee, heard testimony on changes. They heard from proponents of a top-two system, ranked choice voting, and traditional two-round primary runoffs. According to this story, none of these ideas is likely to pass in time for the 2022 primary. Thanks to FairVote for the link.
On September 2, the California Assembly passed SB 660, which makes it illegal for initiative proponents to pay circulators on a per-signature basis. The bill now goes back to the Senate for concurrence in amendments. The vote was 51-18.
