On August 27, U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, an Obama appointee, ruled that the California recall rules do not violate the U.S. Constitution. Here is the 13-page opinion. The plaintiffs, who argue that the recall should give the recalled office-holder a chance to appear on the second half of the ballot as a candidate, violates the Constitution, immediately filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
On August 27, the Erie County Board of Elections rejected Mayor Byron Brown’s independent candidate petition, because it was filed after the May deadline. See this story. It is expected that the Mayor will now file a federal lawsuit, alleging that the May petition deadline is unconstitutional. The primary was in late June. Caselaw is unanimous that independent candidate petition deadlines can’t be substantially earlier than the primary date.
On August 26, the Texas House passed SB 13, which authorizes a later 2022 primary. The bill does not set the date; instead it sets out a formula, keying the date of the primary to the date when redistricting is finished. The vote in the House was 91-25.
The Texas primary date has big implications for ballot access, because petitions for a new party or an independent candidate can’t circulate until after the primary. So if the primary is later, the period for petitioning shrinks. Either that problem will be eased by the legislature, or a court is likely to do so. A ballot access case is already pending against the existing law, Miller v Hughs, w.d., 1:19cv-700. Discovery is almost completed.
On August 26, the California Senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 446 unanimously. This is a bill to make small improvements in the procedure for a group to become a qualified party. The bill lowers the petition to create a new party from 10% of the last gubernatorial vote to 3%. This may seem like a huge improvement, but it is not very meaningful because groups almost never use the petition procedure, because even as amended it would be so difficult. Instead they use the alternate registration test, which requires registration of .33% of the state registration total.
Also the bill clarifies the process for a group to file as a political body. A political body is a group that is trying to use the registration method to qualify. The bill was amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee so it now must return to the Assembly, assuming it passes the Senate. See the new text here. The amendments set forth procedures when a new political body is using the same name, or a similar name, to a past political body that never qualified.
On August 26, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee passed SB 660. It makes it illegal to pay initiative circulators on a per-signature basis. The bill had already passed the State Senate.
Similar bills in the past were vetoed by Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown, and Gavin Newsom.
