On August 26, the Virginia Republican Party filed a lawsuit in state court to remove Terry McAuliffe, Democratic gubernatorial nominee, from the November 2021 ballot. The suit says McAuliffe didn’t sign his declaration of candidacy in March when he filed for the primary. See this story. Thanks to Tim Phares for the link. UPDATE: here is the Complaint in Republican Party of Virginia v Piper, Circuit Court of Richmond City.
This Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial advocates that Texas moves its primaries from March to April. It also says run-off primaries should be abolished and be replaced with ranked choice voting.
On August 25, U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker, an Obama appointee, sanctioned some attorneys who filed a challenge to the Michigan election returns of November 2020. The plaintiffs in that lawsuit included some Republican nominees for presidential elector from Michigan. They claimed, among other things, that Michigan vote-counting equipment “flipped” votes from former President Donald Trump to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. King v Whitmer, e.d., 2:20cv-13134.
The judge ordered the attorneys to attend some legal education classes; to pay the attorneys fees for the defendants; and that the bar associations of which the attorneys were members should be asked to examine their credentials. The 110-page opinion, near the beginning, discusses the connection between the free speech provision of the First Amendment, and legal ethics rules, and concludes that “free speech” does not totally protect statements made by attorneys in legal papers presented to courts. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.
On August 26, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told the press that he is “confident” that he will be on the November 2021 ballot as a candidate for re-election. See this story. He merely said, “The law is on my side” without giving details. The Erie County Board of Elections meets on August 27 to discuss the issue.
On August 26, Change Research released a Virginia gubernatorial vote. It shows: Democratic 49%; Republican 43%; Liberation Party 3%; undecided 5%. See this link. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
