The Third Circuit will hear Benezet Consulting v Boockvar, 20-2976 on September 23. This is the case over Pennsylvania’s ban on out-of-state circulators for primary petitions. The U.S. District Court had struck down the law, but only as applied to the particular plaintiffs in the case and only as applied to the 2020 election. The issue for the Third Circuit is whether she should have expanded her decision to include all future out-of-state circulators and future elections.
On July 12, Ohio filed a brief in Thompson v DeWine, 21-3514. This is the case over whether Ohio should have granted some petitioning relief for initiative petitions during 2020, due to the covid crisis. The state says the case is moot. It says, “The Covid-19 pandemic gave rise to unique circumstances that are exceptionally unlikely to recur.” That is not necessarily true, as covid-19 cases are again rising in the U.S.
On July 12, the city council of Lansing, Michigan, voted to ask city voters if they wish to use ranked choice voting in future elections for city office. See this story. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.
On July 12, the California Senate Elections Committee passed AB 446 by 4-1. This is the bill that lowers the petition for a new party from 10% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote. It also permits a new party to use a party name that had in the past been used by an earlier group.
In California, the petition procedure for new parties is almost never used. Almost every new party instead chooses to use the registration method, which requires a group to persuade apprpximately 70,000 individuals to register into the new group. Therefore the impact of easing the party petition is very minimal.
On July 12, Sacramento Superior Court Judge James Arguelles ruled that California Governor Gavin Newsom may not have his party affiliation listed on the September 14 recall ballot. See this story.
