On May 20, the Socialist Workers Party nominee for New Jersey Governor, Joanne Kuniansky, submitted her petition to be on the New Jersey ballot in November 2021 for Governor. She is the first petitioning candidate to file. The deadline is June 8 and the requirement is 800 signatures.
This is the first time the SWP has petitioned for Governor of New Jersey since 2005.
On May 21, Indiana filed this brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Tully v Okeson, 20-1244. This is the case over Indiana’s policy of letting age 65 voters vote by mail without excuse, but does not extend the same to younger voters. The plaintiffs argue this violates the 26th amendment, which forbids states from denying or abridging the right to vote on account of age. The lower courts had upheld the Indiana law. The U.S. Supreme Court had asked Indiana to respond.
On May 14, the plaintiffs in Reeves v Nago, in U.S. District Court in Hawaii, filed an amended complaint. This is the lawsuit over voting rights for residents of Hawaii who move to a U.S. territory, and who wish to continue voting absentee in Hawaii. Although the U.S. District Court had ruled on April 23 that the plaintiffs lack standing, the judge had allowed the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint to try to cure the standing problem. 1:20cv-433. Here is the amended complaint.
The Connecticut public funding law for candidates for state office does not allow the money to be spent to criticize someone running for another office. In 2014 two Republican nominees for State Senator criticized the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, and they used public funding to disseminate that message. After many years, they were fined by the state Elections Enforcement Commission.
On May 20, the Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously cleared the way for the two Republican candidates to fight their fines on free speech grounds. Although the Supreme Court did not decide the issue, it said the lower courts had been wrong to dismiss the lawsuit on procedural grounds. Markley v State Elections Enforcement Commission, SC 20305. Here is the eleven-page opinion. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for this news.
On May 18, county initiatives were on the ballot in Baker, Grant, Malheur, Lake, and Sherman Counties to direct county officials to begin discussions of those counties leaving Oregon and joining Idaho. The average “yes” vote in those five counties was 62%.
Similar measures passed in November 2020 in Jefferson and Union Counties. Similar measures were defeated at the same time in Douglas and Wallowa Counties. See this story.
