This Politico story explores the possibility that the California top-two system might create a November 2026 ballot with only two Republicans on the ballot for Governor. The story does not mention the idea that the legislature could amend the election law to legalize write-in voting in general elections for top-two offices. California already has write-in space for other types of elections.
On December 11, the Utah Forward Party announced that its private on-line election had chosen Emily Buss to be the new State Senator for the Eleventh District. See this story. The party’s previous State Senator had resigned. Under Utah law, the party had the power to replace him. The Forward Party set up a voting system for all voters in the district to choose the party’s new Senator. Five members of the Forward Party sought the job, and 1,301 voters in the district participated. Any registered voter was free to participate. Approval voting was used.
On December 12, Missouri’s Attorney General asked a U.S. District Court to impose sanctions on the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the redistricting case. The state says that the attorneys for the plaintiffs told the court at oral argument that the plaintiffs agree that laws subject to referenda are not suspended until the referendum petition is checked to see if it has enough valid signatures. But the Attorney General says the following day, the plaintiffs’ attorney told the press that laws subject to referenda are suspended as soon as the signatures have been submitted.
Here is the Attorney General’s filing. The case is Missouri General Assembly v Glahn, e.d., 4:25cv-1535.
The referendum process in Missouri is over 100 years old. One would think that the question of when the law is suspended would have been answered decades ago.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has records showing the number of registered voters in each party, going back to 1966. During the entire period from 1966 to the present, there have always been more registered Democrats than registered Republicans in the state. The margin was once very strongly Democratic. For example, in October 1972, there were 1,729,436 Democrats and 541,916 Republicans.
But Republicans have been catching up. As of the December 13, 2025 tally, there are only 1,216 more Democrats than Republicans. North Carolina puts up a tally every Saturday, and the Democratic margin has shrunk in every tally this calendar year.
The only other state in the south in which there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Louisiana. Most southern states don’t have registration by party. Republicans are also gaining on Democrats in Louisiana. The latest Louisiana tally shows 29,843 more Democrats than Republicans.
On December 11, a New Hampshire state trial court upheld the new requirements for voters who use postal absentee ballots. The new law requires that the completed ballot must be notarized, or it must include a photocopy of the voter’s state ID, such as a drivers license. If neither of those is feasible, the voter may take the ballot to the town clerk and show ID.
The plaintiffs are visually impaired. They cannot easily do any of the three alternatives contained in the law. Here is the decision. An appeal is likely. Robertson v Scanlan, Rockingham Superior Court, 218-2025cv-951.
