The Hawaii bill to use ranked choice voting in special elections, SB 560, has failed to pass the legislature. It passed both houses but the versions in each house were different. The conference committee never acted on the bill, so it can’t pass.
On May 7, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1890. It makes it illegal for anyone to contribute more than $3,000 to a committee trying to put a statewide initiative on the ballot.
Under many U.S. Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance, contribution limits are unconstitutional unless they are needed for the compelling government need to avoid bribery. One cannot bribe an initiative, so the law limits freedom for no important state purpose. On May 8, the Florida ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the new law, ACLU v Lee, n.d., 4:21cv-190. Here is the Complaint. It lists all the measures the Florida legislature has passed in the last 30 years making the initiative more difficult to use. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the news.
On Sunday, May 9, the four candidates for the special U.S. House election, 1st district, debated each other. They are a Democrat, a Republican, a Libertarian, and an independent. The debate was sponsored by the Albuquerque Journal, TV station KOAT, and radio station KKOB. Thanks to Rick Lass for this news.
Ohio is not the only state suing the U.S. Census Bureau of its plan to release population data as late as September 30. Alabama is also suing. Alabama v U.S. Department of Commerce, m.d., 3:21cv-211. A hearing was held on May 5. This case is before a 3-judge panel of the U.S. District Court. The three judges are Kevin Newsom, R. Austin Huffaker, and Emily C. Marks. All three are Trump appointees. Here is the Complaint. The case also complains about the form of the data the Bureau will be releasing.
The Virginia Republican Party is using a convention this year to choose nominees for the three statewide offices, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General. The convention was Saturday, May 8. The party is using ranked choice voting and is counting all the ballots by hand. The results aren’t available yet, but they probably will be on Monday, May 10. See this story.
