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Guam Presidential Election Results

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Richard WingerJanuary 9, 2021

Here is a link to the official Guam election returns for November 3, 2020. Scroll down to the bottom to see the vote for president:

Biden 14,610 (Democrat)
Trump 11,058 (Republican)
Hawkins 185 (Green)
Jorgensen 169 (Libertarian)
Hunter 140 (Progressive)
Carroll 138 (American Solidarity)
Collins 83 (Prohibition)

Guam has no electoral votes, so this vote is simply an expression of public opinion. Guam is the only U.S. possession that always has a popular vote for president. It started doing this in 1980.

Bill to Admit District of Columbia as a State Has 204 Co-Sponsors

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Richard WingerJanuary 9, 2021

HR 51, introduced January 4, 2021, would make most of the District of Columbia a state. As of January 9, it has 204 co-sponsors. The bill has been referred to two different committees. Generally when a bill gets assigned to a committee, that is a sign it is about to move ahead.

New York State Trial Court Says Disputed U.S. House Election Returns Need Further Processing

Posted on January 9, 2021 by Richard WingerJanuary 9, 2021

On January 8, a New York state trial court issued a ruling in Tenney v Oswego County Board of Elections, a lawsuit over the correct tally of votes in the 22nd U.S. House district of New York. The ruling says that some of the county election boards must do more work before they can certify their votes in this election. The ruling says that recounts may be needed in some counties. Here is the decision in Tenney v Oswego Co. Board of Elections, EFC 2020-1376.

Thus the New York 22nd district remains without a member of Congress so far. Tenney appealed the order. Thanks to Joe Burns for the link.

U.S. Supreme Court Receives Cert Petition for Case Challenging North Carolina March Petition Deadline for Independent Presidential Candidates

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Richard WingerJanuary 8, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has now docketed Kopitke v Bell, no. 20-897. This is the case over North Carolina’s independent presidential petition deadline of March 3. The Fourth Circuit upheld it last year, even though in 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio’s March 20 independent presidential petition is too early. The Fourth Circuit said that the March deadline is constitutional because the North Carolina primary is in March. But the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts, have never said that the date of a state’s primary has anything to do with its independent presidential petition deadline. Here is the petition.

If it is true that the deadline for independent presidential candidates can be as early as that state’s presidential primary, then it would have been constitutional for New Hampshire in 2008 to have had an independent presidential deadline of January 8, because that was the date of the New Hampshire primary that year.

Nebraska Secretary of State Rejects Legal Marijuana Now Party Petition

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Richard WingerJanuary 8, 2021

On January 7, the Nebraska Secretary of State determined that the Legal Marijuana Now Party did not have enough valid signatures. Although it had enough statewide, Nebraska requires a certain number in each of the three U.S. House districts, and the determination was that the party lacked enough signatures in U.S. House district 2, the Omaha district.

The Nebraska Secretary of State does not permit any more signatures to be filed for a petition that is short, even if there is a long time until the deadline. The deadline for this petition was not until August 1, 2022. The petition was only 28 signatures short.