Kamala Harris, the 2020 Democratic Party vice-presidential nominee, is the first resident of a western state to be on the Democratic Party national ticket in history. This is statistically odd, because the United States has had western states in the union ever since 1850.
By “west”, I mean Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
On August 11, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay in the Oregon lawsuit over ballot access relief for initiatives. The lower courts had given relief because of the health crisis. The vote is 7-2. Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg would not have granted the stay. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
This means that the only ballot access relief granted to any initiatives due to the health crisis, by any federal court, has been in Nevada, where the U.S. District Court had granted relief and the state had not appealed. The U.S. Supreme Court has eliminated ballot access relief for initiatives in every instance in which it was asked to decide, which are cases from Idaho, Oregon, and Michigan.
On August 11, the Alaska Elections Division determined that the Constitution Party’s presidential petition has enough valid signatures.
Unlike many other prominent polling companies, Monmouth University Polls has been listing Jo Jorgensen and Howie Hawkins as choices. See the latest poll, released August 11. Scroll down to question 14. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
As noted earlier, a U.S. District Court in Oregon extended ballot access relief to a statewide Oregon initiative, and the Ninth Circuit refused to stay that relief. The Oregon Attorney General then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay. Clarno v People Not Politicians, 20A21.
The U.S. Supreme Court is now interested in knowing if the Secretary of State really wants to appeal. She is Beverly Clarno, a Republican, and she has said publicly that she does not support asking for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court then asked her to file a supplemental brief, of 100 words or less, to say if she agrees that the Attorney General should pursue the U.S. Supreme Court appeal. She responded equivocally. The initiative proponents then filed their own supplemental brief, saying it is clear the Secretary of State does not really want to appeal. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
