On July 13, the Massachusetts Secretary of State determined that the initiative for ranked-choice voting for federal and state office (except president) has enough valid signatures, and will be on the November 2020 ballot. If it passes, Massachusetts will be the second state, after Maine, to use ranked choice voting for congress.
On July 13, the Texas Supreme Court ruled 6-1 against the state Republican Party, over whether the party could have an indoor state convention in a particular site in Houston. Here is the decision in In re Republican Party of Texas, 20-0525. The order is only three pages and is procedural.
Here is the ten-page dissent by Justice John P. Devine.
According to this story, the Washington, D.C. city council has passed a bill to let felony prisoners vote this year. The only other jurisdictions in the U.S. that do that are Vermont and Maine. The bill has not yet been signed by the Mayor. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
This Axios article says eleven Republican congressional candidates, plus one person who may become a Republican congressional nominee (depending on how the primary turns out), say they believe in QAnon. According to one of those candidates, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Q teaches that many elite figures in government worship Satan and encourage pedophile sex trafficking.
Of the twelve candidates, only two of them are from states that use closed primaries. Three are on the November ballot in California, which uses a top-two system. The others are in states with open primaries or semi-open primaries. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
The American Independent Party, which is only ballot-qualified in California, will hold its presidential convention on Saturday, August 15, at the home of the Sacramento County chair of the party. Some delegates will participate remotely.
