Lawsuit Filed Over Alaska Elections Division Decision to Delete Partisan Registration from Ballot

Posted on by September 16, 2020
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On September 15, the Democratic Party nominee for Alaska’s U.S. House seat filed a lawsuit in state court, over the state’s decision to drop her partisan affiliation from the November ballot. She is a registered independent and she wants that shown on the ballot. In 2018 Alaska general election ballots did show such partisan affiliations. Galvin v Fenumiai, 3AN-20-0799.

Presumably, if she wins, the state will also restore the partisan affiliation of the nominees of unqualified parties. For example, Scott Kohlhaas petitioned as the Libertarian nominee for state house this year, and he is a registered Libertarian. In past years the ballot would have shown him as a Libertarian, but this year the state has given him the label “petitioning candidate.”

Here is the Galvin complaint. The case has an oral argument on Wednesday, September 16.

Maine Supreme Court Hears Case on Whether Ranked Choice Voting Should be on Ballot for President

Posted on by September 16, 2020
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On September 15, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral argument in the case over whether the Republican-backed referendum petition had enough valid signatures. If the petition did have enough valid signatures, then the ranked-choice law on presidential voting is suspended until the voters decide on whether to keep RCV. In that case, it would not be used in November 2020 for president.

Orlando Sentinel Article on Top-Two Initiative in Florida

Posted on by September 16, 2020
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The Orlando Sentinel has this balanced, lengthy story about the Florida top-two initiative.

It quotes a consultant for the initiative, Steve Vancore, as saying that top-two has existed in “Oregon, California, Washington, and Nebraska.” But neither Oregon nor Nebraska has ever had a top-two system. Vancore also says top-two discourages extreme politicians, yet Washington state, which does have a top-two system, has had two of the most extrene state legislators in the nation, in recent years. See this story about Washington Representative Jenny Graham, who believes in Q-Anon and who threatened a reporter who wrote about her. See this wikipedia article about Washington Representative Matt Shea, who has called for the violent overthrow of the government.

UPDATE: here is a lengthy report on Matt Shea prepared by the Rampart Group for the Washington state legislature, for those readers who feel a wikipedia article isn’t trustworthy.

Texas Supreme Court Puts Three Green Party Candidates on the Ballot

Posted on by September 15, 2020
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On September 15, the Texas Supreme Court issued an order putting three Green Party nominees back on the ballot. They had not paid the filing fee and a State Court of Appeals had removed them on August 19. In re the Green Party of Texas, 20-0708. Here is the order. It says a full opinion will be issued later.

The Texas Supreme Court had put the Libertarians back on the ballot last week, but on the basis that the Republican Party challenge to them had been filed too late. The fact that the Court has now put the Greens back on the ballot, even though the challenge to them was not too late, suggests that the Texas Supreme Court likely thinks the filing fee is unconstitutional.