On February 13, the North Dakota Secretary of State agreed to settle the lawsuit Spirit Lake Tribe v Jaeger, 1:18cv-222, and to implement regulations that make it easier for voters to satisfy the state’s law on government photo-ID. See this press release. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On February 13, the Delaware government filed its main brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Carney v Adams, 19-309. This is the case over Delaware’s state constitutional provision that limits most judicial appointments to individuals who are registered in a party with more than 5% of the total voter registration.
The Delaware government says that in case the U.S. Supreme Court does find that the provision is unconstitutional, that the Court should at least leave intact another part of the Delaware Constitution that says that no single party can have more than a bare majority of the members of any particular court.
On February 12, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in Jacobson v Lee, 19-14552. This is the case over the order of candidates on the November ballot. The U.S. District Court had ruled in favor of the Democratic Party, which had filed the case. The law says the nominees of the party that won the governorship in the last election are listed first.
This Courthouse News Service story says the oral argument went badly for the Democratic Party. The three judges are William H. Pryor, a Bush Jr. appointee; Jill Pryor, an Obama appointee; and Robert Luck, a Trump appointee. Judge William Pryor seemed to feel the plaintiffs should have sued all the county election offices instead of the Secretary of State. He also seemed to feel that because the U.S. Supreme Court had said partisan gerrymandering is not unconstitutional, therefore ballot order laws can’t be unconstitutional either.
On February 11, the Virginia House passed HB 177, the National Popular Vote Plan, by 51-46. The bill now goes to the State Senate. The Virginia House is the first legislative chamber that has passed the plan this year. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.
The New Hampshire Libertarian Party web page has these results of its party-administered presidential primary. Vermin Supreme placed first. The number of ballots cast was 44.
