On February 4, Minnesota held a special election to fill the vacancy in State House district 60A. The only two candidates on the ballot were the nominees of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and the Legal Marijuana Now Party. The nominee of the Legal Marijuana Now Party, Marty Super, received 11.6% of the vote. Super was the party’s second nominee since the party became ballot-qualified in November 2018.
The district includes part of northeast Minneapolis.
According to this article, some leaders of the South Carolina Republican Party will launch a campaign to persuade supporters of President Donald Trump to choose a Democratic presidential primary ballot on February 29, and to vote for Bernie Sanders. This is a self-conscious attempt to injure the Democratic Party.
South Carolina primaries have always been open. There is no registration by party in South Carolina, so on primary day, any voter is free to choose any party’s ballot. However, there is no Republican presidential primary in South Carolina this year. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
On February 3, the Michigan state government filed this brief in Daunt v Benson, 19-2377, the case over Michigan’s nonpartisan redistricting commission. The existence of the commission is being challenged by persons associated with the Michigan Republican Party. The oral argument will be March 17, Tuesday. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
On February 4, Ohio initiative proponents asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Schmitt v LaRose, 19-974. This is the case on whether a local Ohio election official should have the power to reject a local initiative, even though it has enough valid signatures, because the official thinks the measure would be unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court had ruled in favor of the initiative proponents, but the Sixth Circuit had reversed.
The initiative dealt with how marijuana arrests should be handled. Here is the cert petition.
Alabama elects all its State Supreme Court Justices, all its State Court of Criminal Appeals Judges, and all its State Court of Civil Appeals Judges, in partisan statewide elections. In 2016 the Alabama NAACP filed a lawsuit under the federal Voting Rights Act, charging that statewide partisan elections invariably mean that African-Americans never get elected to those courts, and that the state must set up judicial districts.
Only whites have ever been elected to the state Appeals courts, and only twice in history has a black been elected to the State Supreme Court, and both were more than a quarter century ago. On February 3, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the state’s procedural objections to the lawsuit are invalid. This clears the way for U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins to soon issue a ruling on whether the state’s failure to use judicial districts violates the Voting Rights Act.
The state argued that lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act cannot be filed by private individuals and groups, and can only be filed by the U.S. Justice Department. The U.S. Justice Department these days almost never files lawsuits against states, charging a violation of the Voting Rights Act, so if Alabama had prevailed, the Voting Rights Act would virtually cease to have any usefulness. The Eleventh Circuit decision is 2-1. The majority opinion is signed by Judge Charles R. Wilson, a Clinton appointee; and C. Roger Vinson, a Reagan appointee. The dissent is by Judge Elizabeth Branch, a Trump appointee.
If Alabama no longer has statewide partisan judicial elections, it will be more difficult for a minor party to poll enough votes to remain on the ballot, because the more statewide partisan elections there are, the greater the chances that a minor party will poll the necessary 20% for a statewide office. The last time a minor party met that standard, in 2000, was when a Libertarian polled 20.26% of the vote for State Supreme Court Justice.
