Iowa State Senator Zach Nunn has introduced SF 2078, which would make it illegal for a political party to make a campaign contribution to anyone running in a non-partisan election.
An identical California law was held unconstitutional in U.S. District Court in 1996. California Democratic Party v Lungren, 919 F.Supp. 1397. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the news about the Iowa bill.
On January 30, U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, ruled that Texas has not been obeying the federal “Motor Voter” Law, and ordered the state to register the plaintiffs who had filed the lawsuit. The federal law says that when unregistered individuals interact with a state agency, they must be given the opportunity to register to vote, or to update their address. The order finds that Texas has not been doing this for people who update their address for drivers licenses on-line. Stringer v Cascos, w.d., 5:16cv-257. The case was filed in 2016.
On January 27, an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit struck down two Arizona laws on voting procedures. The first law makes it a felony for most people to deliver a voted absentee ballot to an election-administration office. Only officials in their official capacity, family members, household members, or caregivers, can deliver such a ballot.
The other law invalidates provisional ballots which are cast at a precinct other than the voter’s home precinct. Democratic National Committee v Hobbs, 18-15845. The en banc decision was 6-4. It is based on the Fifteenth Amendment, which says “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged.” The decision is fact-filled and explains how the two invalid laws have a far greater impact on Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans, than on other voters.
Rick Hasen explains here that the decision shows that the Fifteenth Amendment has relevance to election law that is somewhat different than the Fourteenth Amendment.
On January 31, Congressman John Delaney of Maryland withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Delaney had introduced a bill to impose a top-two system for the entire nation, for congressional races. He might have had a personal interest in promoting a top-two system. In November 2014, there were three candidates on the ballot in his Sixth District race. The results were: Delaney 94,704; the Republican nominee 91,930; Green Party nominee George Gluck 3,762. In a top-two system, Gluck would not have been on the ballot.
I wrote him several times about a top-two system, but he never answered my letters.
Neal Simon, who was an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2018, has this op-ed in favor of a multi-party system for the U.S. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.
