On November 21, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said he will drop his pending appeal in the Ninth Circuit over whether the new California law on tax returns and presidential candidates is constitutional.  Because the law violates the State Constitution, according to the California Supreme Court’s November 21 ruling, it is a moot point as to whether the law also violates the U.S. Constitution.  UPDATE:  the Secretary of State here asks that his appeal be dismissed, but he also wants the Ninth Circuit to erase the U.S. District Court order.

Last month a U.S. District Court had ruled that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.   Even if the state could persuade the Ninth Circuit to reverse the U.S. District Court, the law still couldn’t go into effect because of the state constitution.

As already noted, on November 15, a U.S. District Court ruled that Florida’s law on the order of candidates on general election partisan ballots is unconstitutional.  The state has asked the Court to stay its decision while it appeals to the Eleventh Circuit.  The U.S. District Court will hold a hearing on the state’s request on Monday, November 25, at 3 p.m.

On November 21, supporters of ranked choice voting submitted signatures for a Massachusetts initiative to use that system in all federal and state elections.  Thanks to Fairvote for this news.