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California Report of Registration to be Released November 19

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Richard WingerOctober 31, 2019

The California Secretary of State expects to release the October 2, 2019 Report of Registration on November 19. This will be the first statewide registration data for California since February 2019. It will apparently show that the Common Sense Party has about 15,000 registrations. The Report will also show the number that would have been needed for any new party to qualify, approximately 65,000.

The Common Sense Party is free to continue its registration drive. Although it has missed the deadline to be a qualified party for the March 2020 primary, it can still participate in the presidential election if it has enough registrants by July 2020.

If any registered members of the Common Sense Party run for Congress or state legislature in the March 2020 primary, and place first or second, it will be interesting to see if that candidate is permitted to have his or her party label on the November ballot (assuming the party has qualified by the July 2020 deadline).

Florida Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments in Top-Two Case on December 3

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Richard WingerOctober 31, 2019

The Florida Supreme Court will hear Advisory Opinion of the Attorney General, SC19-1267, on December 3, Tuesday, at 9 a.m. Each side will have twenty minutes. This is the case on whether the top-two initiative has a misleading title and description. The Attorney General’s brief is here.

Here is the brief of the sponsors of the initiative.

The Florida Democratic Party has filed this brief in opposition to the initiative.

The Florida Republican Party has filed this brief in opposition to the initiative.

New York Bill to Allow Convicted Prisoners to Vote

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Richard WingerOctober 31, 2019

New York State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) has introduced a bill to let prisoners vote. They would be deemed to be living in the community in which they were living before they started serving their sentence. See this story.

Minnesota Republican Party Decides that President Trump Will be Only Name on Presidential Primary

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Richard WingerOctober 31, 2019

Minnesota is having presidential primaries this year for the first time in many decades. The new law gives state party leaders the discretion to say which names should be on their presidential primary. The Minnesota Republican Party has decided to list only President Donald Trump. The party also used its discretion to eliminate write-in space on the ballot. See this story.

The only other states in which state party leaders have complete control over which names appear on presidential primary ballots are Florida and Georgia.

Federal Election Commission Publishes 2018 Election Returns Book

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Richard WingerOctober 31, 2019

Every two years, the Federal Election Commission publishes a book of election returns for federal office. The 2018 election returns book, Federal Elections 2018, is now available on-line. It will be in print in a month or two. Thanks to Thomas Jones, and also the FEC itself, for the link.