Three North Carolina County Commissioners Change their Registration from Republican to Independent

Posted on by December 6, 2019
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On December 5, three of the five County Commissioners for Transylvania County, North Carolina, said they are changing their registration from Republican to independent. They are David Guice, Mike Hawkins, and Page Lemel. See this story.

Hawkins and Lemel are up for re-election in 2020, so if they intend to run for another term, they will need a difficult petition to get on the ballot, 4% of the number of registered voters.

The other two commissioners continue to be registered Republicans. Thanks to David Gillespie for the link.

California Secretary of State Releases List of 52 Presidential Primary Candidates

Posted on by December 6, 2019
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On December 6, the California Secretary of State released the list of presidential primary candidates. There are 20 Democrats, 7 Republicans, 5 American Independent Party candidates, 13 Libertarians, 5 Greens, and two Peace & Freedom candidates.

Howie Hawkins is on the Green ballot and the Peace & Freedom ballot.

It might appear that Rocky De La Fuente is on both the Republican and Democratic ballots, but that is not the case. De La Fuente’s son is running in the Democratic ballot.

Pennsylvania State Senator Switches Registration from Democratic to Independent

Posted on by December 6, 2019
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On November 19, Pennsylvania State Senator John Yudichak said he has changed his registration from Democratic to independent. He has been in the legislature since 1998. He is only 49 years old, so presumably he will run for re-election when his term is up in 2022. See this story.

It is possible that he waited to change his registration until the state repealed its straight-ticket device. The bill deleting the device was signed on October 31, 2019. Thanks to Ballotpedia for this news.

U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Delaware Case on Whether All Judges Must be Democrats and Republicans

Posted on by December 6, 2019
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On December 6, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Carney v Adams, 19-309. This is the case over the provision of the Delaware Constitution that says in most state courts, the only persons who can be appointed are members of a party that has at least 5% of the voter registration. In the entire history of Delaware voter registration by party, only the Republican and Democratic Parties have ever had as much as 5% of the registration. Thus only Democrats and Republicans are eligible to be appointed, and no independent may ever be appointed. The case had been brought by a registered independent attorney who would like to be appointed to a judgeship.

The Third Circuit had invalidated the law. The U.S. Supreme Court wants both sides to discuss whether the plaintiff had standing. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

Washington Post Wins in Fourth Circuit Against Maryland Law on Disclosure for On-Line Political Ads

Posted on by December 6, 2019
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On December 5, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of a U.S. District Court in Washington Post v McManus, 19-1132. The issue was a new Maryland law requiring web pages that carry political ads to report a great deal of information about who paid for the ad, and who prepared it. Both courts ruled the law unconstitutional. Here is the decision. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.