On September 23, Georgia held a special election to fill the vacancy in the 21st State Senate district. The results: Republican 60.97%, Democratic 39.03%.
When this seat was last up,in November 2024, the results had been: Republican 70.35%, Democratic 29.65%.
On September 22, the state of Florida submitted this Memorandum to the Eleventh Circuit in Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, 25-12370. This is the lawsuit that challenges Florida’s new ban on out-of-state circulators for initiatives. The state says it needs more time to write its next brief, and says furthermore that the two sides are talking about settling the lawsuit. See page one of the Memorandum. Scroll down quite a ways to find page one, because there are lots of preliminary pages listing all the parties to the case as well as amici.
UPDATE: on September 23, the Republican Party of Florida, which is an intervenor in the case, filed a brief. It also says the case is in talks for a settlement.
On September 19, supporters of the federal Voting Rights Act filed this brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v Callais, 24-109. This is the pending case over the constitutionality of Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. It had begun as a case over redistricting, and the U.S. Supreme Court already heard the case once, but wants a new oral argument.
The new brief points out that, so far, there is no equal treatment for the two sides to the constitutional issue, because of the odd history of the case. Opponents of the Voting Rights Act have been permitted to file more material with the Court than supporters have.
New bills in Congress have been introduced to reform redistricting for U.S. House. They are S2885, and HR 5449. The Senate bill has three co-sponsors, and the House bill has 52 co-sponsors. All the co-sponsors are Democrats, except that independent U.S. Senator Angus King is a co-sponsor.
Here is the text of the bill. The House bill was introduced September 18 by Zoe Lofgren of California, and the Senate bill was introduced September 19 by Alex Padilla, also of California.
On September 19, the plaintiffs in the Illinois ballot access lawsuit filed this brief. Team Kennedy v Illinois State Board of Elections, n.d., 1:24cv-7027. The plaintiffs are trying to overturn the law that won’t let individuals circulate a minor party or independent candidate petition if they had earlier in the year circulated a petition for someone running in a primary. The plaintiffs are also fighting the state’s claim that the lawsuit is moot.
Besides Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s campaign, the plaintiffs include an independent candidate for U.S. House, and the Illinois Libertarian Party.
