Indiana holds partisan city elections on November, 2019. An independent candidate for Mayor of Logansport, Terry Doran, complied with the petition requirement, according to local elections officials. But the local Democratic Party challenged his petition because the number of signatures calculated by the election officials was incorrect. See this story.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s web page makes it easy for anyone to comment on SB 27, the bill to keep presidential candidates off a presidential primary ballot if they don’t release income tax returns. The web page has a place for comments, and one can choose a list of 27 particular State Senate bills, of which SB 27 is one.
See here. Then in the “Please choose your subject” box, scroll down below the list of generic topics, and find the numerical list of Assembly bills, and then Senate bills. Choose SB 27. I have just sent a comment that California Constitution, Article II, sec. 5(e), tells the Secretary of State to put all “recognized” presidential candidates on the presidential primary ballots. None of the analyses of SB 27 in any legislative committee even mentioned this part of the California Constitution, and newspaper editorials and stories likewise almost never mention it.
Governor Newsom must act by July 30. On July 24, while visiting Sanger in Fresno County to sign a bill for a fund to help communities fund improved water quality, he was asked about SB 27. He said he is still consulting legal experts. Thanks to Politico for that news.
Oral arguments began on July 25, Thursday, in U.S. District Court in Atlanta in Curling v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:17cv-2989. The issue is whether Georgia’s continuing use of vote-counting machines with no paper trail violates the U.S. Constitution. At stake is whether the machines will be enjoined for use in the autumn 2019 local elections. This case is two years old. Judge Amy Totenberg already ruled last year that the old machines could be used in the 2018 election.
Georgia says it will buy new machines in time for the 2020 election. Plaintiffs doubt that the new machines will be adequate, and also doubt that they will really be ready in time for the 2020 election.
On the evening of July 19, four Greens seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination debated each other in St. Paul, Minnesota. They were Howie Hawkins, Dario Hunter, Sedinam Moyowasiza-Curry, and David Rolde.
Two Wisconsin legislators are about to introduce a bill to bar presidential candidates from both the primary and general election ballots if they don’t reveal the last three years of their federal income tax returns. The draft is being circulated among legislators, seeking co-sponsors. It will probably be introduced in early August. The main sponsors will be State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Representative David Crowley (D-Milwaukee). It is not known if the bill will bar write-in candidates.
The Wisconsin legislature has a Republican majority in each house, so the bill is not likely to pass. The Wisconsin legislature meets all year.
