Moscow, Russia holds an election for city council on September 8. The independent candidates, who were required to submit a petition of 3% of the electorate, have been kept off the ballot. That has led to extensive street protests. In an interview with the Associated Press, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Election Commission for the nation, says that the requirements will be eased in the future. See this story.
Saul Anuzis, a former Michigan Republican state chair, and Michael Steele, a former chair of the national Republican Party, here write that Republicans ought to support the National Popular Vote Plan.
On August 28, U.S. District Court Judge Emily C. Marks, a Trump appointee, issued an opinion in Libertarian Party of Alabama v Merrill, m.d., 2:19cv-69. The issue is whether the state violates the Constitution by its policy of giving a free list of the registered voters to qualified parties, but charging approximately $34,000 for unqualified parties. The state had filed a motion to dismiss the case. The judge refused to do that, and cleared the way for a trial on the issue. Here is the nine-page order.
According to Political Wire, the next Democratic presidential debate will only have ten candidates. It is set for September 12.
This Maine news story explains how Maine would use ranked choice voting in its presidential primaries, assuming Governor Janet Mills signs LD 1083. Maine Republican Party leaders don’t like ranked choice voting. The story notes that the Republican Party is free to use either a presidential primary or a caucus in 2020, and if the party chooses a caucus, the ranked choice bill would have no effect on that process.
