On August 25, a Utah state district court struck down the boundaries of Utah’s U.S. House seats. The decision is based on the State Constitution. League of Women Voters v Utah State Legislature, 220901712, Third District. Judge Dianna Gibson gave the state legislature 30 days to draw new districts. An appeal is likely.
The current map divides Salt Lake County so that a part of the county is in each of the state’s four districts. Republicans hold all four seats.
On August 25, Brian Vincent announced that he has joined the Forward Party. He is Mayor of Farmville, Virginia, the county seat of Prince Edward County. Virginia does not have registration by party, so except at election time, party membership is entirely the product of what an individual says. See this news story. Farmville has non-partisan elections for city office. Thanks to Daniel Sachs for this news.
On August 25, a New Jersey voter filed a challenge to the petition of the New Jersey Green Party for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. It needed 2.000 signatures and contained 2,434. A state court will adjudicate whether the petition has enough valid signatures.
This is the second petition the party submitted this year for New Jersey governor and lieutenant governor. The first petition was not challenged. But then the gubernatorial candidate withdrew for health reasons, so under a unique New Jersey law, the party had to file an entirely new petition.
On August 26, the Third Circuit issued an opinion in Eakin v Adams County Board of Elections, 25-1644. It strikes down the Pennsylvania law that says voters who use postal ballots must date the outer envelope. The decision says there is no need for this law, because when a postal ballot is received in the elections office, the ballot is scanned and the date of receipt is recorded. The decision is written by Judge D. Brooks Smith (a Bush Jr. appointee) and signed by Judges Patty Shwartz (Obama), Arianna J. Freeman (Biden).
On August 25, four California Republican legislators asked the State Supreme Court to block the November 4 ballot measure on U.S. House redistricting. Sanchez v Weber, S292592. It says the measure violates the single subject rule, and it says that the legislature violated its own internal rules when it rushed the measure through. Here is the filing.
Meanwhile, California county election officials are already working on setting up the election.
