Montana Supreme Court Finally Explains Why it Removed Green Party from 2018 Ballot

Posted on by January 31, 2019
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On August 21, 2018, the Montana Supreme Court removed the Green Party from the 2018 ballot. However, the court at that time did not explain why it did that.

On January 30, 2019, the Court explained why it acted as it did. Use this link to read the opinion. Choose “Active Dockets”. When that opens, enter this case number: DA 18-0414. After you click on the link, then click in the right-hand column on “opinion”, near the top. Thanks to Jim Riley for advice on the link.

Meanwhile, the Green Party is in federal court, arguing that the ballot access law is unconstitutional, on the basis that the deadline is too early and the distribution requirement is unequal.

Hawaii Top-Two Bill

Posted on by January 31, 2019
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Nine Hawaii State Senators are sponsoring SB 954, to provide for a top-two system. The bill is badly worded. It says that it applies to all elective office, which implies that it includes president. Yet Hawaii doesn’t have a presidential primary, and the bill doesn’t provide for a presidential primary.

Also, the bill does not redefine “political party”. Existing law defines parties in terms of the vote for their nominees. Because there are no party nominees in a top-two system, none of the state’s political parties would be able to meet the vote test, because no party would have any nominees.

Also, the bill’s sponsors don’t understand that top-two systems are unconstitutional unless the ballot language on party labels has wording to tell voters that the party name doesn’t mean the candidate is a party nominee. That is why the California and Washington ballots put “prefers” or “party preference: (whatever)” on the ballot next to the name of each candidate.

New Hampshire Primary Date Bill Will be Amended to Remove Harmful Effects for Ballot Access

Posted on by January 31, 2019
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New Hampshire Representative Kristina Schultz, chief sponsor of HB 643, will amend her bill so that it does not injure ballot access. The purpose of HB 643 is to move the non-presidential New Hampshire primary from September to June. The original bill moved deadlines relating to independent and minor party petitions from August to May, but this was an inadvertent characteristic of the bill. Schultz said she had not realized those petition deadlines are tied to the date of the primary, so her amendment will fix that problem. Thanks to Chip Spangler for this news.

Ninth Circuit Sets April 11 for Washington State Ballot Access Argument

Posted on by January 31, 2019
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The Ninth Circuit will hear De La Fuente v Wyman, 18-35208, on April 11, Thursday, at 9 am, in Seattle. This is the case over Washington state’s procedures for independent presidential candidate ballot access. De La Fuente won in U.S. District Court against the law that says no independent presidential candidate may petition without running an ad in a newspaper at least ten days before starting. The ad must say where the petitioning will occur. The state is trying to get the U.S. District Court decision overturned.