Third Circuit Agrees with U.S. District Court that Delaware Cannot Limit State Judges to Members of the Two Largest Parties

Posted on by February 6, 2019
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On February 5, the Third Circuit agreed with a U.S. District Court that Delaware cannot require that all Supreme Court Justices, Superior Court Judges, and Chancery Court Judges be members of the two largest parties. Adams v Governor Delaware, 18-1045. Here is the opinion, which is written by Judge Julio Fuentes, a Clinton appointee. The opinion is also signed by Judge Theodore McKee, a Clinton appointee; and by Judge L. Felipe Restrepo, an Obama appointee.

The Delaware policy had been in effect since 1951. Judge McKee wrote separately to praise the Delaware state court judges, but he agreed with the other two judges. All judges in Delaware are appointed; there are no Delaware judicial elections. Thanks to Howard Bashman for this news.

New Mexico Supreme Court Won’t Strike Down Closed Primaries

Posted on by February 6, 2019
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On February 5, the New Mexico Supreme Court again refused to rule that closed primaries violate the State Constitution. The court had made a similar ruling in 2017. The new lawsuit charged that closed primaries violate the part of the State Constitution that says public funds can’t be used to help private organizations. But the new decision says that when the government pays to administer primaries, that is not a gift to the parties that are having primaries. See this story. The new decision is Chavez v Toulouse Oliver, S-1-SC-37371.

New North Carolina Registration Data

Posted on by February 5, 2019
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North Carolina Board of Elections releases a new registration tally every week. Here is a link to the February 2, 2019 tally. The new percentages are: Democratic 37.45%, Republican 30.17%, Libertarian .55%, Green .02%, Constitution .02%, independent 31.80%.

The percentages for the October 20, 2018 tally, just before the November 2018 election, were: Democratic 37.88%, Republican 29.81%, Libertarian .53%, Green .01%, Constitution .01%, independent 31.76%.

The Green and Constitution totals are low, but that is because they started from zero in the middle of 2018. At the February 2, 2019 tally, there are 1,120 Greens and 1,052 Constitution Party members.

New York Bill Depriving Independence Party of its Name Passes Assembly Committee

Posted on by February 5, 2019
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On January 28, New York Assembly Bill 2600 passed the Assembly Election Law Committee by a vote of 10-5. All Democrats except one voted for the bill. All Republicans voted against it. It would provide that no party could have the words “Independence” or “Independent” in its name.

Democrats who voted for the bill are Charles Lavine, Sandy Galef, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Joseph Lentol, Barbara Lifton, Latrice Walker, Robert Carroll, Al Taylor, Jonathan Jacobson, and Anthony D’Urso. The Democrat who voted “no” is David Buchwald.

Republicans who voted against the bill are Michael Norris, Karl Brabenec, John Mikulin, and Chris Tague.

An identical bill in the Senate, S1628, has not yet moved.

It is somewhat likely that if this bill were signed into law, it would be held unconstitutional, under both First Amendment and Due Process grounds. The Independence Party has been a ballot-qualified party since November 1994.