California has millions of votes remaining to be counted, so it isn’t easy to make observations about the final returns. But already it is obvious that a large proportion of voters cast a blank ballot for the two statewide offices with only two Democrats on the ballot.

The election returns posted on the Secretary of State’s web page change daily. As of Saturday morning, November 10, there were only 7,045,964 votes counted for U.S. Senate, and only 6,619,548 votes counted for Lieutenant Governor.

But Proposition Six, the gasoline tax measure, has 7,831,910 votes counted so far. Proposition Ten, concerning rent control, has 7,815,128. In the Governor’s race, with one Democrat and one Republican, 7,971,464 votes have been counted.

The Secretary of State’s web page does not have any data on the number of people who went to the polls, but that figure will be available when the official count is completed in early December. Thanks to Rob Richie for suggesting the subject of this blog post.

On November 8, the Montana Green Party filed this 19-page brief in Montana Green Party v Stapleton, 6:18cv-87. The issues are two aspects of the petition procedure for new parties: (1) the March 15 deadline is too early; (2) the distribution requirement violates one person, one vote.

Courts have been unanimous (except for one peculiar Utah decision from 1972) that distribution requirements for statewide petitions are unconstitutional, if the distribution requirement gives the voters of some geographical areas more power than it gives the voters of other areas. Generally an unconstitutional distribution requirement offends one person, one vote, if the number of signatures required inside each area is the same, but the population of the areas varies.

Montana’s distribution requirement, unique in the history of state ballot access laws, is the opposite. The areas have equal populations, but the required number of signatures inside each area varies widely. Montana requires signatures inside at least 34 state house districts to equal 5% of the winning candidate for Governor’s vote inside that district. That requirement varies hugely, from 55 signatures, to 150 signatures. So the voters of the districts with only 55 signatures have more power to get a party on, than the voters in the districts that require 150 signatures.

This may sound arcane, but it is firmly established in precedent, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1969 decision Moore v Ogilvie. Thanks to Jim Riley for news that this brief had been filed.

At the recent election, Lane County, Oregon voters narrowly rejected STAR voting, a new idea for a voting system. It received 48% and if it had pased, it would have been used to elect county officials. Lane County includes Eugene, the home of the University of Oregon. It is not easy for new ideas for voting systems to be accepted. See this story. Thanks to Leonardo Quevado for the news.