Fourth Circuit Won’t Grant a Stay in Virginia Case on Who has the Power to Choose a Party Nomination Method

Posted on by October 10, 2018
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Virginia law lets all qualified parties decide whether to nominate by primary or convention. They are free to use primaries for some races and conventions for other races, in the same election year. However the law also says if an incumbent office-holder is running for re-election, he or she can override the wishes of the party. A unit of the state Republican Party is currently suing to overturn that law.

On October 10, the Fourth Circuit refused the state’s request for a stay of the U.S. District Court decision. The U.S. District Court had declared the law unconstitutional. The Fourth Circuit also said oral argument will be held in this case sometime between December 11 and December 13.

The order identifies the three judges who are assigned to the case. They are J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee; Diana Gribbon Motz, a CLinton appointee; and Allyson K. Duncan, a Bush Jr. appointee. The case is Sixth Congressional District Republican Committee v Alcorn, 18-1111.

Missouri State Trial Court Enjoins New Law Requiring Voter ID at Polls

Posted on by October 9, 2018
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On October 9, a Missouri state trial court enjoined the new law that requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Priorities USA v State of Missouri, 18AC-cc226, Circuit Court of Cole County. Even though the photo ID law is a new part of the State Constitution, the basis for the opinion is the State Constitution’s older voting rights language. Here is the six-page opinion. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

New York Board of Elections Posts Final List of Candidates for State Office

Posted on by October 9, 2018
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On October 9, the New York State Board of Elections posted this final list of candidates who will be on the November 2018 ballot, for state office. There had been prior lists, but they have been constantly revised as various parties change their nominees. This new list is the first one to show that Andrew Cuomo is the Working Families nominee.

If one scrolls to the very end, one sees a page showing the logo of each party that is on the ballot. They range from ancient (the Democratic and Republican Party logos haven’t been changed since the 19th century) to the new. Women’s Equality’s party logo is a right-pointing triangle, identical to the symbol one sees if one wishes to start watching a you tube.

New Massachusetts Registration Data

Posted on by October 9, 2018
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Massachusetts Secretary of State never releases a tally of how many registered voters there are in each party, except just prior to a statewide partisan primary, or a statewide general election. The first tally since 2016 is now out. It is as of August 15, 2018. Democratic 33.22%; Republican 10.37%; Libertarian .32%; Green .11%; members of other unqualified parties .91%; independent and miscellaneous 55.08%.

The percentages just before the 2016 general election were: Democratic 34.18%; Republican 10.68%; Libertarian .20%; Green .14%.

The Secretary of State has put the data for the three qualified parties (Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian) on his web page. However his web page does not show the totals for the unqualified parties, even though the data exists.

The number of registered voters in smaller unqualified parties currently is: Socialist 808; Constitution 244; Reform 119; Prohibition 18; Working Families 12. Most of the registrants in the unqualified parties are in the United Independent Party, which is defunct but which was on the ballot 2014-2016.