On August 27, the North Carolina State Court of Appeals refused to issue a stay in Anglin v Berger. This means that Chris Anglin’s win of August 13 in the lower state court will stand. He will have “Republican” on the ballot next to his name in November when he runs for State Supreme Court Justice. The legislature had passed a law earlier this year depriving him of a ballot label, but the lower court had enjoined it. See this story. The case number in the Appeals Court is P18-586.
On August 27, a 3-judge U.S. District Court again struck down North Carolina’s U.S. House districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander. Common Cause v Rucho, m.d., 1:16cv-1026. Judge James Wynn, an Obama appointee, wrote the decision. Judge W. Earl Britt, a Carter appointee, signed it. They wrote that the Constitution prohibits any redistricting that is deliberately designed to help one particular party and injure another party.
The same panel had early this year come to a similar decision. Then the state had appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent the case back with instructions to re-do it.
Judge William Osteen, Jr., a Bush Jr. appointee, agreed with the other two judges that the North Carolina districts are unconstitutional, because the partisanship in that plan is so extreme. But he also wrote that the Constitution does not prohibit all partisan gerrymandering.
The decision invites the legislature, which is in session, to redraw the districts. Because the primary has already been held, the opinion suggests that the general election could be changed so that filing is re-opened and individuals would run without being party nominees. The same remedy has sometimes been used in Texas, when redistricting was struck down after the primary was over. The decision notes that the North Carolina legislature had created a similar system this year for state judicial elections. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On August 27, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts, a Clinton appointee, enjoined Michigan’s petition for independent candidates for statewide office, which is 30,000 signatures due July 19. She said that pending further action in the case, or further action by the legislature, 5,000 signatures will be the requirement. The case is Graveline v Johnson, e.d., 2:18cv-12354.
The order is 25 pages. It depends largely on the fact that (except for president in 1992 and 2004), no independent candidate has ever qualified for statewide office in Michigan, in the history of the law, which was passed in 1988. Another factor in the decision is that Michigan law says that independent candidates who are running in jurisdictions with a population between 2,000,000 and 4,999,999 only need 12,000 signatures. Ironically, there is no such office in Michigan, and it is puzzling why the legislature ever created the 12,000-requirement for a nonexistent office. Finally, the decision depends on the fact that the petition deadline is more than six weeks before qualified parties choose their Attorney General nominees. Qualified parties in Michigan, large and small, use conventions for that office, not primaries.
Here is a news story about the decision.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is running for re-election as an independent this year. He received enough write-in votes in the Progressive Party to be its nominee, but he turned it down. He also received enough votes in the Democratic primary to be the Democratic nominee, but he turned that down also. See this story.
The Progressive Party had no statewide candidates printed on its primary ballot, but enough write-ins were received for the party to nominate for Lieutenant Governor and Auditor. The write-in winners for those offices did accept the Progressive Party nomination. They are David Zuckerman for Lieutenant Governor and Doug Hoffer for Auditor. Both are incumbents. Zuckerman is a member of the Progressive Party, and Hoffer is a Democrat. Vermont allows fusion, and Zuckerman will be on the November ballot as “Progressive, Democrat” whereas Hoffer will be on as “Democrat, Progressive.”
On August 23, all four candidates for U.S. House from South Dakota debated each other at Dakotafest, in Mitchell. They were Republican Dusty Johnson, Democrat Tim Bjorkman, Libertarian George Hendrickson, and independent Ron Wieczorek. Wieczorek is a supporter of Lyndon Larouche’s movement. See this story.
