Georgia State Trial Court Invalidates May 2018 Primary in One State House Race, Requires a Do-Over

Posted on by September 19, 2018
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On September 18, a state trial court in Georgia invalidated the results of the Republican primary in state house district 28, and said the primary must be reset. He did not set a date for that. There are no candidates in that district other than whomever the Republicans properly nominated. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

The flaw with the original primary as that at least 70 voters were given ballots for the next-door district, not their district. The primary was very close and the winner won with 67 more votes than his opponent.

Independent Candidate in Alabama Asks Eleventh Circuit for Rehearing En Banc

Posted on by September 19, 2018
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On September 19, James Hall asked the full Eleventh Circuit to rehear Hall v Merrill, 16-16766. This is the case over whether it is constitutional to require an independent candidate for U.S. House to submit a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in special elections, when there isn’t as much time to circulate the petition. The U.S. District Court had ruled in favor of the candidate and against the state of Alabama. Then the state appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which said last month that the U.S. District Court should not have struck down the law, because the case was moot. This contradicts the teaching of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitutional ballot access cases are not moot just because the election is over. The Eleventh Circuit decision was 2-1, with a vigorous dissent. Here is the request for rehearing en banc.

Residents of U.S. Overseas Territories File Reply Brief in U.S. Supreme Court in Illinois Voting Case

Posted on by September 18, 2018
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On September 11, the voters who formerly lived in Illinois, and who now live in Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands, filed this reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is Segovia v U.S. The Court has put the case on its October 5 conference.

U.S. citizens who move to a foreign country retain the right to vote absentee, in the state in which they lived before they left the country. In Illinois, if they move to American Samoa or Northern Mariana Islands, they also retain the right to vote absentee in Illinois elections. The only places in the world that are fatal for the ability to continue to vote in Illinois are Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.