First Oral Argument in Lawsuits Against “Winner-take-all” Electoral College

Posted on by April 22, 2019
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On Tuesday, July 10, attorney David Boies argued in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in a case charging that the winner-take-all system for choosing presidential electors violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Ridriguez v Brown, c.d., 2:18cv-1422. Boies is famous for having represented Al Gore in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 in Bush v Gore.

Here is a four-minute you tube by a witness to the recent oral argument in Los Angeles. The judge is Consuelo Marshall, a Carter appointee. She was hearing the California government motion to dismiss the case. Apparently, during the argument, she said very little to indicate what her attitude is toward the case.

There are similar cases pending in Texas, Massachusetts, and South Carolina, but none of them have had oral arguments yet.

New Mexico Recount Doesn’t Find Enough Libertarian Gubernatorial Write-ins to Put Party’s Gubernatorial Candidate on November Ballot

Posted on by July 14, 2018
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The New Mexico Libertarian Party held a primary on June 5. It had no gubernatorial candidate whose name was printed on the ballot, but it had a write-in gubernatorial candidate, Bob Walsh. Write-in candidates in primaries need as many write-ins as the number of signatures that would have been needed to put that same candidate on the primary ballot. For 2018 statewide Libertarians, the requirement was 230 write-ins. The original count showed Walsh with 175 write-ins.

He requested a recount in eight counties, but the results only gained him eleven votes, so he is still short and his name won’t be on the November ballot. However, some news stories erroneously have said that therefore the party will lose its status as a major party. Actually section 1-7-7 says, “‘Major political party’ means any qualified political party, any of whose candidates received as many as 5% of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding election for the office of Governor or president, as the case may be, and whose membership totals not less than one-third of 1% of the statewide registered voter file.”

UPDATE: see this thorough article in New Mexico Politics, which does a good job of explaining the controversy over the vote test.

Constitution Party Plans to Petition Statewide in Pennsylvania This Year, for First Time in Midterm Year Since 1998

Posted on by July 14, 2018
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The Constitution Party hopes to place a nominee on the Pennsylvania ballot this year for Governor. The party needs 5,000 signatures by August 1. If the drive succeeds, it will be the first time since 1998 that the party has been on statewide in Pennsylvania in a midterm year. In 1998, it received 10.44% of the vote for Governor for its nominee Peg Luksik.

Twelve Write-in Candidates in California Primary Place Second and Will Run in November

Posted on by July 13, 2018
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On July 13, the California Secretary of State released the official tally for the June 5, 2018 primary. In three U.S. House races and nine Assembly races, a write-in candidate placed second and will appear on the November ballot. Naturally, these were all races with only one candidate whose name had been printed on the ballot. See the summary pages here.

The three U.S. House races were the 13th, 19th, and 32nd districts. Republican write-ins placed second in the latter two districts, and a Green placed second in the 13th district.

For Assembly, Republicans placed second via write-ins in these districts: 7, 20, 27, 61, and 64. Libertarians placed second with write-ins in these districts: 4, 21, 51, and 69. The 4th district race is easily the most dramatic, because there were three write-ins. The Libertarian got 132, the Republican got 130, and the Green got 128.

The full Statement of Votes (which has the vote by county for every office) is here.

Colorado Republican Party Wins Lawsuit to Add a Legislative Candidate to November Ballot

Posted on by July 13, 2018
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On July 12, a Colorado trial court put Scott Honeycutt on the November 2018 ballot as a candidate for State House, 62nd district. He would have been unopposed for the Republican primary on June 26, if he had been on the primary ballot. He was not on the primary ballot because paperwork from the Republican Party, establishing that he had enough support at a party meeting to be on the primary ballot with no petition, was late. See this story.