On June 11, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Husted v A. Philip Randolph Institute, 16-980. The decision says that Ohio’s method for purging voters does not violate the federal law on voter registration. Here is the decision. The vote is 5-4.
On June 5, San Francisco held a special election for Mayor, using ranked choice voting. The San Francisco Chronicle, and former Mayor Willie Brown, have been opposed to ranked choice voting for over a decade.
Here is an opinion piece by David Campos, chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and a former supervisor, defending San Francisco’s ranked choice voting.
Here is the lead story for Sunday, June 10, in the San Francisco Chronicle. Even though it is a news story, it contains an attack on ranked choice voting.
Here is Willie Brown’s column in the June 10 Chronicle, attacking ranked choice voting. Scroll down.
The June 10 Chronicle also has an editorial in support of the top-two system. The main point is that without the top-two system, Congressmen Ro Khanna and Eric Swalwell would never have been elected, because although they are Democrats, they are not liberal enough to have won a Democratic primary, yet they could win in a top-two system. But the editorial fails to note that either or both of them might have been elected as independent candidates, under the old semi-closed primary that was in effect before top-two began. Californians elected Quentin Kopp to the State Senate as an independent in 1986, 1990, and 1994; they elected Lucy Killea to the State Senate as an independent in 1992; and they elected a Green, Audie Bock, to the Assembly in 1999.
For many months, the Chronicle has refused all op-ed submissions that are critical of top-two, including a submission that points out that California could return to the blanket primary, or that it is free to switch to an open primary, or a semi-closed primary, if it wants to expand voter choice in November but retain the ability of independents to vote in primaries.
A committee of the Democratic National Committee has approved a rule that says anyone seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party for president must declare that he or she is a Democrat. See this story.
This is somewhat ironic, given that the Alaska Democratic Party went to court to establish its ability to nominate an independent. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
This New York Times editorial endorses ranked choice voting, especially when it is combined with multi-member districts. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
On Friday, June 8, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen refused to order the Maine Secretary of State to allow votes for Max Linn to be counted in the June 12 Republican primary. See this story.
Linn was told by the town clerks that he had enough valid signatures. But the Secretary of State then changed that determination. Because one circulator apparently submitted a petition with fraudulent names, the Secretary of State invalidated all the work done by that one circulator, even the valid names. As a result, Linn was 10 signatures short. He is on the Republican primary ballot for U.S. Senate, but signs will be posted at the polls saying his votes won’t be counted.
The case is Alexander v Dunlap, 1:18cv-220. There is no written order yet.
