On July 12, attorneys for the New York State Board of Elections filed a notice of appeal in Merced v Spano, the Libertarian Party case over the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators. The U.S. District Court had found the ban unconstitutional.
It is odd that New York is appealing. Out-of-state bans have been struck down all across the nation, so there are almost no such bans still remaining.
On July 24, an Iowa state trial court enjoined several laws passed in 2017 that make it somewhat more difficult to vote. Here is the order in League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa v Pate, Polk County district court cv-056493. The order is based on the state constitution, which says that voting is a fundamental right.
The court order enjoins state election officials from disseminating messages that say, “Iowa voters will be asked to show a form of valid ID when voting”, unless the message is amended to say this is not true for the 2018 election. The new voter ID law doesn’t take effect until 2019.
The order enjoins the law shrinking the absentee voting period from 40 days before the election, to 29 days before. It enjoins the message on the absentee ballot application that says an absentee ballot won’t be issued unless the application includes a voter ID number. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Press-Enterprise, daily newspaper for Riverside, California, has this story about how the top-two system injures California’s minor parties. It may be behind a pay wall.
Due to a typographical error in a Maine law, the normal public funding owed to many Maine legislative candidates cannot be released unless Governor Paul LePage wants to release the money. The candidates were expecting the money, and because they applied for public funding, they can’t raise and spend much private money. But the Governor won’t release their funds, so they are suing. See this story. The oral argument was Tuesday, July 24. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.
Dan Cantor, chair of the Working Families Party, here asks voters to vote against the Working Families Party nominee for U.S. House, 14th district.
