Independent Wins Alaska Democratic Primary for U.S. House

Posted on by August 22, 2018
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Alaska held its primaries on August 22. Alyse Galvin, a registered independent, defeated three opponents to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. House. See this story. Because she is the Democratic nominee, her label on the November ballot will be “Democrat”.

Here is a link to the primary election returns. In Alaska, there is a Republican primary ballot. Also there is a blanket primary ballot used by the Democratic, Libertarian, and Alaskan Independence Parties. Any voter can choose the primary ballot. Only registered Republicans and registered independents may choose a Republican primary ballot.

Hopewell, Virginia Election Officials Print Ballots in Which Some Candidates are Named in Capital Letters and Others are Not

Posted on by August 22, 2018
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The Hopewell, Virginia Electoral Board plans to print November 2018 ballots for the city in which some candidates are listed in capital letters, but other candidates are not. See this story. The election official says some of the candidates asked that their names be printed in capital letters, and because there is no law against it, she permitted it. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Maine Libertarian Party Permitted to Name a Replacement County Commissioner

Posted on by August 22, 2018
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On August 21, the Maine Libertarian Party chose Ray Lafrance to be an Androscoggin County Commissioner, to replace Zachery Maher. Because Maher was a Libertarian, the law permitted the Libertarian Party to choose his replacement. See this story.

Maher had switched to the Libertarian Party on September 7, 2017. He had been elected in 2016 to a four-year term. This seat will now have a special election in November 2018, and Lafrance will be on the ballot for the remaining two years as the Libertarian nominee.

Montana Supreme Court Denies Ballot Access Relief to the Green Party

Posted on by August 22, 2018
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On August 21, the Montana Supreme Court issued a one-page order, saying the Green Party should not be on the ballot. The order says the court will explain its reasoning later. Larson v State of Montana, DA 18-0414.

The only hope for the Green Party to be on the November 2018 ballot is to win its federal court case, which challenges the March 5 petition deadline, and the distribution requirement. Unlike other states with distribution requirements, the Montana distribution requirement does not treat each voter equally. The law requires signatures from each of at least 34 state house districts. But in some of those districts, the party needs as few as 50 signatures, whereas in other such districts, the party needs 150 signatures. Thus, voters in some counties have more power than voters in other districts, because a voter’s signature in some districts has three times the weight of voters in other districts. Such unequal distribution requirements have been invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts in many states.

Michigan Ballot Access Case Likely to Get a Decision in a Week

Posted on by August 22, 2018
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On August 22, a hearing was held in U.S. District Court in Michigan for the independent candidate ballot access case. The issue is the Michigan law for statewide independent candidates, which requires a petition due in July, even though the primary is not until August. The petition requirement, 30,000 signatures, has been in existence since 1988, but in the years since then, only twice has anyone completed that petition. The case is Graveline v Johnson, e.d., 2:18cv-12354. UPDATE: an earlier version of this post said a decision won’t be rendered until September 12, but that was mistaken. The judge indicated she would rule shortly, perhaps in a week.