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.
California uses non-partisan elections for County Supervisor. On June 5, Riverside County, California, held an election for an open seat in district five. Libertarian member Jeff Hewitt placed second, from a field of five candidates. The results can be seen here, and are constantly changing as more votes are counted. As of Saturday morning, June 9, the results were: Russ Bogh 10,414; Hewitt 9,343; Jaime L. Hurtado 7,619; Patricia Vargas Sanchez 5,420; Altie Holcomb 4,139.
Hewitt is Mayor of Calimesa. Bogh is a former Republican Assemblymember. The largest city in the district is Moreno Valley, which some years ago had a Libertarian Mayor. Because no one got 50%, Hewitt and Bogh will be in a run-off in November.
The San Diego Union-Tribune has published “How California Can Keep Advantages of the Top Two Primary While Curing Its Defects”. Read it here.
