Democratic National Committee Sues Russia, Trump Campaign, and Others Over 2016 Election

Posted on by April 20, 2018
4

On April 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee sued the Russian government, the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, Julian Assange, Roger Stone, and others over actions taken in the 2016 presidential election campaign. Here is the 66-page complaint, which cites many news sources. The case is filed in Manhattan and is Democratic National Committee v The Russian Federation, s.d., 1:18cv-3501.

The law firm that filed the complaint is Cohen, Milstein, Sellers & Toll. The complaint asks for a jury. Thanks to Political Wire for this news.

For First Time in Michigan History, a Third Party has a Contested Gubernatorial Primary

Posted on by April 19, 2018
11

On August 7, 2018, Michigan holds primaries for the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties. The Libertarian primary ballot will list two candidates for Governor, Bill Gelineau and John Tatar. Any registered voter will be able to choose to vote in the Libertarian part of the primary ballot (the ballot has all three parties on it, but voters must confine their voting to just one party’s portion).

This is the first time that any party other than the Democratic or Republican Parties has had a contested gubernatorial primary in Michigan. Michigan has been holding primaries since 1910. Although all qualified parties nominated by primary before 1931, no previous third party happened to have a contested primary for Governor.

Since 1931, only minor parties that had polled an unusually high vote have been entitled to their own primary. They are American Independent Party in 1970, Anderson Coalition Party in 1982, the Tisch Independent Citizens Party in 1988 and 1992, the Reform Party in 1998, and the Libertarian Party in 2018.

Georgia Defends its Virtual Ban on Minor Party and Independent Candidates for U.S. House by Saying Otherwise It Must Hold Run-off General Elections

Posted on by April 19, 2018
14

Since 1943, Georgia has required minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House to submit a petition of 5% of the number of registered voters to get on the ballot for U.S. House. This is so difficult, no independent has done it since 1964, and no minor party candidate has ever done it. The Libertarian Party currently has a lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court against this requirement. Georgia allows the Libertarian Party to be on the November ballot automatically for all statewide offices (state and U.S. Senate alike), but not U.S. House or legislature.

On April 18, the state answered interrogatories, to explain why it has such draconian ballot access requirements for minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House. The state says it has a compelling interest in avoiding the need to hold a run-off general election. Georgia law, since 1964, has provided for run-off general elections for all federal and state office except president. These run-off general elections are in January of the year after the election. Georgia held runoff general elections for U.S. Senate in 1992 and 2008. Both times, the presence of a Libertarian on the ballot for U.S. Senate prevented anyone from getting as much as 50% of the vote in November, for U.S. Senate.

There is an obvious answer to Georgia’s response. The state is free to use ranked choice voting. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harlan mentioned this idea fifty years ago in his concurrence in Williams v Rhodes, 393 US 23 (1968). Williams v Rhodes was an Ohio ballot access case. Ohio defends its Democratic-Republican ballot monopoly by saying that it wants the winner to always receive at least 50%. Harlan wrote in footnote 8 that Ohio is free to use ranked choice voting.