On June 7, the Michigan State Court of Appeals ruled that an initiative to set up an independent redistricting commisison must be put on the November ballot. Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution v Secretary of State, 343517. The state government had refused to certify the initiative, even though it had enough valid signatures, because the state government believed the initiative is a revision of the State Constitution instead of just an amendment. But the Court rejected that theory. This has been a long legal struggle; the initiative petition had been submitted last year.

If the measure passes, the redistricting commission will consist of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 5 individuals who are not affiliated with either of those two parties. Michigan doesn’t have registration by party, so “affiliation” is somewhat hazy and will depend on how applicants define themselves, and what can be learned about their political behavior. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen, an Obama appointee, will hear Alexander v Dunlap, 1:18cv-220, on Friday, June 8, at 2 p.m. This is the case in which Max Linn, a candidate in the Maine Republican primary for U.S. Senate, hopes to obtain an order letting his votes be counted. He is already on the ballot. After the towns checked his petitions and determined he had enough valid signatures, the Maine Secretary of State reversed that finding. But, by then, Linn’s name was already on the primary ballots. The Secretary of State ordered that signs be posted in each polling place, saying votes for Linn won’t be counted.

The New Hampshire primaries are on September 11. According to this story, there will probably be a contested Libertarian Party primary for Governor. It is likely that both Jiletta Jarvis and Aaron Day will seek the party’s nomination.

The Libertarian Party also had its own primary in 1992, 1994, and 1996, but there was no contest for the gubernatorial nomination in those years. New Hampshire elects a Governor every two years. The party needs to poll 4% for Governor this year to retain its qualified status.