On October 5, the North Carolina House passed SB 656, the bill that improves ballot access. The vote was 70-44. Unfortunately the conference committee yesterday added an unrelated provision to the bill that affects judicial elections, and Democrats are opposed to that amendment. That is why there were so many “no” votes. UPDATE: also on October 5, the Senate passed the bill, 30-16.
The voters of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed a ballot measure in 2008 saying the city should use ranked choice voting in city elections. The city still hasn’t implemented it. The supporters of ranked choice voting sued the city in the State Supreme Court last month, but that court refused to hear the case.
In response, the supporters of RCV have refiled their case in lower state court. The lower state court must hear the case. See this story. Thanks to Electionline for the link.
Lou Jacobson has this article about Automatic Voter Registration, which nine states now have, to a certain extent. Automatic Voter Registration is a system in which election officials automatically register every adult citizen known to exist in that state, unless the individual declines. The article discusses whether Automatic Voter Registration helps Democrats or Republicans more. What is clear is that it definitely helps candidates and parties that must petition to get on the ballot, because a much larger percentage of signers will be registered. Thanks to Electionline for the link.
Washington state does not permit independent or minor party presidential candidates to begin petitioning until the candidate or group publishes a newspaper notice. In 2016, Rocky De La Fuente failed to get on the ballot in Washington, despite filing over 1,000 valid signatures, because he had not published the required newspaper notice. He had posted the required information on the internet.
Last year, he filed a constitutional case against the newspaper publication requirement. The case has moved slowly, but the briefing schedule is now set. All the briefs will have been filed by November 10, 2017. The case is De La Fuente v Wyman, w.d., 3:16v-5801.
On October 4, the Independent Voters Project filed this amicus curiae brief in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Among the signers are former U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, and former New Jersey Governor Christy Todd Whitman. The amicus is on the side of the plaintiffs, Level the Playing Field and the Libertarian and Green Parties.
The amicus could only be filed after the judge approved its filing. The FEC refused to give permission for this amicus to be filed, so the judge was forced to settle whether it could be filed. The attorneys who wrote and filed the amicus are Chad Peace and Breton Peace of San Diego.
