An earlier version of this post said Gary Johnson and Jill Stein would file a cert petition in Johnson v Commission on Presidential Debates on October 26. Actually Johnson is still raising money to pay for the legal work for this cert petition, and no filing has yet occurred. If enough money is raised, it will be filed. The cert petition is not due for two more months, and it is easy to get a month’s extension if necessary.
The U.S. Supreme Court conference of October 27 will again consider whether to hear Minnesota Voters Alliance v Mansky, 16-1435. It had also been considered at two prior conferences this month, but the Court did not make up its mind at either of those conferences whether to hear the case. The issue is a Minnesota law that makes it illegal for a voter at the polls to wear any clothing, or anything attached to clothing that is visible, that relates to politics.
Because the new North Carolina petition requirement for new parties is so much better than in the past, the North Carolina Constitution Party hopes to petition for party status and to appear on the 2018 ballot. The party has never before been on the North Carolina ballot. The change in the law occurred last week, when the legislature passed SB 656, which lowers the petition to slightly under 12,000 signatures.
The State Board of Elections keeps a list of petitions that are underway. The Constitution Party has already registered with the State Board of Elections, so that the Board’s webpage will keep a tally of the validated signatures, as the validation process proceeds. North Carolina election officials check petitions on an ongoing basis; there is no need for the petition to be completed before the validation process starts. Here is the link to the State Board of Elections’ mention of the Constitution Party petition.
On October 15, Austria held a Parliamentary election, using proportional representation. Five groups polled at least 4% of the vote and therefore gained representatives in Parliament. The results are: Austrian People’s 62 seats; Social Democratic 52 seats; Freedom 51 seats; New Austria 10 seats; Peter Pilz List 8 seats.
No party received a majority of the seats, so the Austrian Peoples Party formed the government with help from the Freedom Party. See the wikipedia page about the election.
The Green Party had had 24 seats, but because it only polled 3.8%, it lost its seats.
On November 7, 2017, New York voters will decide whether to call a state constitutional convention to consider ideas for revising the New York Constitution, which has been in effect since 1894. Every twenty years the voters of New York are given this opportunity.
Some scholars have put together a list of ideas that might be considered for a new Constitution. The publication is issued by the Rockefeller Institute of Government and Albany Law School.
Many powerful groups have passed resolutions saying the New York State Constitution is good enough now and that voters should vote “no”. They include the Association of State Court Judges, many labor unions, and the ACLU. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link. Note especially the ideas for altering election law, which start on page seven.
