On August 31, the Federal Election Commission posted the dates of 2018 primaries for congress. For New York and Massachusetts, the chart shows that the date is yet to be determined. For Louisiana, the FEC correctly says that Louisiana doesn’t have congressional primaries. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
New York voters will decide in a few months whether to call a state constitutional convention. This Village Voice article explains the process and also explains what changes might be made, if a convention is called and the convention writes a draft that makes significant changes (and then the voters would need to approve the new constitution).
New York doesn’t have the statewide initiative process, but conceivably a new constitution could add one.
Ballot Access News
August 1, 2017 – Volume 33, Number 3
| This issue was printed on green paper. |
Table of Contents
The New Hampshire League of Women Voters, and the state’s Democratic Party, have sued to block a new voter registration restriction passed earlier this year. The case was originally filed in state court, but on August 31 was dismissed and re-filed in U.S. District Court. League of Women Voters of NH v Secretary of State, 1:17cv-395.
New Hampshire has had election-day registration for some years. The new law, SB 3, requires individuals who register within 30 days of an election to sign a statement saying they must furnish documents proving their intent to permanently reside in New Hampshire within the next few weeks, and that if they don’t, they will be guilty of election fraud. The lawsuit argues the list of documents is too complicated, and will intimidate individuals from registering to vote during the last 30 days before an election.
The Working Families Party will be able to nominate Bill de Blasio for Mayor in its September 12, 2017 primary, even though its certificate letting de Blasio run its primary was defective.
On August 31, the New York State Appeals Court, the highest state court, said that the challenge to De Blasio’s position on the Working Families Party primary ballot is defective, because the challengers didn’t serve the party’s executive board. See this two-page decision in Morgan v de Blasio, case 2017-131. Thanks to Mike Drucker for this news.
