The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was going to hear testimony on July 26 from Donald Trump, Jr., and Paul Manafort, President Trump’s original campaign manager. However, the public hearing has been cancelled. Instead, the two individuals have agreed to disclose to the committee any communications they had with 40 named individuals, including Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential nominee in 2016 and 2012.
The July 1, 2017 registration totals for Delaware can be seen at this link. The percentages: Democratic 47.29%; Republican 28.00%; Independent Party .83%; Libertarian .23%; Green .12%; American Delta .11%; Working Families .06%; Constitution .04%; Reform .01%; independent and miscellaneous 23.31%.
The percentages in November 2016 were: Democratic 47.49%; Republican 28.03%; Independent Party .79%; Libertarian .22%; Green .12%; American Delta .12%; Working Families .06%; Constitution .05%; Reform .01%; independent and miscellaneous 23.10%.
On July 20, proponents of the recall of a Democratic California State Senator filed a lawsuit against the new law that changed the rules for recalls and which went into effect immediately. The new law was SB 96, signed into law last month. See this story.
The case is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v Padilla, filed in the State Appeals Court, 3rd district, case 85176. The lawsuit argues that it violates due process to change the petition rules in the middle of a petition drive. It also argues that SB 96 violates the “single subject” rule; it was mainly a budget bill. UPDATE: here is the opening brief.
Before SB 96 was passed, it was already possible for signers to withdraw their signatures from a recall petition. But SB 96 said that signers could withdraw their signatures even after the petition had been submitted. It also permitted election officials to delay the recall, even if it had enough signatures, while the election-administration cost of the recall election was calculated. The bill did not set any limits on how long that might take.
On July 21, the Arizona Libertarian Party filed a notice of appeal in Libertarian Party of Arizona v Reagan, the lawsuit over ballot access for Libertarian Party members who want to get on their own party’s primary ballot. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law earlier this month.
WUNC 91.5, one of the Public Radio stations in North Carolina, has this story about SB 656, the bill to improve ballot access for newly-qualifying parties and independent candidates.
