Former vice-president Al Gore continues to speak out for electoral college reform. He was interviewed by Bill Maher about that subject recently. See this story.
One might think it is obvious that Gore would support electoral college reform. But, one doesn’t see other nationally recognized Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders, or Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid talking about the issue.
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Some leaders of the Colorado Republican Party want the party to nominate all its 2018 nominees by caucus instead of by primary. Under the 2017 law letting independents choose any party primary ballot they wish, parties are free to cancel their primary. However, the vote to cancel the primary must be supported by 75% of the state party committee, so it seems unlikely that the party will skip the primary. The decision will be made in September, according to this story.
In late March, 2017, Scott Donahue, Mayor of Emeryville, California, changed his registration from the Democratic Party to the Green Party. He was elected to the city council for the first time in 2014 and is serving a four-year term. Emeryville voters do not vote directly for Mayor; they elect five members to the council, and the council chooses the Mayor. Donahue was chosen Mayor in late 2016.
Emeryville has a population of 10,000 and is a neighbor of Oakland and Berkeley.
U.S. District Court Judge Joel Slomsky will hear Little v Vasquez on Wednesday, September 13, at 2 p.m. This is the lawsuit filed by the Republican nominee and the Green nominee in the special legislative election in Philadelphia that has held on March 21, 2017. The Democratic and Green nominees were both write-in candidates. The only name on the ballot was the Republican nominee, Lucinda Little. The Green nominee was Cheri Honkala; she placed second, ahead of the Republican.
The plaintiffs argue that the election was so flawed that the results should be set aside. The Republican and Green nominees charge that polling place officials actively encouraged voters to cast a write-in for the Democratic nominee.
This case has moved slowly because the defendants took so long to answer the complaint.
The Sixth Circuit web page lets anyone listen to recent oral arguments. Here is a link to the 35-minute argument in George v Hargett, 16-5563. This is the case over whether a 2014 amendment to the Tennessee Constitution passed. It clearly got a majority of the vote, but opponents of the measure argue that the state Constitution does not permit voters to vote on amendments unless they vote for Governor. In order for that interpretation to be followed, a recount of all the ballots would be needed to filter out ballots that left Governor blank.
It seems fairly clear to me that the Sixth Circuit will reverse the U.S. District Court, and uphold the state, which says there is no requirement that voters who abstained for Governor must not vote for amendments either.
