I have this opinion piece in Fox & Hounds blog, about the relationship between California’s new March primary (starting after 2018) and the viability of the top-two system.
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The Journal Star, daily newspaper for Lincoln, Nebraska, has this editorial, criticizing the 2016 law that raised the number of signatures for a non-presidential independent from 4,000 signatures to 10% of the number of registered voters.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, ruled against Gary Johnson and Jill Stein at the end of August, in their lawsuit that argues the Commission on Presidential Debates is breaking federal anti-trust laws. Johnson and Stein won’t ask for a rehearing en banc, but they do intend to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Thanks to Independent Voters Network for this news.
On September 27, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 568, which moves all partisan primaries, in all years, from June to the first week in March. It takes effect after 2018.
He didn’t act on other interesting election law bills: (1) AB 469, which eases petitions in lieu of filing fee; (2) AB 837, which provides that independent voters must be fully informed about which primary they can vote in; (3) SB 149, which requires presidential candidates in primaries to releases their tax returns. He has until mid-October to act on those bills.
On September 26, Florida held a special election to fill the vacant State Senate seat, 40th district, in Miami. The results: Democratic 50.95%; Republican 47.21%; independent 1.84%.
When this seat was last up, in November 2016, the vote was: Republican 50.62%; Democratic 40.70%; independent 8.68%.