So far, four petition candidates have qualified to be on the ballot for Governor of New Jersey. The election is November 7, 2017. The four petitions that have succeeded are for the Green and Libertarian nominees, and two independents. The deadline is June 6, Tuesday, so there may be others later today and tomorrow.
On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court summarily affirmed the lower court ruling in North Carolina v Covington, 16-649 The lower court had invalidated North Carolina’s legislative districts as an illegal racial gerrymander.
In a different phase of that same case, North Carolina v Covington, 16-1023, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded to the lower court for reconsideration of the lower court’s remedy. The lower court had said the state must redraw the districts very soon and then hold new legislative elections in 2017. The U.S. Supreme Court said that decision had not been detailed or thoughtful enough, and the U.S. Supreme Court directed the lower to again decide whether a special election is needed in 2017.
The Bangor Daily News has this account of the Friday, June 2 legislative hearing in Maine over ranked-choice voting. Thanks to IVN for the link.
On June 11, Puerto Rico votes on its future political status. During April, the Puerto Rico government added a third option, for maintaining the status quo, Commonwealth status. Originally the vote was only going to include the choice of statehood, or independence.
The Governor and Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives both strongly favor statehood. According to this story, the U.S. Justice Department required Puerto Rico to add the choice to maintain commonwealth status. Also see this story.
Here is a copy of the June 11 ballot.
On June 2, a trial court judge in Utah refused to enjoin the law that requires most candidates to file for office in-person. The plaintiff-candidate, Chia-Chi Teng, is currently in China. Utah law permits government employees and members of the military to avoid the requirement, but Professor Teng works for Brigham Young University, so he is not a state employee. See this story. The candidate may appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. He is running for Congress in the special election, 3rd district. The case is Teng v Cox, Salt Lake County, 17-0903450.
