A Libertarian Party, also named Jose Marti Party, has been organized in Cuba. See this story.
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On May 8, the Oklahoma legislature passed SB 323, which generally doubles filing fees. The worst effect is on presidential independent candidates. The bill doubles that filing fee from $17,500 to $35,000.
On May 9, the California League of Women Voters and other voting rights organizations sued various California public officials over the state’s apparent failure to comply with the federal motor-voter law. That law requires that states have a combined form that allows individuals to renew their drivers license and also register to vote. Instead, when California sends a notice to an individual telling him or her that the drivers license is about to expire, California puts a separate voter registration form inside the envelope, along with the notice about the drivers license.
The voting rights organizations that filed this lawsuit point out that California has one of the lowest voter registration rates in the nation. The case is League of Women Voters of California v Kelly, n.d., 3:17cv-2665. The plaintiffs say they have been bringing this problem to the attention of California officials for two years now. Here is the Complaint. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On May 8, the California Assembly passed AB 22, which deletes an old law that says state employees can be fired if they are members of the Communist Party. Thanks to Libertarian Republic for this news. The vote was 41-30. The bill now goes to the State Senate. The author is Assemblymember Rob Banta (D-Oakland).
Even if this bill is signed into law, California will still have another law in the election code that says subversive parties may not be on the ballot.
On May 9, the Ohio State Appeals Court, 10th district, heard oral argument in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, 16AP000496. This is the last remaining Libertarian Party ballot access case in Ohio. The party argues that the Ohio Constitution requires all qualified parties to nominate by primary, and that the 2013 ballot access law, which was responsible for keeping the party off the ballot in 2016, conflicts with the state constitution. That law says newly-qualifying parties do not have a primary.
Judge Julia Dorrian seemed concerned that preventing any qualified party from having its own primary violates the equal protection parts of the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions. Ohio voter registration forms do not ask applicants to choose a party. Instead Ohio law says a party’s members are the voters who choose that party’s primary ballot. So, under the current law, newly-qualifying parties don’t have any “members” in the legal sense, which damages them.
The Ohio Constitution says, “Article V, section 7. All nominations for elective state, district, county and municipal offices shall be made at direct primary elections or by petition as provided by law.”
The hearing lasted 40 minutes. The other two judges were G. Gary Tyack and Lisa Sadler. Ohio state court judges are elected in partisan elections, except that party labels do not appear on the general election ballot. Judges Dorrian and Tyack are Democrats; Judge Sadler is a Republican.