Working Families Candidates do Well in May 2, 2017 City Elections in Columbus, Ohio

Posted on by May 8, 2017
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Columbus, Ohio, held elections for city council and school board on May 2. Although the elections are formally non-partisan, party organizations play a big role. The Working Families Party in Columbus, which is called Yes We Can Columbus, sponsored candidates for two city council seats and three school board seats. All five placed first or second and thus will go into a run-off in November. See the organization’s web page here.

This story explains that no Republicans qualified for the run-off, so the November election for those five offices will be between regular Democrats and Working Families associates. Because the Working Families members voted in the Democratic primary in Ohio last year, under Ohio law they are also considered to be members of the Democratic Party.

Opponents of Partisan Gerrymandering File Brief in U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on by May 8, 2017
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On May 8, the Wisconsin voters who had sued to overturn Wisconsin’s Assembly redistricting on the grounds that it was a partisan gerrymander filed this brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court not to disturb the ruling of the 3-judge U.S. District Court that overturned the gerrymander. The case is Gill v Whitford, 16-1161. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

California Assembly Passes Bill Moving Primary for All Office from June to March, in Presidential Years

Posted on by May 8, 2017
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On May 4, the California Assembly passed HB 84 by 52-20. It moves the primary for all office, in presidential years, from June to March. A similar bill, SB 568, had already passed the State Senate. However the two bills are not identical so further legislative action is needed.

Generally, Republicans in the Assembly voted against the bill, whereas Democrats voted for it. The only Democrat who voted “no” is Bill Quirk. The only two Republicans who voted “yes” are Jordan Cunningham and Tom Lackey.

U.S. House Vote on Health Care Shows No Correlation Between Primary Type and Behavior of Member of Congress

Posted on by May 8, 2017
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The most significant vote in the U.S. House this year was on May 4, when the U.S. House passed a bill revising health care by four votes. No Democrat voted for the bill. Twenty Republicans voted against the bill. They include one from Arizona, one from Colorado, one from Florida, one from Kentucky, three from New Jersey, two from New York, one from North Carolina, two from Ohio, four from Pennsylvania, one from Texas, one from Virginia, and two from Washington. See this Roll Call story describing and listing each of these Republicans.

Classifying these twenty Republicans by the method in which they won the Republican nomination in 2016, one finds nine were nominated in a closed primary, five in a semi-closed primary, four in an open primary, and two in a top-two system.

This observation matches research conducted by political scientists, showing there is no correlation between type of primary system, and how elected officials behave. Here is an article by Jon Fleischman on why all fourteen Republican members of the House from California voted for the health care bill. Thanks to Rob Richie for suggesting this blog post.

Florida Legislature Adjourns without Passing Any Election Law Bills

Posted on by May 8, 2017
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The Florida legislature is in the process of adjourning today (May 8, Monday). No election law bills passed in the 2017 session. There were no bills introduced in 2017 to alter ballot access, even though there is a need for Florida to do something about presidential ballot access, due to the 11th circuit’s decision earlier this year invalidating Georgia’s 1% presidential petition requirement. Florida is also in the Eleventh Circuit so the Georgia decision applies to Florida.

Florida requires independent presidential candidates to submit a petition of 1% of the registered voters, just as Georgia did.

Bills for the National Popular Vote, to ease ex-felon disenfranchisement, to alter voter registration, all failed. A bill to convert elections for State Attorney and Public Defender to non-partisan elections failed.