Pennsylvania’s Attorney General will investigate charges that many election laws were broken on March 21, the day the voters of the 197th House district chose a new state representative. See this story.
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Fox & Hounds, a California politics blog, here has Joe Mathew’s piece, advocating that the United States use proportional representation. Thanks to Irv Sutley for the link.
Warren Redlich was the New York Libertarian Party nominee for Governor in 2010. He polled 48,386 votes. If he had polled 50,000, the New York Libertarian Party would have become a ballot-qualified party for the first time. He might have polled the 50,000 votes, except that shortly before the election, a flyer was widely distributed that accused him of being a child molester, and warned parents to keep their children away from his home area. There was no truth whatsoever in the flyer.
Redlich sued the Republican Party nominee for Governor, Carl Paladino, in 2011. He also sued Roger Stone. However, they deny being the authors of the flyer. The case finally has a trial later this year. See this story. The trial had been set to begin on March 30, but it has been postponed. The case is Redlich v Paladino, Manhattan Supreme Court, 2011-109-005. Thanks to John Sproul for this news.
On March 29, U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady, Jr. denied Virginia’s attempt to dismiss De La Fuente v Alcorn, e.d., 1:16cv-1201. The issue is the Virginia law that forces candidates for presidential elector to reveal their entire Social Security number before an independent presidential candidate petition can begin to circulate. Now the case will continue and the state will be required to explain why this requirement is needed.
Supporters of a top-two system will attempt to persuade the Florida Constitution Revision Commission to put a top-two proposal on the November 2018 Florida ballot. They have already hired Public Policy Polling to conduct a telephone poll. The final question, #15, asks, “Do you think the Florida Constitution Revision Commission should place an open primary with a single ballot for all federal and state offices below president, and including all candidates regardless of party before Florida voters?”
Top-two supporters try to deflect the respondent’s attention away from the fact that their system limits voter choice in the general election to just two candidates. They deliberately use the term “open primary” when they mean “top-two primary.” “Open primary” has been defined since 1907 as a system in which each party has its own nominees and its own primary ballot, but any voter can choose any party’s primary ballot. By contrast, top-two systems abolish traditional primaries and replace them with a popularity contest held months before the election itself. Then, only the two most popular candidates are permitted to run in the general election itself.
Top-two supporters are funded by billionaires Laura and John Arnold of Houston, Texas. Most of the activists in the leading top-two organization, which is called “Open Primaries” are veterans of the New Alliance Party that existed 1982 through 1994, and which ran Lenora Fulani for president in 1988 and 1992.
The Florida Constitution Revision Commission operates every twenty years in Florida. The Commission holds hearings around the state to listen to ideas of what possible changes should be made to the Florida Constitution. The Commission held its first meeting in Orlando on March 29. Here is a news account of the meeting.