Texas Representative Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) has introduced HB 433, to eliminate the straight-ticket device. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
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Cheri Honkala, who was Jill Stein’s running mate in 2012, will be the Green Party nominee in a special legislative election in Pennsylvania on March 21. The 197th district seat is empty because the Democrat who won the seat in November 2016 resigned on December 16, 2016, before her new term had even started. She resigned because she had been indicated last year on a federal money laundering charge.
Honkala has been very active in North Philadelphia for many decades. This article explains why she feels she might conceivably win. The Green Party believes it will be able to raise enough money to make her competitive with her Democratic and Republican opponents.
On February 6, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled unanimously that closed primaries do not violate the State Constitution. The constitution says, “All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.” The plaintiff, an independent voter, wanted to vote in a partisan primary, and he felt the law that required primary voters to be members of the party violated that constitutional provision. Here is the 18-page decision. The case is Crum v Duran, S-1-SC-36030.
The decision is not surprising. No federal or state court has ever ruled that closed primaries are unconstitutional. As the decision notes, New Mexico didn’t even have primaries until 1938; before that year, parties nominated by convention or party meeting.
On January 20, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Gary Johnson’s vote in November 2016 did not create a new ballot-qualified party. The party asked for reconsideration on January 24, pointing out some errors in the court’s decision. Two weeks have elapsed and the court has not yet reacted to the request for reconsideration. Here is the docket sheet for the case from the court’s web page.
At least four Texas bills have been introduced to punish or thwart presidential electors who don’t vote for the presidential candidate who received the most popular votes in the state. Representative Bill Zedler introduced HB 1060, which says that such electors are guilty of a “jail felony.” Representative John Raney and three others introduced HB 543, which provides for a $5,000 fine and says the offender can never again qualify as a presidential elector. Representative Mike Schofield introduced HB 771, and Representative Pat Fallon introduced HB 1391. Those bills require parties to nominate alternate presidential elector candidates, and if an elector disobeys, he or she is replaced by an alternate. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.