On February 7, the House Administration Committee passed HR 133 by a vote of 5-3. Here is the text. It abolishes the federal program for public funding of presidential campaigns, both primary season matching funds, and general election funding. The bill is by Representative Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma). The program has been in existence starting in 1976.
On January 27, the Virginia House Privileges & Elections Committee tabled HB 1425 by a voice vote. It had passed a subcommittee a few days earlier. It would have provided that each U.S. House district elect its own presidential elector.
Texas Representative Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) has introduced HB 433, to eliminate the straight-ticket device. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
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.
