A bill has already been introduced in the New Mexico legislature to provide that New Mexico join the National Popular Vote compact. See this story.
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On December 22, the Ohio Supreme Court asked the Secretary of State to respond to the Libertarian Party’s new ballot access lawsuit. This is the case that argues because the Libertarian Party presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, got over 3%, the party should be recognized. The response is due December 27.
The case is State ex rel Fockler v Husted, 2016-1863.
The Columbus Dispatch has this story about the new lawsuit filed by the Ohio Libertarian Party in State Supreme Court. The new lawsuit notes that Gary Johnson received more than 3% of the vote for president in Ohio last month. The suit is based on a part of the election code that says a group of voters who sponsor a presidential candidate who gets more than 3% can establish a new ballot-qualified party.
The story is somewhat flawed, because the reporter apparently did not contact the Libertarian Party to ask for a response to the Secretary of State’s comment on the lawsuit. The Secretary of State says the existing procedure for establishing a party has been upheld. But that is irrelevant; the new lawsuit is not about the petition requirement, but the alternate vote method. Also the Secretary of State says that the attorney for the Libertarian Party already conceded in another lawsuit that what the party is asking for is not valid. It is true that the party’s brief in another case suggested that the vote test method for a new group is unlikely to be recognized by the Secretary of State, but that brief said nothing further on that subject.
Section 3517.01 says, “A political party within the meaning of Title 35 of the Revised Code is any group of voters which, at the last preceding regular state election, polled for its candidate for nominees for presidential electors at least 3% of the entire vote cast…”. The sentence then goes on to say that a second method to establish a party is a 1% petition. The party depends on the first clause, not the second clause. The Johnson petition listed five voters who held themselves out as representing that petition, and it is they who are claiming that they meet the standard in the first clause. Another document, filed by the Libertarian Party, certifies that the individuals who filed the petition have permission to use the name “Libertarian Party” for their group. The law does not say that the first method requires a party label on the petition.
On December 22, the New York State Board of Elections revised its official election returns. The Board had posted “Original certified results” on December 8, which suggests the state had determined the official figures. But on December 22, the Board posted revised figures.
Hillary Clinton gained 56,371 votes over the earlier figure; Donald Trump gained 24,516; Gary Johnson gained 1,345; Jill Stein gained 767. They were the only four presidential candidates on the ballot. Here is a link to the new returns. The only difference between the December 8 and December 22 totals are from Suffolk County and New York city. Both those jurisdictions explained that they hadn’t finished counting the absentee and provisional ballots as of December 8, so it is somewhat odd that the State Board posted “certified results” before they were complete.
UPDATE: some of the write-in presidential candidates also increased. The amount of the increase was: Evan McMullin 1,041; Darrell Castle 95; Gloria La Riva 27; Tom Hoefling 9; Chris Keniston 6; Rocky De La Fuente 5; Monica Moorehead 3; Emidio Soltysik 2.
Changes such as this are why it takes so long to tally the national vote for presidential candidates. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.
Ever since the Commission on Presidential Debates was formed in 1987, it has been co-chaired by a past chair of the Republican National Committee, and a past chair of the Democratic National Committee. However, with no public announcement, recently Michael McCurry, the co-chair who had earlier been Democratic National Committee chair, resigned.
He was replaced with Dorothy Ridings, who was president of the League of Women Voters thirty years ago. This article at presidentialdebatenews.com has more details. The article also says many directors of the CPD have resigned in the last few months. Thanks to Independent Voters Network for the link.