U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear One of the Ohio Libertarian Party Ballot Access Cases

Posted on by January 9, 2017
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On January 9, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, 16-580. This is one of the three Ohio Libertarian Party cases that had been pending. This one charged that the 2013 ballot access restrictions violate the U.S. Constitution because they deny newly-qualifying parties a means to obtain a membership list, whereas old parties do obtain such a list.

The two other cases are in state court. One, also called Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, charges that the 2013 law violates the State Constitution, which appears to require that all qualified parties nominate by primary. It is pending in the State Court of Appeals. The other, State ex rel Fockler v Husted, argues that state law requires the Secretary of State to recognized that Gary Johnson’s vote in November 2016 created a new ballot-qualified party. It is pending in the State Supreme Court.

Puerto Rico’s New Governor and New Representative to Congress Both Working for Statehood

Posted on by January 8, 2017
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On November 8, 2016, Puerto Rico voters elected Ricardo Rossello as Governor, and elected Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon as Resident Commissioner. “Resident Commissioner” is the Puerto Rico term for the delegate sent to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Both are nominees of the New Progressive Party, which favors statehood. Governor Rossello plans to work for legislation that would enable Puerto Rico voters to hold elections for two U.S. Senate seats and five U.S. House seats. That would probably involve a districting plan to create five U.S. House districts. Puerto Rico’s population would entitle it to five seats if it were a state.

Commissioner Gonzalez-Colon, the first woman to represent Puerto Rico in the U.S. House, has already introduced HR 260, to begin the process for statehood. The text of the measure is still not on the web page for Congress. The bill was introduced January 4, 2017.

Federal Election Commission Staff Recommends that Socialist Workers Party be Required to Disclose Contributions in Future

Posted on by January 7, 2017
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According to the Election Law Blog, the staff of the Federal Elections Commission on January 6 recommended that the FEC not extend the Socialist Workers Party’s long-standing freedom from reporting contributions and expenditures. See the story here. The FEC commissioners will meet on January 12 to vote on whether to accept the staff recommendation.

Two Virginia State Senators Plan to Introduce Bills to Let Parties Close Their Primaries

Posted on by January 7, 2017
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According to this story, Virginia State Senators Richard Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) and John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) plan to introduce bills this year to let parties close their primaries. The Obenshain proposal would also change the voter registration form, so that the form would ask applicants to choose a party, or independent status. The bills don’t appear to have been introduced yet. Thanks to Mike Drucker for the link.