On October 10, NBC/WSJ released a poll for the presidential election. The results: Hillary Clinton 46%, Donald Trump 35%, Gary Johnson 9%, Jill Stein 2%, other or undecided 8%. This poll was taken after the Friday afternoon news about the Trump 2005 remarks to Billy Bush. See here. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
On Sunday, October 9, the Florida Democratic Party sued the state government to extend the October 11 deadline for individuals to register to vote. Florida Democratic Party v Scott, n.d., 4:16cv-626. Here is the Complaint. The lawsuit argues that the deadline should be extended because so many Florida residents in the past week had to leave their home areas, to avoid the tropical storm. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker, an Obama appointee. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Politico has this very thorough article by Election Law Professor Ned Foley, about the uncertainties of the 2016 presidential election, relative to the role of presidential electors, and also the role of Congress.
The article does not mention this, but Congress has always counted the votes of “disobedient” presidential electors. It even counted the 2004 electoral vote in which one absent-minded Minnesota presidential elector, a Democrat, voted for John Edwards for President. That same elector also voted for Edwards for Vice-President. No one knows which Minnesota presidential elector did that, because in Minnesota, at least back in 2004, electors used secret ballots. In most states the electors do not use secret ballots.
Here is the list of California Republican Party candidates for president elector. It includes Arun Bhumitra of Rolling Hills. He is a member of the Industry Trade Advisory Committee, which is part of the International Trade Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for that position.
Article II, section one, says no one who “holds an office of Trust or Profit under the United States shall be appointed an Elector.” Professor Bhumitra, when informed of this part of the U.S. Constitution, said he had not been aware of that part of the Constitution. Thanks to Mark Seidenberg for this news. Seidenberg is the person who first noticed this.
This lengthy story in the Kansas City Star examines three aspects of U.S. presidential elections, and suggests all are flawed. The article discusses how parties nominate presidential candidates, the electoral college, and general election presidential debates. The story suggests that presidential primaries may be a bad idea, and suggests the nation was better off before they existed. It also criticizes the electoral college for giving the “swing states” so much power, and boosts the National Popular Vote plan.
