The city council of Washington, D.C., will soon consider a bill that would let non-citizen adult residents vote for city office, if they are in the United States legally. See this story. If the bill passes, Congress could reject the new law. Thanks to Mike Drucker for the news.
On July 9, the Secretary of State of South Dakota asked a U.S. District Court to dismiss the ballot access case that had been filed by the Libertarian and Constitution Parties on June 15. The case is Libertarian Party of S.D. v Krebs, 4:15cv-4111. The lawsuit challenges the March 1 petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties. The state says that because the voters will be voting on whether to repeal that deadline, and the other parts of SB 69, the case should be dismissed, because no one can predict whether the law will be repealed.
The response of the political parties is due July 30, 2015.
On July 9, the California Senate unanimously passed SB 49. It says if filing closes for candidates to be on the ballot in a special legislative election, and only one candidate filed to be on the ballot, then the Governor can cancel the election.
California City News has this op-ed, written by me, about the effect the California top-two system has had on minor parties.
On July 9, the Constitution Party submitted its petition to be a “limited political party” in Alaska. A “limited political party” is one that is ballot-qualified for President. The requirement is 3,005 signatures and the party submitted over 4,500. Thanks to J. R. Myers for this news. In 2012 the Constitution Party’s presidential nominee, Virgil Goode, was not on the ballot in Alaska.
