The November 2016 ballot in San Francisco will include a proposed charter amendment on voter qualifications. The amendment would let non-citizens who are parents or guardians of children in the public schools cast votes in School Board elections. See this story.

On July 29, the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit, in their ballot access case. The appeal only relates to the portion of the U.S. District Court order that imposed a county distribution requirement on independent and minor party statewide petitions. The order only pertains to candidates for state office, not federal office. The offices affected this year are Treasurer, Auditor, and Attorney General. The order requires a certain number of signatures from each of ten counties.

County distribution requirements have been invalidated all over the country by federal courts, starting in 1969. Twice the U.S. Supreme Court has invalidated them, in cases from Illinois and New York. No state except Pennsylvania has any county distribution requirements for candidate petitions. Such requirements violate “one person, one vote”, because they give more power to voters living in small-population counties than in large-population counties.