The April 1, 2016 print edition of Ballot Access News said that Utah had repealed the straight-ticket device. However, that was in error. SB 25 had been signed into law. But all it did, relative to the straight-ticket device, was change the reference to the device from one part of the election code to another part. BAN regrets the error and thanks Brian Bean for this information.
Rocky De La Fuente submitted approximately 14,000 signatures to be on the Georgia ballot as an independent presidential candidate. The signatures were submitted by the July 12 deadline. But De La Fuente did not submit the names of his presidential elector candidates by July 1, and Georgia requires those names by that date.
Nevertheless, the state is checking his petition. Georgia and Arizona are the only states that require the names of presidential elector candidates to be submitted that early, and this year Arizona agreed not to enforce the presidential elector deadline, after the Green Party sued and Arizona decided not to enforce the presidential elector deadline.
On July 25, Utah State Senator Mark Madsen said he has changed his voter registration from “Republican” to “Libertarian.” He lives in Saratoga Springs and was first elected to the State Senate in 2004. He is not running for re-election this year. See his wikipedia page, which has already been updated to show his new party membership. The Libertarian Party now has three state legislators. The other two are in Nevada and Nebraska. This is the first time any party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties has had legislators in three states simultaneously since 1934, when there were Socialists in the legislatures of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Thanks to Michael for the link.
On July 20, several Texas voters filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas system for electing State Supreme Court Justices, and Judges of the State Court of Criminal Appeals. Both courts have nine members. For both courts, elections are partisan and are at-large. The lawsuit charges that the system violates Section Two of the federal Voting Rights Act, because it makes it difficult for ethnic and racial minorities to elect judges of their choice. Here is the Complaint. The case is Lopez v Abbott, s.d., 2:16cv-303. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
New York held primaries for Congress on June 28. Write-ins in New York primaries are not permitted unless someone files a petition asking that primary write-ins be counted. Once that petition is accepted, all write-ins are valid, whether the write-in candidate wanted write-ins counted or not.
In the 12th district, in the Reform Party, Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, won the Reform nomination with 2 write-ins. There were also three individuals who received one write-in each. Here is the New York City Board of Elections certification for that primary.
Ivanka Trump is free to decline the nomination. Here is a news story about that primary. Thanks to Frank Morano for the link and to Independent Political Report for the link to the certification.
