On April 21, the Nevada Assembly defeated AB 320. It would have converted all county executive elected offices from partisan to non-partisan elections. All 17 of the Democrats voted “no.” Republicans mostly voted “yes”; there were 18 Republicans who voted for the bill and 7 who voted “no.”
On April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Citizen Center v Colorado Secretary of State, 14-998, which could have resolved whether the U.S. Constitution protects secrecy in voting.
Also on April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court did not decide whether or not to hear O’Keefe v Chisholm, 14-872. This case concerns whether Wisconsin law enforcement officials acted unconstitutionally when they made night raids at the homes of various political activists, allegedly looking for evidence that those activists had coordinated political campaign plans with elected politicians. Here is a story that explains the events that led to the lawsuit. The lead plaintiff, Eric O’Keefe, is a former national director of the Libertarian Party. This case will be considered again at a future conference of the Court.
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will soon introduce a bill to require states to let individuals register to vote on-line. See this story. The U.S. Constitution will require the bill to apply only to federal elections. If the bill were to pass, though, it is likely that states would then make that procedure applicable to all elections, rather than creating a dual list of registered voters. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
This op-ed by Michael Smerconish in the Philadelphia Inquirer is partly an opinion piece, but it is also a news story. The bottom half of the column quotes Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr., co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, as saying the CPD is studying whether to eliminate the rule that says no one outside the two major parties may participate unless he or she is at 15% in the polls in early September.
On April 7, Milwaukee held non-partisan elections for School Board and other office. Wendell J. Harris, an activist in the Socialist Party for many years, was elected to the Board, defeating an incumbent. Harris was also the Socialist Party candidate for Mayor of Milwaukee in 2000. He is a vice chair of the NAACP of Milwaukee. See this story. The vote was: Harris 3,467; Jeff Spence 2,053. Thanks to Stephen Hauser for the news.