California law generally says that only two candidates may be on the November ballot for congress or partisan state office. That has been the law starting in 2011. But, for the first time since the top-two law went into effect, there will be three candidates on the November ballot for one legislative race. That race is for the Assembly, 62nd district, in Los Angeles County. There is a tie between two write-in candidates in the June 7 primary. Only one name was printed on the primary ballot, incumbent Democrat Autumn Burke. Two candidates filed to have their write-ins counted in June, and they both got 32 write-ins. One is a Republican and one is a Libertarian.

Election Code section 8142(b)(3) covers this situation, and says a tie for second place means that three candidates qualify for November. Thanks to Ted Brown for this news.

Salon has this article by Professor Sophia McClennen, making the case for Instant Runoff Voting in U.S. presidential elections in very strong terms. Thanks to Lance for the link.

Philip Pidot is a Republican seeking his party’s nomination for U.S. House, New York 3rd district. New York held its congressional primary on June 28, but Pidot was not on the ballot. Because only one Republican was on the ballot, and no one had filed as a write-in, the primary in that district for the Republicans was not actually held.

But Pidot had petitioned to be on the primary ballot, and he finally won a court battle in state court, determining that he had enough valid signatures. The state courts had said he had enough valid signatures but that it was too late for him to get on the primary ballot, so he had then filed a lawsuit in federal court to get a new primary date, just for the Republican Party in the 3rd district. On June 29, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco refused to dismiss Pidot’s case, and set a new hearing for July 11, in the federal courthouse in Islip, at 1:30 p.m., courtroom 1020. See this story.