Heavy.com has this story by Stephanie Dube Dwilson about instances in at least four states recently in which voters have had their party affiliation changed without their knowledge or consent. The four states mentioned in the story are Arizona, California, Connecticut, and New York.
On May 31, 2014, the Federal Election Commission determined that it had overpaid Gary Johnson’s 2012 campaign $332,000 in primary season matching funds. See the 2014 document here.
On April 5, 2016, the FEC rejected the Johnson campaign’s argument that the 2014 decision was in error. See that conclusion here.
It is not uncommon for presidential candidates who receive primary season matching funds to later be found to have been overpaid. For example, in 1992, Lenora Fulani received $2,011,929.42 in primary season matching funds. In 1995 the FEC determined that she had been overpaid $612,557.32. Upon reconsideration, however, the FEC lowered the overpayment determination to $117,269.54.
Johnson received $632,017 in 2012 primary season matching funds. Thanks to Thomas Knapp for the link to the April 2016 document.
On April 13, the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, 15-3046. The issue is the unique Pennsylvania system that puts petitioning groups at risk of court costs of up to $110,000 if they submit a petition that doesn’t have enough valid signatures. Last year a U.S. District Court had invalidated the system. On the appeal, the state did not actually disagree with the substance of the lower court decision; instead it argued that the decision should be overturned because the plaintiffs had sued the wrong Defendants. However, the three judges at the Third Circuit oral argument seemed to disagree with the state about that.
There was much discussion about what the remedy should be for the 2016 election. The attorney for the three parties that filed the case (Constitution, Green, and Libertarian) mentioned that the legislature has had a ballot access bill pending. SB 495, since last year. He said the legislature could pass that bill and fill the gap in the law. He mentioned that the Libertarian Party has over 45,000 registered members in Pennsylvania, and surely that shows that party has already shown a modicum of support and should not be required to submit a 2016 petition. The pending bill also uses registration instead of petitions to determine which parties should be on the ballot. The hearing lasted 30 minutes and supporters of the lawsuit were in the audience.
On April 12, Nebraska LB 10 failed to pass. This is the bill to convert Nebraska to a system used in 48 other states, in which the presidential candidate who carries the state wins all of the state’s presidential electors. The outcome was a surprise, because on April 4, the legislature had voted by more than two-thirds to kill the filibuster against the bill.
On April 4, the current system only had support from 15 State Senators, but on April 12, the current system was supported by 17 State Senators. Two State Senators, both Republicans, switched their votes. Tommy Garrett, from Bellevue, is in his first term; Bob Krist, from Omaha, is in his second term. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On April 12, an administrative Law Judge in New Jersey recommended to the Secretary of State that she place Ted Cruz on the June 7, 2016 Republican presidential primary ballot. The decision determines that Ted Cruz meets the Constitutional requirements to be President. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
