On April 28, retired General James Mattis said he will not be an independent presidential candidate. See this New York Times story. However, William Kristol, who had been trying to persuade him to run, say he will continue searching for a candidate. Kristol is opposed to both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order in Veasey v Abbott, 15A999, the long-pending lawsuit over the Texas photo voter-ID law for voters who vote at the polls. The U.S. Supreme Court says if the Fifth Circuit doesn’t resolve this case by July 20, 2016, the plaintiffs should file with the U.S. Supreme Court. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On April 27, the Ninth Circuit said it will rehear Public Integrity Alliance v City of Tucson, 15-16142. On November 10, 2015, the original 3-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit had voted 2-1 that Tucson’s method violates the U.S. Constitution. The method is to have partisan primaries within each ward, but then in the general election, all the party nominees chosen in the district primaries run citywide. Persons associated with the Republican Party had filed this lawsuit, because the system usually results in wins for all the Democratic nominees in November.
The Ninth Circuit will hear the case en banc. No other circuit grants rehearings as frequently as the Ninth Circuit.
Tucson’s city attorney has probably spent more time defending his city’s method of electing city councilmembers than any other city attorney in the United States. A few years ago he had to fight off a law that the legislature passed, mandating that all cities in Arizona use non-partisan elections for city office. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.
Maine has public funding for candidates for state office. The fund is running out of money. On April 12, the legislature passed LD 1579, a bill putting $2,500,000 into the fund. But on April 25, Governor Paul LePage vetoed the bill. The bill had passed the Senate 26-9, and the House 81-65. It is not clear if the legislature will override the veto.
On April 28, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed HB 458. It automatically registers every adult citizen known to live in Vermont. Persons who are signed up automatically are notified, and then given a choice to de-register if they wish.
Vermont does not have registration by party, so there is no problem with determining whether such voters want to choose to enroll in a party. The bill takes effect July 1, 2017. Other states with automatic registration are Oregon, Colorado, and California.
