Since 1981, Ohio law has said that 17-year-olds may vote in primaries if they will be 18 by the time of the general election. The law says, “3503.011. At a primary election every qualified elector who is or will be on the day of the next general election 18 or more years of age, and who is a member of or is affiliated with the political party whose primary election he desires to vote, shall be entitled to vote such ballot at the primary election.”

Secretary of State Jon Husted is interpreting this law not to apply to presidential primaries. On March 8, the Bernie Sanders campaign and six 17-year-olds who will be 18 by November and who want to vote for Sanders filed a federal lawsuit. Smith v Husted, s.d., 2:16cv-212. They charge that in the past, 17-year old voters were permitted to vote in Ohio presidential primaries. The Secretary of State believes that the law does not apply to presidential primaries, because presidential primaries are really elections for Delegate to national conventions. However, the Secretary’s stance on this contradicts what he has told the press about whether the Ohio sore loser law and the Ohio law on affiliation of independent candidates apply to presidential primaries.

Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link to the Complaint.

On March 6, George Will appeared on television on the Fox channel, and seems to have expressed an opinion that open primaries and open caucuses are bad for the Republican Party.

On March 7, North Carolina filed this 40-page brief in U.S. District Court, defending its new U.S. House district boundaries. The state’s brief emphasizes that the new districts are far more compact and less “serpentine” than any districts in the state since the 1980’s. It also says that the new plan is not a partisan gerrymander, and says that if all registered Democrats voted for the Democratic nominee for U.S. House, then the Democrats would win approximately half the state’s seats. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.