U.S. Supreme Court Hears Reed v Town of Gilbert, Arizona

On January 12, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Reed v Town of Gilbert, Arizona. This is not an election law case, but any case involving discriminatory treatment and free speech has the potential to affect election law. The issue is a town ordinance that says some types of signs may remain on the public right-of-way for months and may be large, whereas other types of signs must be small and removed very quickly after the event that the sign is advertising. See this story, which suggests that the town ordinance will be held unconstitutional.

UPDATE: here is the transcript of the oral argument. Thanks to HowAppealing for the link.

Nebraska Bill to Eliminate Ability of U.S. House Districts to Elect Their Presidential Elector

Nebraska State Senator Beau McCoy (R-Omaha) has introduced LB 10. It would end the Nebraska practice of letting each U.S. House district elect its own presidential elector. In 2008, two of Nebraska’s congressional districts chose a Republican elector, but the 2nd district centered on Omaha chose a Democratic presidential elector. However, in 2012, all three districts chose Republican electors.

New Hampshire Elected an Independent to the State House in November 2014

This is old news that Ballot Access News had previously missed. On November 4, 2014, an independent candidate was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack County district 10, which includes Hopkinton and part of Concord. The independent winner is David Luneau.

See this story about the campaign
. The district elects three representatives. Luneau came in third with 2,293, and was elected along with two of the three Democratic nominees. Thanks to Darryl Perry for the information.

The December 1, 2014 Ballot Access News print issue said that fourteen independent candidates had been elected to state legislatures on November 4, 2014, but that should have said fifteen were elected.

Montana Almost Elected an Independent Candidate to the Legislature in November 2014

This is old news, but better late than never. At the November 4, 2014 election, an independent candidate was almost elected to the Montana House of Representatives. The vote in the 94th district in Missoula County was: Democratic incumbent Kimberly Dudik 1,748 votes; independent Gary Marbut 1,700 votes.

Montana hasn’t elected an independent candidate to the state legislature since 1958. Here is an old news story that describes the 2014 campaign. Marbut’s candidacy would not have been possible if a U.S. District Court hadn’t struck down the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates in 2012, in Kelly v McCulloch. Marbut did not enter the race until after primary filing had closed.

Joe Mathews, California Politics Observer, Advocates Bringing Back Write-in Space in November

Citywatch, a Los Angeles politics blog, carries this column by Joe Mathews. Mathews advocates restoring write-in space to the November ballot for California. In 2012 the legislature passed AB 1413, with no publicity, eliminating write-in space from the November ballot for Congress and partisan state office.