Fourth Circuit Hears Oral Argument in Republican Party Lawsuit to Close its Own Primaries

Posted on by October 29, 2014
3

On October 29, the Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in Greenville County Republican Party v State of South Carolina, 13-2170. The Greenville County Republican Party wants to be able to close its primaries, especially its primaries for partisan city office, because the party pays for the administration of those primaries.

The U.S. District Court had ruled that the county unit of a political party does not have standing to challenge the open primary laws. A side issue in the case is the state law that tells a party that it can choose to nominate by convention, but only if three-fourths of the delegates registered at its convention vote to do that. The party feels that state law is too restrictive and the party should decide what vote is needed.

The three judges are two Obama appointees, James Wynn and Stephanie Thacker; and also Paul Niemeyer, a Bush Sr. appointee. If anyone hears any news about how the oral argument went, please comment. So far there seem to be no news stories. The Fourth Circuit will post a recording of the oral argument on Friday, October 31.

South Carolina Won’t Hold Special Election for State House District 114

Posted on by October 28, 2014
10

According to this story, because of a technicality, South Carolina will not hold a special election for State House, district 114. The November 4 election will fill the seat for the next two years, even though this disenfranchises voters who wish to vote for a Republican. The Republican Party’s only recourse is to find a write-in candidate, but even if the party could settle on someone quickly, he or she would be handicapped by the fact that the original Republican nominee’s name is still on the ballot. But votes cast for him won’t be valid.

According to the story, if the original nominee’s withdrawal letter had included the reason he withdrew, then there could be a special election shortly after the November 2014 election.

Two Billionaires Contribute Another $650,000 in Support of Top-Two Initiative in Oregon

Posted on by October 28, 2014
16

On October 15, this blog reported that two billionaires, John Arnold of Texas and Michael Bloomberg of New York, had contributed, together, $2,750,000 toward the campaign to pass Measure 90 in Oregon. Measure 90 would impose a top-two primary in Oregon.

On October 17, Arnold donated another $250,000 to the “yes” campaign, and Bloomberg donated another $400,000, so the total for the two individuals is now $3,400,000. Much of the money was transferred to Canal Partners Media, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Marietta, Georgia. An additional $50,000 was given to IndependentVoting, also known as CUIP (Commmittee for a Unified Independent Party), formerly known as the New Alliance Party.

South Carolina Election Commission Says Votes Cast for Bobby Harrell for State Representative “Won’t Count”

Posted on by October 27, 2014
9

On October 27, the South Carolina Election Commission said that Republican Bobby Harrell will remain on the November ballot for State Representative, district 114. However, the Commission says it doesn’t matter how many votes he gets, his votes don’t count. There could hardly be any clearer example of the decline in the sovereignty of the voter in the United States today. It is one thing for a candidate who is elected to decline to accept the post, but quite another to tell the voters that if they vote for a particular candidate, their votes won’t be honored. See this story.

It seems somewhat likely that because this is a Republican district, Republicans will quickly come up with a write-in recommendation. Harrell recently resigned from the legislature. The ballot will list him, his Democratic opponent, and his Green Party opponent. The 114th district is in Charleston.