All Nationally-Organized Parties Have Fewer U.S. House Candidates This Year Than in 2012

Posted on by September 27, 2014
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All nationally-organized political parties, major and minor, have fewer nominees for U.S. House this year than in 2012. Counting the 435 regular seats plus the District of Columbia Delegate seat, the 2014 numbers are: Democrats 400; Republicans 395; Libertarian 122; Green 43: Constitution 13; other parties 38; and 82 independent candidates.

By contrast, in 2012, the numbers were: Republicans 415; Democrats 404; Libertarians 137; Green 59; Constitution 22; other parties 22; and 104 independent candidates. These figures only include candidates who are on the ballot and do not include write-in candidates.

2014 is the first congressional election in which no party with “socialist” in its name is on the ballot for any congressional race. This is a true statement going back to 1890, the first year any state used government-printed ballots in a congressional election.

When a party has more than a single candidate in a particular race, that is still counted as one.

California Governor Signs Bill Expanding Initiative Circulation Period from 150 to 180 Days, Making Other Changes

Posted on by September 27, 2014
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On September 27, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1253. It makes several important changes to the statewide initiative process. It expands the period for collecting signatures from 150 days to 180 days. Until the bill was signed, California had the shortest period for collecting signatures for a statewide initiative of any state, except for Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

The measure permits sponsors of an initiative to withdraw their initiative, until 131 days before the election at which it was scheduled to be voted on. Sometimes when the legislature sees that an initiative has qualified, it then is motivated to pass a bill on the same subject. But under the old law, even if that happened and the proponents of the initiative were satisfied with the legislature’s action, they had no ability to withdraw the initiative. The bill makes it a crime for proponents to withdraw an initiative in return for payment.

The bill permits sponsors of the bill to amend their initiative during the first 30 days after it has been approved for circulation. The bill also provides for public hearings during that time, for interested persons to make suggestions.

Ohio Voting Rights File Brief with U.S. Supreme Court, Hoping to Preserve Sixth Circuit Ruling on Early Voting

Posted on by September 27, 2014
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On September 27, various Ohio voting rights organizations, including the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue is whether the Supreme Court should reverse the order of the Sixth Circuit of a few days ago, which required Ohio to continue letting voters cast early votes the first week in October, and the Sunday and Monday before election day, and in the early evening of other days. Thanks to Scotusblog for the link.

Kansas Democratic Party Voter Sues to Force Democratic Party to Nominate a New Candidate for U.S. Senate

Posted on by September 27, 2014
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On September 18, a Kansas Democratic voter, David Orel, filed a lawsuit in the Kansas Supreme Court, asking that the Court require the Democratic Party to nominate someone for U.S. Senate. Earlier that day, the Kansas Supreme Court had ruled that the original Democratic nominee could withdraw.

On September 23, the Kansas Supreme Court sent the new case to a trial court in Shawnee County. Orel v Kansas Democratic Party, 2014-cv-958 in the lower court. The plaintiff is the father of an official in the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate campaign.

The Shawnee County court will hear the case on Monday, September 29, at 1:30 p.m.