Georgia Government Files Brief in Defense of its Presidential Petition Requirement

Posted on by December 24, 2015
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On December 23, attorneys for the state of Georgia filed this brief in Green Party of Georgia v Secretary of State, n.d., 1:12cv-1822. The case was filed in 2012 and the co-plaintiffs are the Green Party and the Constitution Party. It challenges the petition required in Georgia for previously unqualified parties and independent candidates to get on the November ballot for President. For 2016, the requirement is 51,912 signatures.

The state’s brief lists precedents on its side, but none of those precedents involve presidential elections. The state says almost nothing about the state interest in requiring so many signatures for president, and instead mostly attacks the Green Party and the Constitution Parties and says they don’t have enough voter support to belong on the Georgia ballot for President. No presidential petition has succeeded in Georgia since Pat Buchanan did one in 2000, the year he was the Reform Party nominee.

Another round of briefs will be filed in January, and then the case will be ripe for a decision.

Proponents of Nonpartisan Elections for California State Office File Text of Proposed Initiative

Posted on by December 23, 2015
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Proponents of nonpartisan elections for all California state office have drafted a proposed state constitutional initiative, and have asked the California Attorney General’s office to review the language and give the proposal a title. Here is the draft. The proponent is represented by Sutton Law Firm, which specializes in election law and has offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The initiative would revise the state constitution to remove party labels from ballots and sample ballots, for all the statewide executive offices and the legislature. It would retain party labels for President and Congress. Thanks to Jim Riley for the link.

Connecticut Libertarian Party Files Lawsuit Against Restriction on Out-of-State Circulators

Posted on by December 23, 2015
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On December 22, the Libertarian Party of Connecticut filed a federal lawsuit against the law banning out-of-state circulators. Libertarian Party of Connecticut v Merrill, 3:15cv-1851. The case was assigned to Judge Janet C. Hall, a Clinton appointee.

Similar bans have been struck down in Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Three times one of the states that lost such a case asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal, but all three times the Supreme Court refused. The states that asked for U.S. Supreme Court review were Arizona, Illinois, and Virginia.

Other states that still ban out-of-state circulators for candidate petitions are New York, New Jersey, and South Dakota. However, South Dakota permits out-of-state circulators for petitions to place a new party on the ballot.

Douglas Hughes, Postman Who Landed his Gyrocopter on Lawn of U.S. Capitol to Protect Campaign Finance System, Will Run for Congress

Posted on by December 23, 2015
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Douglas Hughes, who is somewhat famous because in April 2015 he landed his gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, has filed to run for U.S. House in Florida’s 23rd district. He is a Democrat and will run against incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She is not only a member of Congress, but also the chair of the Democratic National Committee. He landed his gyrocopter in order to deliver letters to each member of Congress, saying the current campaign finance system is intolerable. He has been charged with a felony, even though he notified the government of his flight in advance and did no harm. See this story. The story explains that the U.S. Constitution permits felons and ex-felons to run for Congress. In any event, he hasn’t yet been convicted. Thanks to Politico for the link.

He will be on the ballot by paying a very large filing fee; no petition is needed.

Over Half of All North Carolina State House Districts Will Not have a Democratic-Republican Contest in November

Posted on by December 23, 2015
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Filing for the 2016 North Carolina primary closed on December 21. Here is a link to the North Carolina Board of Elections web page, showing the list of candidates. North Carolina has 120 State House seats. In 63 of them, either no Republican filed, or no Democrat filed.

For State Senate, in the 50 districts, there will be no Republican-Democratic contest in 17 districts.

The only other party on the ballot, the Libertarian Party, has candidates in six State Senate districts and six State House districts.