On August 11, the California Supreme Court removed Proposition 49 from the November 2014 ballot. That measure asks the voters if they want members of Congress and of the legislature to work for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. One Justice wanted to keep the measure on the ballot. One justice wrote extensively to say why it should not be on the ballot. The other five justices expressed no opinion on the merits, so theoretically, when the Court issues a complete opinion (instead of just an order), it is possible the measure might be on a future ballot, such as the June 2016 ballot. The case is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v Bowen. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

On August 11, a New York Supreme Court Justice in Albany ruled that Zephyr Teachout does meet New York’s State Constitutional requirement that governors and gubernatorial candidates must have resided in New York state for the preceding five years. Zephyr is the leading opponent of Governor Andrew Cuomo in the September Democratic gubernatorial primary. Here is the twelve-page decision, Weiss v Teachout, 700014/14.

Supporters of Cuomo had also challenged Teachout’s petition earlier this year, but had abandoned that tactic. She needed 15,000 signatures of enrolled Democrats and had submitted 45,000 signatures. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Tennessee held partisan primaries on Thursday, August 7. Republican State Senator Jim Summerville was defeated for re-election. He placed third in a four-way primary race. On August 11, he announced that for the remainder of the term, he is no longer a member of the Republican caucus and that he should be listed as an independent. He is serving his first term. See this story. Tennessee does not have registration by party, so the only indication of anyone’s affiliation is what he or she says publicly. Thanks to Michael for the link.