On September 16, Emma Wong Mar died in Oakland, California. She was 89. She was the Peace & Freedom Party’s vice-presidential nominee in 1984, and was the first Asian-American to appear on a general election ballot for President or Vice-President.
Her running mate in 1984 was Sonia Johnson. Johnson’s vice-presidential nominee in other states was Richard Walton, but in California the ticket was comprised of Johnson and Mar. Thanks to Jed Ziggler for this news.
This Politico article quotes several experts on polls, who agree that presidential primary debate sponsors are depending on polls far too much when they decide which candidates to invite.
On October 5, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that on September 28, it had refused to hear Balsam v Guadagno, 15-39. This is the case in which some New Jersey voters argued that New Jersey’s closed primaries are unconstitutional.
North Dakota is the only state without voter registration. According to this op-ed in the Fargo Forum, the city’s daily newspaper, an interim legislative committee is studying whether to set up a system of voter registration. The author seems to favor the idea.
On October 1, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Puerto Rico v Valle, 15-108. Technically the case is about criminal law, but the courts, to resolve this case, must also resolve whether Puerto Rico has any sovereignty or whether Congress has all sovereignty over Puerto Rico.
A resident of Puerto Rico was indicted by the federal government for the illegal sale of firearms. He plead guilty and served a short term. Then he was indicted by Puerto Rico authorities for the gun violation. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled that he could not be prosecuted by Puerto Rico because that would be double jeopardy. The double jeopardy part of the U.S. Constitution prevents the same government from prosecuting someone twice for the same offense, but it does not prevent both the federal government and a state government from prosecuting. Thus the question turns on whether Puerto Rico has a sovereign (even if limited) government of its own. Here is the cert petition. Thanks to HowAppealing for this news.
