On September 1, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1100, which raises the filing fee for a statewide initiative from $200 to $2,000. Proponents file the text of their idea, and pay the filing fee, and then the state government writes a short summary that is printed on the petition. Only then does the petitioning start. California now has the highest filing fee for statewide initiatives.
This article by Ben Schreckinger explores evidence that some voters intend to vote for Donald Trump in Republican presidential primaries, not because they support him, but to injure the Republican Party. The article is badly named.
The Republican National Committee has prepared a one-page loyalty oath, and has forwarded it to all the Republicans running for President that the party considers important candidates. See this story.
According to this story, the North Carolina legislature is considering moving the May primary for non-presidential office to March. However, the story does not mention that it is possible the state’s legislative districts will be invalidated by the State Supreme Court soon, and it would take time to draw new districts.
Because the legislature is re-thinking so much about election law, possibly there will be room for ballot access activists to remind the legislature that North Carolina requires support from more people than any other state, for a statewide independent or minor party to get on the ballot (when the easier method in each state is compared).
On September 2, a U.S. District Court granted the Ohio Libertarian Party’s request for a new deposition of Gregory Felsoci, the individual who challenged the Libertarian primary gubernatorial petition last year. Felsoci had been deposed some time ago, but since then new facts came out about who paid the $592,000 in attorneys fees for the challenger.
The new deposition will be held on or before September 17. Here is the brief the Ohio Libertarian Party had filed recently, explaining why the deposition is needed.
