Greenville, South Carolina, City Council Tentatively Votes to Restore Partisan City Elections

Posted on by April 6, 2015
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On the evening of April 6, the Greenville, South Carolina, city council tentatively voted to switch to partisan elections for city office. See this story. Assuming the change is finalized, the Greenville County Republican Party will be free to again sue the state over the law that forces county parties to pay for the administration of partisan primaries in cities within that county. The party does not object to paying for the primary but it objects to being told that the party must let non-members vote in its city primaries.

Just a few weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit dismissed the earlier Republican lawsuit on the grounds that the case is moot, since Greenville had switched to non-partisan elections last year. The Fourth Circuit said it was unlikely the city would switch back to partisan elections.

Nevada Bill to Make Initiative Petitioning More Difficult

Posted on by April 6, 2015
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Nevada SB 434 has a hearing in the Senate Legislative Operations & Elections Committee on Monday afternoon, April 6. Here is a copy of the bill. It makes it more difficult for initiative circulators to work, by requiring them to orally tell everyone they approach whether they are being paid or not. It also requires initiative proponents to file a list of the names and contact information of all paid circulators before the petition can circulate, and requires updated information on a monthly basis. The latter provision is almost identical to a Washington state law that was held unconstitutional in WIN v Rippie, 213 F.3d 1132 (2000). Thanks to Janine Hansen for the news about SB 434.

Illinois Libertarian Ballot Access Decision Postponed Again

Posted on by April 6, 2015
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On April 6, a U.S. District Court Judge in Illinois said she needs more time to finish writing the decision in Libertarian Party of Illinois v State Board of Elections, so she postponed it until April 16. The issue is the state’s law requiring new parties to run a full slate of candidates.

Normally judges don’t say when they will release an opinion, but this judge has been setting dates on which the decision would appear. This is the fourth postponement.

Kentucky Independent Candidate for Governor

Posted on by April 5, 2015
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Kentucky and Mississippi are the only two states that elect Governors this year. According to this story, an independent candidate will try to collect the 5,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot for Governor of Kentucky. The signatures are due August 11.

The candidate’s name was Terrill Newman, but on March 31 he legally changed his name to Gatewood Galbraith. The original Gatewood Galbraith died in 2012, but he had quite a following when he ran for Governor outside the two major parties in recent past Kentucky elections. In 2011 he polled 74,860 votes (9.0%) as an independent. In 1999 he was the Reform Party nominee and polled 88,930 votes (15.3%).

The new Gatewood Galbraith says he respects the legacy of the original Galbraith, and will try to carry on Galbraith’s platform and ideas.