On May 24, a California Superior Court ruled that Palmdale is breaking California law by electing its city council on at at-large basis. Palmdale has a population of 152,750 and is in northern Los Angeles County. See this story.
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On July 24, the Arizona Supreme Court refused to hear Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission v Bennett, cv13-0233. This is the case in which supporters of public funding challenged new, higher campaign contribution limits for candidates who don’t participate in the public funding program. The State Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case doesn’t mean that the case is dead. It just means that the plaintiffs must start all over again in the trial court. See this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On the evening of July 24, the North Carolina Senate passed HB 589, the omnibus election law bill, on second reading. A few very inconsequential amendments were made. Third reading will be on July 25, and chances are the House will vote on the bill on Friday, July 26.
Every three months, the Arizona Secretary of State issues a new voter registration tally. Here is the July 1, 2013 tally. Compared to the April 1 tally, all three of the state’s minor parties, and the independent voters, have increased; the two major parties have decreased. The Libertarian Party now has more than 25,000 registered voters for the first time in its history.
The percentages for July 1, 2013 are: Republican 35.29%, independent 33.62%, Democratic 30.13%, Libertarian .78%, Green .162%, Americans Elect .009%.
The April 1, 2013 percentages were: Republican 35.40%, independent 33.34%, Democratic 30.36%, Libertarian .74%, Green .159%, Americans Elect .008%.
North Carolina HB 589, the omnibus election law bill, will receive a vote in the State Senate on Wednesday, July 24. The session starts at 1 p.m. eastern time. Among the other parts of the bill is a provision moving the presidential primary from May to February. See this commentary about that part of the bill from Frontloading HQ blog. If the bill passes, North Carolina would have a February presidential primary and a May primary for all other office, followed by a run-off primary. Having three primaries in presidential election years would greatly increase the cost of election administration.
Yet another part of the bill, not mentioned earlier, provides that the legislature should study the issue of whether to continue to have run-off primaries.