The web page for the 1787 Party is now on-line. See it at www.1787forAmerica.org.
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The Rhode Island legislature adjourned on July 3. Only three election law bills passed this year. As previously reported, the National Popular Vote bill, SB 346, was signed into law on July 11. The only other two election law bills that became law are one that says people standing in line outside the polling place at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote; and one that says mail ballots must be received by the end of election day in order to be validly cast.
The Moderate Party made a superhuman effort to try to pass the bill that eliminates the straight-ticket device, but the bill did not pass, because the Speaker of the State House was personally opposed to the bill.
On July 17, supporters of Arizona’s public funding law for state office asked the State Supreme Court to invalidate a bill passed earlier this year by the Arizona legislature. The case is Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission v Bennett, cv13-0233-SA.
The bill raises campaign contribution limits to candidates for state office. For instance, it raises limits to legislative candidates from $440 to $4,000. Supporters of public funding dislike such high contribution limits, because the higher limits will probably motivate many candidates to ignore the public funding program and instead opt for private funding. The basis for the lawsuit is technical. The lawsuit argues that Arizona initiatives may not be altered by the legislature unless the legislature alters the initiative with a 3/4ths vote in each House. Opponents of the lawsuit will argue that the campaign limits aren’t really a part of the initiative that first established the public funding program back in 1998. Chances seem high that the Supreme Court will hear this case.
On July 18, a Colorado state district court upheld the validity of two recall petitions. The petitions are intended to require recall elections for two state legislators. The legislators had sued, saying the petitions are invalid because some of the mandatory wording was omitted. But the court ruled that the petitions substantially comply, and that the recall committees had depended on the template that had been furnished by the Secretary of State’s office. See this story. No Colorado legislator has ever before been recalled. The recall petitions are set for September 10.
James Evans, state chair of the Republican Party, recently spoke to Utah’s Republican state legislators, and asked them to introduce a bill when the legislature convenes next year to move the June primary to a later month. See this story. Utah primaries have very few candidates running in them, because in Utah, qualified parties first hold endorsement conventions, and the only people who can run in primaries are those who had substantial support at the convention. Most partisan offices in Utah are settled at the conventions.