Jefferson County, Florida, is in northern Florida and had a population of only 14,761 at the 2010 census.  It elects County Commissioners from five single-member districts.  District three happens to contain a state prison that has 1,157 inmates.

On March 9, some voters who live in Jefferson County, but outside district 3, filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the County Commission Districts violate the U.S. Constitution.  When the county draws the districts, it uses census data to make sure the districts have approximately equal population.  However, 43.2% of the voting age population in District 3 is in prison, and prisoners can’t vote.  The lawsuit charges that the actual number of people who are permitted to vote in District 3 is far smaller than in the other four districts, and therefore voters in the other four districts are underrepresented.  The lawsuit is Calvin v Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, n.d., 4:15cv-131.  The ACLU is handling the case.

The Veterans Party recently attained qualified party status in Mississippi. The party was formerly ballot-qualified in Florida, but otherwise has never been a qualified party in any state. Mississippi has the nation’s easiest law for a group to become and remain a qualified party. The group merely submits a list of party officers. Mississippi has had this law since 1890 and has never changed it, nor has the law ever caused any problem. The Mississippi experience rebuts the idea that severe ballot access hurdles for new or small parties are needed for any legitimate reason. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the news.

Two Oregon Democratic Representatives have introduced HB 3297. It would change Oregon ballots, for candidates who have the nomination of more than one party. Under current law, when a candidate is the nominee of more than one party, that candidate is only listed once on the general election ballot. The candidate’s name is followed by the names of all parties that have nominated him or her.

The bill would provide that when a candidate has the nomination of more than one party, his or her name would be listed separately for each party. This would give general election voters a choice of which party to support. This type of fusion is referred to as “disaggregated fusion.” States that use disaggregated fusion already are New York, Connecticut, and South Carolina.

The bill’s sponsors are Peter Buckley of Ashland, and Barbara Smith Warner of Portland. The Working Families Party asked for this bill.