New York State Will Appeal Credico Ruling

As noted previously, on June 19, a U.S. District Court Magistrate determined that New York election law is unconstitutional because it lets two or more qualified parties jointly nominate the same candidate and gives multiple spots on the ballot for that race, yet when two unqualified parties do the same thing, the candidate can appear on the ballot only once. That case is Credico v New York State Board of Elections, eastern district, 1:10-cv-4555.

The state has asked for more time to file an appeal with the U.S. District Court Judge. When a magistrate makes a ruling, the first appeal from that ruling is to the Judge. The original deadline for the state’s appeal had been July 3, but the state has been given an extension. The objection is now due July 24.

New Los Angeles County Registration Data

California’s Secretary of State only tallies the number of registered voters once in odd years. In 2013, the tally was as of February 10, and there won’t be another state tally until January 2014.

However, some California county election offices keep a running tally of the number of registered voters in each party. Los Angeles County, which holds 26% of the state population, is one of the counties that provides the data, updated daily.

As of July 7, 2013, the percentage of voters in Los Angeles County in each qualified party is: Democratic 50.95%, Republican 21.48%, American Independent 2.24%, Peace & Freedom .59%, Libertarian .53%, Green .51%, Americans Elect .05%. Independents are at 17.84% and voters registered in unqualified parties are at 5.80% (this category almost certainly includes people who left this part of the form blank).

As of February 10, 2013, the percentages in Los Angeles County were: Democratic 51.11%, Republican 21.55%, American Independent 2.24%, Peace & Freedom .51%, Libertarian .53%, Green .50%, Americans Elect .05%, independents 18.11%, members of unqualified parties and blanks 5.39%.

The numbers, as of July 7, are: Democratic 2,458,609; Republican 1,036,437; American Independent 108,031; Peace & Freedom 28,560; Libertarian 25,739; Green 24,521; Americans Elect 2,495; independent 860,723; miscellaneous and blank 280,092. The increase for Peace & Freedom during the last five months is probably because the party is working hard to increase its registration. In February it had 24,950 registrants in Los Angeles County.

Seven or Eight Parties Likely to Have their Own Mayoral Candidate on New York City November 2013 Ballot

New York city voters will probably have seven or eight different Mayoral candidates on their November 5, 2013 ballot. The Republican and Democratic Parties will choose their Mayoral nominees in September, and is is somewhat likely the Democratic race will then require an October 1 run-off.

The Working Families Party will cross-endorse whoever the Democratic nominee is. In the meantime, because the identity of the Democratic nominee is impossible to predict, the party has a place-holder candidate, Kevin Finnegan, who will resign from the ticket.

The Conservative Party has already endorsed Joe Lhota. He may win the Republican primary. It is not clear if he would continue to run on the Conservative Party for November if he loses the Republican primary.

The Independence Party has already endorsed Adolfo Carrion, who is a registered independent. He will run in November as the Independence Party nominee, even if he fails to receive the Republican nomination.

The Green Party nominee will be Professor Anthony Gronowicz.

Some unqualified parties are also expected to appear on the Mayoral ballot. The Libertarian Party nominee is Michael Sanchez. The Socialist Workers Party nominee is Dan Fein. The Liberal Party, which lost its status as a qualified party in November 2002 when it only polled 15,761 votes for Governor, will place John Catsimatidis on the November ballot. He is expected to run as the Liberal nominee even if he fails to win the Republican primary. The Reform Party will attempt to place Carl Person on the November ballot.

Tenth Circuit Puts Secret Ballot Appeal on Hold While Colorado Supreme Court Considers True Meaning of “Secret Ballot”

On July 1, the Tenth Circuit delayed the briefing schedule in Citizen Center v Gessler, 12-1414, to wait for the Colorado Supreme Court decision in another secret ballot case. In Citizen Center v Gessler, the U.S. District Court had ruled that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires states to use secret ballots. That is a provocative decision that contradicts other federal court decisions, so the case is interesting and important.

The Tenth Circuit delayed the briefing schedule until the Colorado Supreme Court issues an opinion in In Re Jones v Samora, 13SA148. In that case, the voters of Center, a small town in Saguache County, recalled their Mayor and two of the town trustees on March 19, 2003. The recalled officials then won a ruling in the state district court that the recall election was flawed and should be held over again. The state district court ruled that the recall election was hopelessly flawed because most of the ballots (most of which were postal absentee ballots) were counted while the stubs were still attached. In theory, it would have been possible for the election officials who counted the ballots to have used the attached stubs to see how any particular voter voted. No one alleges that secrecy was actually violated or that any vote-counting individual actually did this, but the court said that the very fact that it would have been theoretically possible for them to have done this means the election was invalid.

The recall election was moderately close. The vote to recall the Mayor was 253-218. The recall was prompted by a dispute over whether the town water rates should be increased.

New North Carolina Voter Registration Data

The North Carolina State Board of Elections recently released new voter registration data. See here for the county-by-county breakdown.

Current percentages are: Democratic 42.89%; Republican 30.81%; independent 25.98%; Libertarian .33%.

As of November 2012, the percentages were: Democratic 43.17%; Republican 30.86%; independent 25.67%; Libertarian .29%. Thanks to Ray Ubinger for the link.