Illinois State Appeals Court Says Petitions Are Valid if they are Close to Having Enough Valid Signatures

Posted on by February 24, 2015
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On February 17, the Illinois State Court of Appeals, 5th district, ruled that a candidate’s ballot access petition is valid if it comes close to having enough valid signatures. Jackson-Hicks v East St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, 5-15-0028. The incumbent Mayor of East St. Louis, Alvin Parks, is running for re-election this month, and even though the Board determined that he needed 136 signatures and only had 123 valid signatures, it still left him on the ballot.

One of the mayor’s opponents sued the Board to have the Mayor removed from the ballot, but on January 19 the trial court kept him on the ballot, and now the State Appeals Court has agreed. The person who challenged the Mayor’s petition plans to ask the State Supreme Court to reverse the decision. Mayor Parks had said if he had been removed from the ballot, he would have been a write-in candidate. Thanks to Andy Finko for this news. Here is the opinion.

Working Families Party Elects a State Senator in Connecticut

Posted on by February 24, 2015
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On February 24, Working Families Party nominee Ed Gomes was elected to the Connecticut State Senate, district 23, centered on Bridgeport. Gomes defeated the nominees of the Democratic and Republican Party, as well as two independent candidates. See this story, which doesn’t contain any figures.

This is the first time a party other than the Democratic or Republican Parties has elected a state legislator in Connecticut since 1938, when the Socialist Party elected four of its nominees. Those wins were also in Bridgeport. UPDATE: this newspaper story gives partial election returns, showing the race wasn’t close.

North Carolina Republican Senators Resist Moving Presidential Primary from February to March

Posted on by February 24, 2015
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Current North Carolina law regarding the date of the presidential primary says it should be one week after South Carolina’s primary. The South Carolina presidential primary date isn’t set yet, but it is extremely likely to be in mid-February, so if North Carolina’s legislature does nothing, the North Carolina presidential primaries will be in late February. However, no state except New Hampshire and South Carolina is permitted by party rules to hold a presidential primary earlier than March 1.

North Carolina House members want to pass a bill (not yet introduced) moving the presidential primary to the first Tuesday in March, but if the Senators won’t agree, that bill won’t pass. See this story. UPDATE: here is a CNN story.