On December 19, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the 2011 redistricting plan for both U.S. House and state legislature. See this story. The voting rights advocates who brought the case say they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the State Supreme Court. A similar case is before the U.S. Supreme Court now, concerning Alabama legislative districts. Both sets of plaintiffs argue that the districts pack too many African-American voters into certain districts, which prevents them from having an impact on most other districts. There were other issues in the North Carolina case as well, concerning splitting precincts.

The North Carolina case is Dickson v Rucho, 201PA12. Here is a link to the 51-page decision. The vote was 4-2, with one justice not voting.

Attorneys for the Libertarian, Peace & Freedom, and Green Parties have asked the California State Court of Appeals to take judicial notice of the Secretary of State’s Statement of Votes for the November 2014 election. That document says the turnout in November 2014 was substantially lower than in any other regularly-scheduled California general election in history. The submission was made in the lawsuit Rubin v Bowen, which challenges the top-two primary on voting rights grounds. The State Court of Appeals will hear the case on January 15, 2015, in San Francisco.

On December 18, the Michigan legislature passed SB 1167. It repeals laws that ban unregistered circulators, and out-of-state circulators, from working in Michigan. The bill had been introduced on December 4, 2014, and made rapid progress through the legislature. Here is the analysis of all the changes the bill makes. Thanks to John Anthony LaPietra for this news.