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Illinois Bill Passes, Will Let Most 17-Year-Olds Vote

Posted on May 23, 2013 by adminMay 23, 2013

On May 15, the Illinois legislature passed HB 226. It says that 17-year-olds can register to vote in advance of any primary, if they will be age 18 by the time of the general election. Because the Illinois primary, for state and federal office, is always in March, the bill means that a majority of 17-year-olds will be able to vote in future primaries. There are other states with similar provisions, but all the other such states have a shorter time interval between the primary and the general.

Although Governor Pat Quinn hasn’t signed the bill yet, he has said he supports the idea. One consequence of this bill will be that 17-year-olds who register will also be able to sign petitions. It appears that they won’t be permitted to circulate petitions, however.

U.S. Supreme Court Sets Conference Date for California Election Contest Attorneys Fees Case

Posted on May 22, 2013 by adminMay 22, 2013

On June 6, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Pappas v Farr, 12-1080. This is a California election contest case. In 2008, two candidates ran against each other for Santa Barbara County Supervisor. The final results were close (806 vote difference, 2%), and Steven Pappas believed election administration errors had cost him the race. He filed an election contest. The California state courts ruled that the election returns were accurate, and then awarded over $500,000 in attorneys fees against Pappas. Pappas has now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside the attorneys fees award.

Here is the Pappas opening brief; here is the opposition brief; and here is the Pappas response.

U.S. District Court Denies Reconsideration in Arizona Voter Registration Lawsuit

Posted on May 22, 2013 by adminMay 22, 2013

On May 22, a U.S. District Court in Arizona denied reconsideration in Arizona Libertarian Party v Bennett, 4:11cv-856. This is the case in which the Libertarian and Green Parties challenge the voter registration form, which has three checkboxes: Democratic, Republican, and “other”. The “other” box lets voters write-in the party, or independent status. Arizona has five qualified parties, all of which nominate by primary.

The parties will now appeal to the 9th circuit. The U.S. District Court Judge did re-write her opinion slightly, to delete a sentence which implied that the plaintiffs’ evidence was mistaken. Plaintiffs presented evidence, which is correct, that Arizona is the only state that lists only two parties on its voter registration form, and yet which regularly conducts primaries for other parties as well. In 2012, the state held primaries for the Americans Elect, Green, and Libertarian Parties.

Analysis of British Columbia Vote Last Week Suggests Green Party Did Not “Spoil” the Election

Posted on May 22, 2013 by adminMay 22, 2013

Last week, British Columbia held an election for its provincial legislature. The two major parties in British Columbia elections are the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party. Before the election, most observers expected the New Democratic Party to win a majority in the legislature. However, instead, the Liberal Party won. Because the Green Party had candidates in 61 of the 85 districts, and because the New Democratic Party is considered to be “left” of the Liberal Party, some commentators wrote that the Green Party had “spoiled” the election for the New Democratic Party.

Canada, like the United States, does not have proportional representation and does not use ranked-choice voting.

Chad Skelton, writing for the Vancouver Sun, here reports his research into whether Green Party voters would have supported the New Democratic Party over the Liberal Party, if the Green Party had not been in the race. To his surprise, he found that the Green Party campaigns did not cause the defeat of the New Democratic Party.

Special Pennsylvania Legislative Election Results

Posted on May 22, 2013 by adminMay 22, 2013

On May 21, Pennsylvania held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, 95th district. The results: Democrat Kevin Schreiber 53.22%; Republican Bryan Tate 38.75%; Green Party nominee Bill Swartz 8.02%.

When this seat had last been up, in November 2012, the results had been: Democratic 83.04%; Libertarian 16.96%. The district is entirely in York County.

Pennsylvania also held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, 42nd district. The results: Democrat Dan Miller 57.07%; Republican Dan Remely 37.47%; Libertarian George Brown 5.46%.

When this seat had last been up, in November 2012, the only candidate on the ballot was a Democrat.