On April 23, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 19 by a vote of 4-3. It allows a county to conduct an Internet Voting Pilot Project for a local election of the county’s choosing. The hearing attracted a great many opponents from prominent organizations and individuals, but very few proponents. The testimony against the bill was so overwhelming, it was a surprise when it passed. Some of the opponents started chanting “Shame! Shame!” once the vote was announced.
On April 23, the California Assembly Elections Committee defeated ACA 10 and AB 1075. The bills would have asked the voters in 2014 if they wish to amend the top-two primary system. Current law says the top two vote-getters from the June primary run against each other in November. The bills would have said that if anyone running for state partisan office gets as much as 60% in June, that person is elected and the office would not appear on the November ballot.
The Assembly Elections Committee has five Democrats and two Republicans. The vote was 2-4. The two votes in support of the measure were from Republican Dan Logue and Democrat Henry Perea. Assemblymember Isadore Hall, a Democrat, abstained. Two members of the Committee, chairman Paul Fong and vice-chair Tim Donnelly, said that electing people in June is too early, given that unexpected events can occur in the long interval until the November election. Representatives of the Libertarian Party and the Peace & Freedom Party testified against the bill.
On April 23, AB 1419 passed the California Assembly Elections Committee unanimously. This is the bill that says a newly-qualifying party that only wishes to participate in the presidential election may get on the ballot as late as July. The existing law requires newly-qualifying parties to qualify by early January of the election year.
If the bill is signed into law, then Hawaii will have the nation’s earliest mandatory petition deadline for a newly-qualifying party. The Hawaii February deadline is the subject of a pending lawsuit in U.S. District Court that was filed by the Justice Party last year.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen deserves a great deal of credit for bringing AB 1419 into existence.
The California Assembly Elections Committee will hear ACA 10 and AB 1075 on Tuesday, April 23. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m. ACA 10 and AB 1075 change the top-two system. They provide that if a candidate for partisan state office receives at least 60% of the total vote in the June primary, then that candidate is elected, and the office will not appear on the November ballot. The sponsor is Assemblymember Kristen Olsen (R-Modesto).
Here is the analysis of the ACA 10, prepared by the Committee’s staff. If the bill passes, then the voters would vote on it in June 2014.
On April 22, the Peace & Freedom Party filed its opening brief in the Ninth Circuit in Peace & Freedom Party v Bowen, 13-15085. The issue is whether the California Secretary of State exceeded her authority when she deleted Peta Lindsay’s name from the list of 2012 presidential primary candidates submitted to her by the Peace & Freedom Party. The Secretary of State did so because Lindsay didn’t meet the constitutional qualifications to be President.
The brief cites the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that Congress shall determine whether presidential candidates are qualified at the time Congress counts the electoral votes. The brief also mentions that when John McCain’s qualifications were challenged (on the basis that he was born in Panama), the Secretary of State took the position that she cannot judge presidential qualifications. Finally, the brief points out that there is no California law authorizing the Secretary of State to review the constitutional qualifications of candidates whose party wants their names printed on its presidential primary ballot.
