Washington Post Article on Elections/First Amendment Case Being Argued this Week in U.S. Supreme Court

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The Washington Post has this article on Nevada Commission on Ethics v Carrigan, 10-568, which will be argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 27. The case has no direct connection to ballot access, but any case involving elections and the First Amendment always has the potential to affect ballot access. The case challenges a reprimand made by the Nevada Commission on Ethics to a city councilmember in Sparks. He voted in favor of approving a casino project, and the Commission ruled he should have abstained, because a friend of his, who was once his campaign manager, has an interest in the casino. The candidate points out that if he were not allowed to vote on the issue, his constituents, who strongly favored the project, would have been disenfranchised. Notwithstanding that the councilmember did cast a vote, the proposal still was defeated by the city council. Thanks to the Center for Competitive Politics for the link.

Many Maine Legislators Want to Shrink Legislature

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This year, various Maine legislators have introduced at least five bills to decrease the number of members of the legislature. The legislature has been in recess but it re-convenes on April 25. Some of these legislators are holding a press conference on Monday to publicize their bills. LD 40 shrinks the House from 151 to 131 members, and was introduced in January. LD 804 provides for a unicameral legislature of 151 members and was introduced in March. LD 153 shrinks the House from 151 to 101 and the Senate from 35 to 23, and was introduced in January. LD 669 shrinks the House from 151 to 101 and the Senate from 35 to 17 and was introduced in February. Finally, LD 329 shrinks the Senate from 35 to 32, but it has already been killed in the Senate.

If any of these bills pass, the voters would then vote on whether to approve the change.

First Green Party State Premier in Germany in the Limelight

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On March 27, the important German state of Baden-Wuerttenberg held an election for state office, in which the Green Party did very well. As a result of the election, the Green Party gained its first premier in any German state. He is Winfried Kretschmann, and he is already involved in the thick of making tough governing decisions. See this story. It concerns the controversy over whether the Stuttgart railroad station should be rebuilt underground. Kretschmann opposes the project but will support allowing a referendum to decide what to do.

Florida Republican Party State Chair Says Florida Presidential Primary Will be in February 2012

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On April 21, Florida Republican Party state chair David Bitner delivered a talk in which he said Florida will have its presidential primary in 2012 before any other state, except for New Hampshire and South Carolina. That would mean holding the Florida primary in February, because many other states will hold presidential primaries the first week in March. See this story.

Florida’s omnibus election law bill contains a provision letting the Secretary of State choose the primary date, but he must choose a date in the first three months of the year.

New Hampshire Democrats have responded by criticizing the New Hampshire Republican Party state chair for not denouncing the Florida Republican Party’s intents, even though Florida is not proposing to go earlier than New Hampshire. See this Politico story.

Washington State Legislature Passes Bill, Moving Primary to Early August

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On April 14, the Washington state legislature passed SB 5171, which moves the primary for all office from late August to the first Tuesday in August. The deadline for candidates to file in that primary in 2012 (assuming the Governor signs the bill) will be May 18.

One of the disadvantages of top-two systems is that they close off all routes to the November ballot very early, because they do not provide any means for anyone to be on the November ballot unless that person has run in a primary. Thus, no one will be able to enter a Washington state partisan election beyond mid-May (except as a write-in candidate), almost six months before the election itself. Before 1977, Washington state had a route to the November ballot as late as mid-September.

Brief Filed in New Mexico State Court in Lawsuit on Ballot Access and Order of Parties on Ballot

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On April 14, this brief was filed by the plaintiffs in Whitaker v Herrera, a case pending in state court (2nd district), cv-2010-13274. The case was filed by the Green Party of New Mexico, and some candidates, including an independent candidate and a major party candidate. It challenges: (1) the number of signatures for candidates, which are discriminatory and arbitrary; (2) the late June petition deadline for write-in candidates and independent candidates; (3) the April petition deadline for new parties; (4) the law on which parties get listed first on the ballot, which says that major parties have a random chance for the top line, but minor parties are always lower on the ballot than the major parties. The lawsuit also attacks the law because independent candidates are always on the bottom line.

The part of the lawsuit on the number of signatures for candidates especially focuses on the fact that the law requires independent candidates to get three times as many signatures as minor party nominees.