Georgia Elections Advisory Council Holds First Public Meeting on April 27

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In one week, the Georgia Elections Advisory Council will hold its first public meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to let Georgia residents express themselves about problems with Georgia’s election laws. The first meeting is Wednesday, April 27, at 10 a.m., in room 341 of the Georgia state Capitol.

Anyone can speak about any topic for three minutes. It is possible to pre-register to speak, although this is not a requirement. To pre-register, go to www.sos.ga.gov/GAEAC. Members of the public are free to hand out written material to the members of the Council. The Council includes one Libertarian, and also includes the state’s only independent state legislator, Rusty Kidd, so there will be at least a few sympathetic ears on the Council to anyone who raises ballot access.

Georgia has the nation’s worst ballot access law: specifically, the Georgia law on ballot access for minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House. The law was stiffened in 1964 and ever since then, it has never been used successfully. There is no other ballot access law in the nation that approaches that level of disuse. The founding fathers expected U.S. House elections to be the most democratic aspect of the federal government. The original Constitution provided that the only branch of the federal government chosen directly by the voters was the U.S. House of Representatives. But Georgia has turned that concept upside down, and has a law that, in effect, prohibits anyone from being on the ballot for that office unless the person is the nominee of the Democratic or Republican Parties. The law requires a huge number of signatures, up to 20,000; and requires that the candidate pay a filing fee of approximately $5,000 before the petition is due and before the candidate can know if the petition is valid; the law requires each petition sheet to be notarized, which is also expensive; and the law disqualifies the work of any notary public who himself or herself circulates even one sheet. The petition cannot be circulated during an odd year and is due in early July. Thanks to Garland Favorito for the reminder about the hearing, and the details about the time limit for speakers, and the option to pre-register.

Arizona Legislature Passes Ballot Access Bill

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On April 19, the Arizona legislature passed HB 2304. This is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill. It says that when a new or previously unqualified party qualifies for the ballot, it is then entitled to be on the ballot for the next two elections, not just the next election. Assuming Governor Jan Brewer signs the bill, the Green Party will be on the 2012 ballot automatically. This will be the first time the Arizona Green Party has ever approached an election year, already on the ballot.

The bill also legalizes out-of-state circulators for all types of petition.

Arizona State Appeals Court Will Release Decision on Tucson Partisan Elections on Wednesday, April 20

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The Arizona State Court of Appeals says it will release an opinion in City of Tucson v State of Arizona, 2ca-cv-2010-0083, on Wednesday, April 20. This is the case over whether the Arizona’s Constitution protects a city’s right to use partisan city elections if it wishes, or whether the state legislature can require all cities to use non-partisan elections. The voters of Tucson have voted in favor of partisan city elections, but in 2009 the legislature passed a bill requiring all cities to use non-partisan elections. The Superior Court had upheld the state law.

U.S. Justice Department Still Hasn't Pre-Cleared California's Top-Two System

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Although it has been more than ten months since California voters passed Proposition 14, the “top-two open primary”, with 53.73% of the vote, the U.S. Justice Department still hasn’t approved the measure. On April 15, the Department of Justice requested more information from California.

Many years ago, the Mississippi legislature passed a bill to establish a top-two system, but the Justice Department never pre-cleared it, so it never went into practice in Mississippi. However, the Justice Department did approve Louisiana’s system in 1975.

California laws must be pre-cleared under section five of the Voting Rights Act, because four particular California counties had very lower voter participation many decades ago, when the benchmarks were set for determining which areas are covered by section five. The four counties are Monterey, Kings, Yuba and Merced. None of the special elections held under California’s top-two laws have included any part of those counties, but obviously the 2012 election will include them.