Kentucky Legislature Adjourns Without Having Passed Bill to Let Candidates Run for President and U.S. Senate in Same Year

Posted on by April 21, 2014
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On April 18, the Kentucky legislature adjourned, without having passed SB 205, which would have let U.S. Senator Rand Paul run for re-election in 2016 even if he is also running for the Republican presidential nomination. See this story.

Kentucky, like most states, holds legislative elections this year. The Senate has a Republican majority and had passed the bill; the House has a Democratic majority and refused to consider the bill. If Republicans were to win a majority in the Kentucky House this year, the bill would probably pass in the next legislative session.

The press consistently fails to mention that Henry Clay was elected to the U.S. House from Kentucky in 1824 even though he was also running for President that year. He carried Kentucky in the electoral college.

Ohio Libertarian Party Files Supplemental Letter with Sixth Circuit, in Readiness for April 22 Hearing

Posted on by April 21, 2014
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The Sixth Circuit will hear Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22. The Sixth Circuit isn’t sitting this week, so the hearing will be on the telephone, with all participants being included in a conference call. On April 18, the Libertarian Party filed a supplemental letter with the court, identifying a Sixth Circuit decision from 1998 that is relevant to the case.

The issue in the case is whether the party’s statewide candidates should be kept off the party’s primary ballot, on the grounds that the circulators didn’t fill out a blank on each petition form that asks who is paying the circulator. The supplemental authority mentioned in the party’s April 18 letter refers to National Labor Relations Board v Midland Daily News, 151 F.3d 472, which found that forcing a newspaper to disclose the identity of an anonymous advertiser, even though it only involved commercial and not political speech, would significantly chill the First Amendment rights of newspapers.

The three judges are Richard Suhrheinrich, Julia Smith Gibbons, and Deborah L. Cook. Suhrheinrich is an appointee of President George H. W. Bush; the other two judges were appointed by President George W. Bush.

David Curtis, Green Candidate for California Secretary of State, Fights for Admission Into Sacramento Press Club Debate

Posted on by April 20, 2014
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The Sacramento Press Club, a non-profit public benefit educational corporation, is hosting a debate for candidates for California Secretary of State at noon on April 23 (Wednesday). However, so far, the Press Club has not invited David Curtis, Green Party candidate, even though the Press Club has invited two other candidates who have less voter support than Curtis, according to the April 10 California Poll.

The Press Club has invited Dan Schnur, independent, who was at 4% in that poll, as well as Derek Cressman, Democrat, who was at 3% in the same poll. Here is the letter that Curtis’s attorney has sent to the Press Club, pointing out that federal law requires debate sponsors to use objective criteria when they decide which candidates to invite into debates. Paradoxically, Curtis is a member of the Sacramento Press Club and he will be at the event, either in the audience or possibly as a late-entry into the debate. UPDATE: here is a news story.

Local Water Board in Colorado Will Use Approval Voting

Posted on by April 20, 2014
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In Colorado, local water boards are permitted to run their own elections. The Ken Caryl Ranch Water and Sanitation Board has decided to hold its next election for Director using Approval Voting. The district elects five directors and serves an area with a population of approximately 32,000, near Littleton. Approval voting lets voters vote for as many candidates as they wish, regardless of how many are to be elected. Thanks to Frank Atwood and Mike Spalding for this news.