Pennsylvania Ballot Access Activists Get Appointment with Senate Committee Chair

Posted on by December 11, 2013
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For several years, Pennsylvania activists have been trying to persuade the legislature to pass the ballot access reform bill, which in the current two-year session is SB 195. The bill has never had a committee hearing. However, State Senator Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster), who is chair of the committee that handles election law bills in the Senate, will meet with members of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition on January 9, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. He had earlier promised to meet with them on October 28, 2013, but that meeting had been cancelled.

A majority of members of the Committee either co-sponsor the bill, or have said that they favor a hearing, but so far Senator Smucker has not scheduled a hearing.

Nevada Files Brief with U.S. Supreme Court, Urging Court Not to Hear Republican Challenge to “None of These Candidates”

Posted on by December 11, 2013
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On December 9, the state of Nevada filed this brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Republican Party of Nevada v Miller, 13-442. The issue is whether the plaintiffs who filed the case in 2012 had standing. They included some voters who said they have voted for “None of these candidates” in the past, and intend to do so in the future, and who say if “None of these candidates” actually wins a primary or an election, they want that win to actually have a consequence. Another set of plaintiffs were two Republican candidates for presidential elector in 2012.

The state’s brief defends the Ninth Circuit opinion which said that all plaintiffs lack standing. The state’s brief also has an interesting account of the history of Nevada’s “none of these candidates” law, and mentions the relatively few instances when “none of these candidates” got the most votes even though there were at least two candidates in the primary or election. “None of these candidates” is only printed on Nevada ballots for statewide office, nor district or local office.

Next Republican National Convention Might be in June 2016

Posted on by December 11, 2013
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According to this article, the Republican Party may hold its 2016 presidential convention in late June. As the article says, that would be the earliest major party presidential convention since 1948, when Republicans met June 21-25 in Philadelphia.

Such an early date would eliminate meaningful presidential primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah, the states with June presidential primaries. Republican rules require states to have chosen their delegates 35 days before the convention opens. It is possible the Republican Party can persuade those states to move their presidential primaries to an earlier date. Much will depend on whether the Democratic Party also moves its national convention to an earlier date. In 2012, both major parties nominated in September. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.

U.S. Supreme Court Sets Conference Date for Susan B. Anthony List Case

Posted on by December 11, 2013
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The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Susan B. Anthony List v Driehaus, 13-193, at its January 10, 2014 conference. The issue is Ohio’s law that bans making a false statement in a political campaign. The lower courts in this case, and in similar cases in the past, did not rule on the constitutionality of the law due to perceived procedural obstacles.

Scotusblog List of “Petitions to Watch” Includes Michigan Libertarian Party Case

Posted on by December 10, 2013
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Scotusblog, the premier web site for U.S. Supreme Court news, periodically has a “Petitions to Watch” list. This is done in advance of every U.S. Supreme Court conference, and represents the opinion of the editors of Scotusblog that the listed cases have some hope of being chosen by the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is the Scotusblog list for the December 13 conference. It includes nine cases that are on the December 13 conference for the first time, and among the nine, is Libertarian Party of Michigan v Ruth Johnson. This is the case on whether Gary Johnson should have been on the Michigan 2012 ballot for President. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.