On August 28, the California Senate passed AB !45, which makes it illegal for groups to pay registration drive workers on a per-registration card basis, “directly or indirectly.” Apparently the bill passed on a party-line vote, with all Democrats in support and all Republican opposed.
The bill no longer has any criminal penalties.
On August 28, a lower New Mexico state court ruled that Independent American Party U.S. Senate nominee Jon Barrie should be on the November ballot. He will be the first person on a general election ballot for U.S. Senate in New Mexico (other than the Democratic and Republican nominees) since 1996. The 4-page decision interprets New Mexico law to mean that signatures are valid even if the voter had moved and had not yet re-registered at his or her new address, assuming there is no reason to suspect fraud or deception. The case is Barrie v Duran, D-101-cv-2012-02233.
On August 28, the Connecticut Republican Party filed this brief in the Connecticut Supreme Court. The case is Republican Party of Connecticut v Merrill. The issue is which party should have the top line on the ballot in 2012 and 2014.
On August 28, the Republican Party nominated its presidential and vice-presidential nominees. Mitt Romney received 2,061 votes; Ron Paul 190; Rick Santorum 9; Buddy Roemer 1; Jon Huntsman 1; Michelle Bachmann 1. There were also 18 abstentions. See here for the state-by-state breakdown for Ron Paul. Thanks to Eric Garris for the link.
On August 27, the day before the Arizona primary, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered that write-in votes for Judge Joe Lodge should not be counted. He is a declared write-in candidate in the Libertarian Party primary. He had originally been elected as a Democrat. When he tried to run for re-election this year as a Democrat, his petition failed to specify which seat he was seeking. Therefore, he was kept off the Democratic primary ballot. So, Lodge then filed to be a declared write-in candidate in the Libertarian primary.
Arizona law says when someone attempts to petition onto a primary or general election ballot and the petition is insufficient, the candidate may not then be a write-in candidate for the same office. However, Lodge pointed out he was running for the Libertarian nomination, which is not the same election as running for the Democratic nomination. A lower court agreed with Lodge, but the State Supreme Court disagreed. The State Supreme Court has not yet explained its ruling. See this story.
The Arizona Supreme Court seems composed of judges who are hostile to minor parties. In 2000 the Arizona Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s June petition deadline for independent presidential candidates, and kept Harry Browne, Libertarian Party nominee for President, off the ballot. Later the 9th circuit overturned that same deadline in a case filed by Ralph Nader. Also members of the State Supreme Court seem to favor the top-two open primary initiative, which is very bad for minor parties and independent candidates. And now the State Supreme Court has prevented the Libertarian Party from nominating the candidate of its choice. If the write-ins could have been counted, Lodge would have been the Libertarian nominee, because no other Libertarian was running against him.
