The November 9 Cleveland Plain Dealer has this editorial, criticizing the legislature for having removed the Constitution, Green, Libertarian, and Socialist Parties from the 2014 ballot. This is the second time that newspaper has expressed this view.
John Marshall, of Hot Springs, Montana, has filed a proposed statewide constitutional amendment initiative. It would mandate that when legislators are elected, half the seats would be for females, and half for males. Presumably this could be achieved if each district were to elect two legislators. Because it is a proposed state Constitutional amendment, it seems likely that it would be constitutional. It would not violate the U.S. Constitution, because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that there is no fundamental right for an individual to be a candidate for state or local office.
Here is an article about the proposal. As the article notes, the author of the initiative was a Libertarian Party nominee for State Senate in 2012. He polled 7.64% in a race with both major parties also in the race. Thanks to Mike Fellows for the link.
Time Magazine has this essay by Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine, “Stop Scapegoating Third Party Candidates for Election Results You Don’t Like”. Although the piece is focused on the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial election, it makes the more general point that it is time for the media and others to stop thinking of minor party and independent candidates only in terms of how they supposedly influence which major party candidate wins the election. Thanks to several readers for the link. Time Magazine has traditionally not been very friendly to minor parties and independent candidates. This column is a refreshing change.
On November 1, a Superior Court in San Luis Obispo County, California, declared three California election laws unconstitutional. Section 7210 requires new members of a Democratic Party county central committee to swear that they are not a member of any party or organization that advocates the overthrow of the government by force or violence or other unlawful means. Section 7408 was identical, except that it applied to Republicans; Section 7655 was identical, except that it applied to members of the American Independent Party.
The lawsuit had been filed in 2011 by John Barta, a member of the Democratic County Central Committee. Originally the state had defended the constitutionality of the laws, but in October 2013 it switched its position and agreed that the laws are unconstitutional. The court ruling declares the laws unconstitutional, but the court declined to order the state to notify election officials in each county not to enforce the laws. Presumably California county election officials know about this decision and will not try to enforce the laws.
In 2012, the legislature had passed AB 1200, which said that the loyalty oaths should be administered by party officials, not county election officials. The action of the legislature in 2012 implies that the legislature still felt these loyalty oaths should be preserved, because otherwise one would think that the legislature, having noticed the oaths, would have repealed them. Here is the eight-page decision, which is mostly about whether or not the Secretary of State should be ordered to notify county election officials about the result.
The California election code never required oaths for members of the other qualified parties. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
According to this story, former U.S. Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota may run for the Senate again as an independent in 2014. He was in the Senate 1978-1996. He was always elected as a Republican, but in both 2008 and 2012 he endorsed President Obama. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.
