On January 2, a California Superior Court Judge in Sacramento tentatively ruled that California election officials were wrong to reject referendum petitions submitted to Tulare and Mono Counties late last year. The California Constitution requires state referendum petitions to be submitted within 90 days after the bill was signed. It happened that the deadline for a recent statewide referendum petition was on a Sunday, November 10. Proponents tried to file their signatures on the afternoon of November 8 in one county, and on November 9 in another county, but county officials rejected them because they weren’t open for business. The Secretary of State also ruled that the petitions should be rejected.

The tentative ruling says that when petition deadlines fall on a weekend, the true deadline is the next business day. Thanks to AroundtheCapitol for this news.

The referendum proponents want to repeal a law passed by the California legislature on transgender public school students and their ability to use certain bathrooms. The lawsuit is Gleason v Bowen, 34-2013-80001714.

Joe T. May has qualified for the special Virginia State Senate election, 33rd district, in Loudoun County. He is running as an independent, even though he was elected to the House in 2011 as a Republican. May needed 250 valid signatures and submitted 843. This special election will determine which major party controls the State Senate. See this story. The election is on January 21.

The Washington Times has this editorial, criticizing Joe T. May for running as an independent candidate in an upcoming special State Senate election. The Times asserts that May is injuring the Republican nominee. The editorial also goes on to say that the Libertarian nominee for Governor of Virginia last month, Rob Sarvis, was a “rump Republican” who “siphoned” Republican votes so that the Democrat won the election. That assertion is rebutted by the exit polls.