On August 16, the San Diego City Attorney ruled that recall petition signatures are valid, no matter where the circulator lives. However, circulators must be citizens and must be at least 18 years of age. This ruling came about because a recall petition against the Mayor has started circulating. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On August 16, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1405, which repeals the “Subversive Organization Registration Law” found in section 35000ff of the Corporations Code. The law, passed in 1941, requires groups that were organized for the purpose of undermining the democratic form of government to register with the Secretary of State. The law defined “group” as any two or more individuals. The law made it a felony for officers of the group to fail to file, and a misdemeanor for any member of an unregistered group to continue to be a member. During World War II, one group was prosecuted because it allegedly issued propaganda in support of the German and Italian governments, but the conviction was overturned in the State Court of Appeals.
The California Election Code still contains sections 5102 and 5200, which say that subversive political parties must be removed from the ballot. These laws were passed in 1953 and have never been used. California is one of only six states that still bans certain parties from the ballot based on their teachings. Thanks to AroundtheCapitol for this news.
Louisiana holds local partisan elections on October 19, 2013. Filing has already closed. Gregory King, a registered Libertarian, is the only candidate who filed for Justice of the Peace, ward 3, in Lincoln Parrish. In Louisiana, when only one candidate files for an office, the election is canceled and so King has been elected. Thanks to Randall Hayes for this news.
Mike Myers, a former law professor at the University of South Dakota and an expert on health care, says he will be an independent candidate for Governor of South Dakota next year. See this story. No independent has been on the ballot for Governor of South Dakota since 1934. See this story.
On August 16, the Ninth Circuit refused to reconsider Sanders Republican Central Committee v Fox, 12-35816. Earlier the Ninth Circuit had struck down Montana’s law making it a criminal offense for a political party to endorse a candidate for judge. The law had existed since 1935, the same year Montana converted its judicial elections to non-partisan elections.
The case did not settle the parallel question of Montana’s ban on political party contributions to candidates in judicial elections.
Montana says it may ask for U.S. Supreme Court review in this case. Thanks to Mike Fellows for this news.
