Jeff Hewitt, who was elected to the Calimesa, California, city council in 2010, has let it be known that he has changed his voter registration to show him as a Libertarian. All city and county elections in California are non-partisan. Hewitt’s term runs out in 2014.
Calimesa has about 8,000 population, and is in northwest Riverside County, in southern California.
On December 19, the California Secretary of State announced that the Neighborhood Legislature initiative may begin to collect signatures, to qualify for the 2014 ballot. The proposal would amend the California Constitution. Currently California has 40 State Senators and 80 Assemblymembers. The initiative would provide for 8,000 Assembly districts and 4,000 State Senate districts. Each Assembly district would have approximately 5,000 voters. Each district would elect a state legislator, but then the 100 state legislators within that district would elect one person to send to Sacramento. See www.neighborhoodlegislature.com for more details.
The measure is sponsored by John Cox, who has been active in the Republican Party in the past. He is believed to have the financial resources necessary to get the measure on the ballot.
In November 2014, Montana voters will vote on whether to establish a top-two system. The Independent, a free weekly newspaper in Missoula, has this story about the upcoming vote, with an emphasis on the motive of the Republican majority in the legislature in putting the measure on the ballot.
On December 13, the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion in The League of Women Voters of Florida v The Florida House of Representatives, SC13-951. By a vote of 5-2, the Court ruled that legislators, and legislative staff, can be questioned in court about their motives concerning details of the U.S. House redistricting plan passed in 2012.
The Florida Constitution was amended before the last redistricting process. It now says, “In establishing congressional district boundaries, no apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” Article III, sec. 20(a).
The League of Women Voters of Florida believes that the congressional districts drawn up by the legislature were drawn to help the Republican Party, but in order to establish that, the League first sought the ability to force legislators to testify. The League has now won that fight. Since the decision came out, it has come to light that much of the evidence, such as e-mails between legislators and their staffs about redistricting, no longer exists. It is possible that this development might result in new districts being drawn up. See this story.
California State Senator Darrell Steinberg, the President pro Tem of the Senate, plans to introduce a state constitutional amendment. It would let California Governors appoint state legislators, when a vacancy occurs. See this story.
