In Florida, and many other states, Supreme Court Justices may retain their seat if they win retention elections. Voters are asked if the judge should be retained or not. Apparently, in Florida, Justices must file to be on the ballot. According to this news story, a lawsuit has been filed to remove three Supreme Court Justices from the ballot, on the grounds that their application to be on the ballot was notarized by an employee of the court.
On June 22, Placer County, California, finished counting the votes from the June 5 primary. In the Assembly race, sixth district, three candidates had been on the ballot: Republican incumbent Assemblymember Beth Gaines; Democrat Regy Bronner, and Republican Andy Pugno.
Between the evening of June 5 and Friday afternoon, June 22, the tally had showed Gaines in first place and Bronner in second place. But in a surprise, the last ballots to be counted, late on June 22, put Pugno in second place. Therefore, the November election will list two very conservative Republicans on the ballot, and no one else. No write-in space will appear on the ballot. Both Gaines and Pugno are opponents of same-sex marriage and opponents of any tax increases. See this story. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
This Roll Call article predicts that Congress will soon eliminate public funding for national presidential conventions. Thanks to Political Activity Law for the link.
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court summarily affirmed the decision of a 3-judge panel in Maryland, in Fletcher v Lamone, 11-1178. Maryland and a handful of other states now draw congressional and legislative districts under the assumption that prisoners should be tallied (for redistricting purposes) in the community in which they lived before they were imprisoned, instead of in the town where the prison is located.
The 3-judge court had upheld Maryland’s system. Today’s summary affirmance means that other states are now free to follow the same policy, without fear that that method of counting prisoners is unconstitutional.
The effect of Maryland’s system is to give less representation in the U.S. House, and in the state legislature, to communities in which prisons are located. Generally, prisons are in smaller towns, and generally prisoners come from large urban areas, so the Maryland system usually means increased representation for urban areas.
The U.S. Supreme Court did not take any action on Monday, June 25, in Arizona v Gonzalez, 11A-1189. This is the case over whether Arizona can supplement the federal voter registration form with extra questions. The state wants information that is not requested on the federal form; specifically the state wants proof that the applicant is a citizen. The Court will probably take some action on Thursday, June 28, because that is the last day the Court sits, until October.
The Ninth Circuit had ruled against the state, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to say whether the Ninth Circuit’s action should be stayed, during the next few months, during the period in which the state will be asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal.
