A lawsuit is pending in Virginia on whether the legislature’s new redistricting bill is valid. On February 4 the State Supreme Court said it will decide the case. So far the case had only been in trial court, and the trial court had said the law is not valid. Having the case bypass the State Appeals Court will save time.
On February 5, the Oregon House Rules Committee is hearing testimony on HJR 201, a proposed Constitutional amendment that would provide for a top-two primary, with the proviso that parties that do not wish to participate could still place their nominees on the November ballot as well, and independent candidates could still petition onto the November ballot.
The bill would not permit a candidate in the top-two primary to list a party label unless the candidate were endorsed by that party. Here is the text. The lead sponsor is Representative Cyrus Javadi (D-Tillamook). He had been elected as a Republican but had then switched to being a Democrat. The bill has ten other sponsors also.
The bill’s supporters biggest point is that independent voters are 37% of the registered voters and ought to be allowed to vote in primaries. One wonders why they don’t simply support a bill that says independents can vote in any party’s primary, as other western states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona have done. Or they could support a classic open primary, in which the voter registration form doesn’t ask the voter to choose a party, and in which any voter is free to vote in any party’s primary.
On February 3, Christopher Schmidt, an independent candidate for U.S. House in New York, filed a federal lawsuit against the 3,500 signature requirement for U.S. House independent candidates. He argues that the law is unconstitutional because primary candidates only need 1,250 signatures to run for U.S. House. Schmidt v New York State Board of Elections, n.d., 1:26cv-178. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Brindisi.
Many independent and minor party candidates have filed similar lawsuits over the past 50 years, but they always lose because in 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional to require such petitions, even if primary candidates for the same office need no petition whatsoever. That case is Jenness v Fortson, from Georgia, where Democrats and Republicans only needed a filing fee but eveeryone else needed a petition of 5% of the number of registered voters.
Massachusetts voters now have the ability to register into the Socialism and Liberation Party, and election officials will tally how many people do that. This is the first step for an unrecognized party to become recognized. However, the job is veery difficult; Massachusetts requires that 1% of all voters register into a party before it is ballot-qualified. That takes approximately 50,000 registrants.
The other path for a group to become a qualified party is easier. If a group runs someone for statewide office who polls 3% of the vote, that group also becomes a qualified party.
On February 4, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request of some California Republicans to block new boundaries for U.S. House districts. Tangipa v Newsom, 25A839.
