On May 21, the city of Page, Arizona, held a non-partisan run-off election for City Council. Levi Tappan, a registered Libertarian, was elected to one of the three at-large seats. He placed first. See this story, which does not mention that he is a registered Libertarian. Also see this article about him on the Libertarian Party’s web page. Thanks to Scott Lieberman for the news.
Current New York law provides that if no one receives at least 40% of the vote for a New York city mayoral primary, a run-off primary is held. According to this story, the entrance of former Congressman Anthony Weiner into the Democratic race makes it somewhat likely that no one will get as much as 40% of the vote.
The run-off primary would be held on October 1, using the old-fashioned mechanical voting machines that have been outlawed for federal elections, if the legislature passes S.4088. The Senate passed it on May 6 but it has not yet had a hearing in the Assembly Elections Committee. Revival of the mechanical voting machines is opposed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and other groups, according to this press release. However, one advantage of the lever voting machines is that they save time, because they avoid having to print hundreds of thousands of paper ballots.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports the lever machines; see this story. Anthony Weiner favors ranked-choice voting, at least for primaries. See his point #44, page 15, in his program.
On May 22, the Oregon Senate Rules Committee passed SB 146, an omnibus election law bill. It now provides that parties that meet the vote test remain ballot-qualified for two elections, not just one election. Thanks to Blair Bobier for this news.
On May 15, the Illinois legislature passed HB 226. It says that 17-year-olds can register to vote in advance of any primary, if they will be age 18 by the time of the general election. Because the Illinois primary, for state and federal office, is always in March, the bill means that a majority of 17-year-olds will be able to vote in future primaries. There are other states with similar provisions, but all the other such states have a shorter time interval between the primary and the general.
Although Governor Pat Quinn hasn’t signed the bill yet, he has said he supports the idea. One consequence of this bill will be that 17-year-olds who register will also be able to sign petitions. It appears that they won’t be permitted to circulate petitions, however.
On June 6, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Pappas v Farr, 12-1080. This is a California election contest case. In 2008, two candidates ran against each other for Santa Barbara County Supervisor. The final results were close (806 vote difference, 2%), and Steven Pappas believed election administration errors had cost him the race. He filed an election contest. The California state courts ruled that the election returns were accurate, and then awarded over $500,000 in attorneys fees against Pappas. Pappas has now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside the attorneys fees award.
Here is the Pappas opening brief; here is the opposition brief; and here is the Pappas response.
