ACLU, Others, File Lawsuit Against New Pennsylvania Law Requiring Voters at Polls to Show Government-Photo ID

Posted on by May 1, 2012
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On May 1, the American Civil Liberties Union and many other public interest groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of some Pennsylvania voters who do not possess government-photo ID cards. See this press release, which has links to the complaint and details about the individual voter plaintiffs.

Most of the recently passed state photo-ID laws from southern states have been blocked this year by the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department. But most states are not covered by section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, so whether these laws may go into effect depends on the outcome of state court lawsuits, such as this one. So far the Wisconsin photo-ID law passed this year has been blocked by state courts in Wisconsin. The new Pennsylvania case is called Applewhite v Commonwealth.

Mark Schmitt Suggests Instant-Runoff Voting Would Help if it Existed in Presidential Elections

Posted on by May 1, 2012
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Mark Schmitt, writing for The New Republic, comments here on Americans Elect, and then goes on to recommend Instant-Runoff Voting in presidential general elections. He also recommends that states permit fusion (i.e., letting two parties jointly nominate the same candidate).

Schmitt says only five states permit fusion, although he does not name them. Actually more states than that permit fusion. They are Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, and Vermont; and Pennsylvania permits it for certain partisan offices. In Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, fusion only can be accomplished via write-in votes in primaries.

But Schmitt also understates the number of states that permit fusion for President. Approximately half the states permit fusion for president. This is because so many state anti-fusion laws are worded to only apply to candidates nominated in direct primaries. But presidential elector candidates are not nominated by primary in any state; generally presidential elector candidates are nominated in state conventions.

President Obama Ties with Roseanne Barr in District of Columbia Green Presidential Primary

Posted on by May 1, 2012
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The District of Columbia Board of Elections has released all the write-in tallies for the April 3, 2012 Green Party presidential primary. It had already been known that Jill Stein won that primary, because Stein was the only name on that ballot, and her total (previously released) is 216, whereas all write-ins put together total only 164.

The Board’s breakdown shows that Roseanne Barr and President Obama each received 72 write-ins. No one else received more than 2 write-ins.

The Board says it does not intend to put these results on its web page, so historians of the future will probably overlook these returns. The Board does not publish any book that contains official election returns, so the only official evidence will be a piece of paper in the Board’s files.

Arizona Legislature Passes Bill Requiring All Local Elections to be Held on August or November of Even-Numbered Years

Posted on by May 1, 2012
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On April 30, the Arizona legislature passed HB 2826, which requires that all local governments must hold all their elections in even-numbered years, either at the time of the August primary (for office other than President) or at the time of the November general election.

The bill had failed in the State Senate on April 4 by a vote of 11-17. However, the Senate had then decided to reconsider, and on April 19 the bill had passed by 16-13. It passed the House again on April 30 by 32-28. Opponents fear that the consequences will be a very crowded ballot in August of even-numbered years and November of even-numbered years. Proponents say that when localities hold odd-year elections at various times of the year, the turnout is often very low.