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.

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 presidential primary season comes to a close on Tuesday, June 26, when Utah holds its presidential primary and its primary for all other office. Utah doesn’t print up primary ballots unless there is a contest, so the only party with a presidential primary is the Republican Party. The five candidates in that primary are: Newt Gingrich, Fred Karger, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

The Constitution Party has a contested gubernatorial primary, and is the only party in Utah to have a gubernatorial primary. See this story. Any registered voter is free to vote in the Constitution Party’s primary.