The San Jose Mercury News has this story about a local ballot measure placed on the November ballot by the Santa Clara Valley Water Agency. Election laws say the measure’s description on the ballot cannot exceed 75 words, but the description submitted by the agency is 77 words. The Agency then tried to correct the problem, but has not been able to do so. Thanks to Around the Capitol for the link.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has this article about the challenge to the Constitution Party and Libertarian Party statewide petitions. Although the article is fairly long, it makes no mention of the pending federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn the system.
People interested in numbers and mathematics will especially enjoy this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On August 17, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank, a Clinton appointee, upheld Minnesota’s law that permits unregistered individuals to register to vote on election day. The case is Minnesota Voters Alliance v Ritchie, cv-12-519. The plaintiffs had argued that the U.S. Constitution is violated by the policy, because it is too easy for unqualified individuals to vote. Here is the 22-page opinion. Plaintiffs say they will appeal on an emergency basis.
The judge also upheld Minnesota’s policy of letting certain individuals vote even though they have a conservator or guardian. The plaintiffs had argued that the Minnesota Constitution does not permit such individuals to vote. See this news story. Thanks to the Brad Blog for the link to the opinion.
The Guardian, one of Great Britain’s leading newspapers, has this interesting story about Mitt Romney’s registering and voting in Belmont, Massachusetts, at a time when he owned no property in Massachusetts. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.