Two Florida Democrats were kept off the August primary ballot because of paperwork errors, but have filed a lawsuit in court to get on the ballot. See this story. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.
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On July 15, the Virginia Republican Party voted to nominate its statewide candidates in 2013 by convention instead of by primary. See this story.
Arizona held a special election on June 12, to fill the vacancy in the U.S. House seat, 8th district. Even though all the provisional ballots still haven’t been counted, turnout is already 47.1% of the number of registered voters, and that will increase as more ballots are counted.
Voters in the 8th district heard a stimulating campaign, in which three parties participated. The Democratic, Republican, and Green Parties appeared on that ballot. The Democratic candidate won with an absolute majority.
The Arizona 47.1% turnout is especially good, when compared to California’s June 5 statewide primary for President and all other partisan office. That system, using the top-two open primary law passed by the voters in 2010, yielded a turnout of approximately 31%. The votes haven’t all been counted yet so the exact turnout figure is not known. Preliminary reports show that California independent voters turned out at a significantly lower rate than the turnout for party members. This is true, even though the California Independent Voters Network spent over $1,000,000 on a mailing to 500,000 registered independent voters, urging them to vote in the June 5 primary.
The Libertarian and Green Parties are currently suing Arizona in federal court, over the state’s new voter registration forms, which list only the Democratic and Republican Parties. Voters who wish to register into any other party, qualified or not, must write-in its name on the form in a very small space. The lawsuit is Arizona Libertarian Party v Bennett, 4:11-cv-856, and was filed last year.
The state has obtained an extension of time in which to file its brief. It had been due on June 11, but now is due June 29. The state says it needed an extension because its legal staff is busy adjudicating challenges to the petitions submitted by various candidates.
On June 5, a Pennsylvania bill to end partisan statewide elections for judges failed to pass committee. See this story. Thanks to Howard Bashman for the link.