On March 25, Monday, a 3-judge U.S. District Court will hold a trial in Harris v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 2:12cv894. The issue is whether the state’s U.S. House districts are equal enough in population to be constitutional. See this story.

Another case pending against the Arizona U.S. House districts is moving much more slowly. That case, Arizona State Legislature v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 2:12cv1211, concerns whether having an independent redistricting commission draw U.S. House districts is unconstitutional. The legislature argues that the U.S. Constitution, Article One, provides that only legislatures, and not independent redistricting commissions, can draw U.S. House districts. That case is still bogged down over the issue of whether 3 judges are needed, or just a single judge.

Anaheim, California, has a population of 336,265, and is the largest city in California that still elects its city council entirely at-large. Last June a lawsuit was filed in state court, arguing that the at-large system violates California law that outlaws at-large local elections when it appears the at-large system results in poor representation for racial and ethnic minorities. Anaheim has only had three Hispanic city councilmembers in the last twenty years, but Hispanics are a slight majority of the population.

The case has a hearing on March 26. It is Moreno v City of Anaheim, 30-2012-579998, Superior Court, Orange County. The result of this hearing may be that the case is delayed while the city decides whether to abandon at-large elections. Plaintiffs want election by city council districts.

Meanwhile, Escondido, California, has settled a similar lawsuit and will switch from at-large elections for city council to districts. See this story.

On March 20, the Public Policy Institute of California released this poll, which covers many topics related to California government and elections. One of the questions asks if voters feel the Democratic and Republican Parties are doing an “adequate job”, or whether the nation needs a new major political party. See page 23.

The results are that 51% of California voters feel a new major party is needed, 39% feel the two old parties are doing an adequate job, and 10% don’t know. When the results are broken down, one sees that independent voters are much more likely to say a new major party is needed. The results for independent voters are: 68% feel a new major party is needed, 27% do not, and 6% don’t know.

Other parts of the poll show that Californians continue to be very supportive of the initiative process.