On February 16, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an opinion in In re: Contest of November 8, 2011 General Election of Office of the New Jersey General Assembly, A58-11. By a vote of 4-3, the Court upheld a challenge to the eligibility of Gabriela Mosquera to be seated in the lower house of the legislature, because she had not lived in the district for a full year. The New Jersey Constitution requires candidates for the legislature to meet that duration of residency requirement. Mosquera argued that the New Jersey Constitution violates the U.S. Constitution, but that argument did not prevail.

Mosquera, a Democratic Party nominee, won the election last November, and she wasn’t challenged until after the election. However, by now she has lived in the district a full year. When a legislative seat is vacant in New Jersey, that seat is filled by the party that won the last election for that seat. The Democratic Party is expected to appoint her to fill the vacancy. She will then be required to run in November, 2012, to retain her seat.

Now that the 3-judge U.S. District Court in San Antonio has informally told the major parties that their primaries will be no earlier than May 29, and possibly later, the Republican Party is planning to change the tradition that precinct conventions are held the evening of primary day. The party is working on a plan to hold precinct conventions, and county conventions, before the primary. See this message from the party leadership.

On February 16, the North Carolina legislature convenes for a 3-day special session. Although the special session was called to consider election law bills, according to this story, legislative leaders say they will not vote on any bill in the February session. Instead, bills will only move in the regular session that starts in May.

This appears to mean that HB 32, the ballot access bill that passed the House last year, won’t get a vote in the State Senate until May at the earliest. The bill substantially eases the number of signatures required for minor parties and independent candidates.