Georgia’s Only Independent Legislator Submits Petition to Run for Re-Election

Posted on by February 8, 2012
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Georgia’s only independent state legislator, Rusty Kidd, has already submitted his petition to get on the November 2012 ballot so that he can run for re-election. He needed the signatures of 5% of the registered voters. See this story, which says that because a handful of signers also signed for a spouse or for an adult child, the State Election Board is investigating his petition.

In 2010, Kidd was the only person on the ballot for any of the 236 seats in the Georgia legislature who was not a Democratic or a Republican nominee. In Georgia, no Republican or Democrat ever needs to collect any signatures to be on a primary ballot. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

U.S. District Judge in Pennsylvania Says State Should Use Old Legislative Districts in 2012

Posted on by February 8, 2012
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On February 8, U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick, a Clinton appointee, ruled that Pennsylvania should use the legislative districts based on the 2000 census in 2012. The 2012 redistricting plan for the legislature had been struck down last month by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had said for 2012, the old districts should be in force.

Then, a federal lawsuit was filed to invalidate using the old districts, on grounds that the populations of the districts are no longer equal in population. But, the federal judge said because the primary is in April, there is nothing practical to do except use the old districts. The case is Pileggi v Aichele, eastern district, cv-12-0588.

The ruling says postponing the primary is not realistic because there is also a presidential primary set for April. His decision doesn’t mention the idea of having two primaries, one for president and one for legislative candidates. However, eighteen states have different primary dates for president than for other office: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Peace & Freedom Party Protests Secretary of State’s Rejection of Party Recommendations for Names on Primary Ballot

Posted on by February 8, 2012
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On February 8, the Peace & Freedom Party called on California Secretary of State Debra Bowen to restore all four names to the party’s presidential primary ballot. Here is the statement. Thanks to Bob Richards for the link.

The two PFP candidates omitted by the Secretary of State seem to have just as visible a campaign as some of the presidential candidates on the Libertarian Party’s presidential primary list. The Secretary of State did not delete any names from the Libertarian Party’s much longer list of nine presidential primary candidates.

U.S. District Court Strikes Down Virginia In-District Residency Requirement for Circulators

Posted on by February 8, 2012
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On February 8, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled that Virginia’s in-district residency requirement for petitioners is unconstitutional. He also issued an injunction against enforcing the requirement in future elections. The case is Lux v Judd, e.d., civ 3:10-cv-482. The case had been filed in 2010. Here is the 18-page opinion.

This is the first Virginia ballot access law to be held unconstitutional since 2001, when the Libertarian Party sued Virginia over a law that said the names of qualified parties should be printed on the November ballot next to the names of their nominees, but the party labels of unqualified parties could not be printed on the November ballot, except for President.

The Lux case is the first ballot access case handled by the James Bopp law firm of Indiana. That firm is extremely active in election law, but its other cases have dealt with campaign finance, and also privacy for petition signers.

The decision says in footnote 8 that no opinion is being expressed about the constitutionality of Virginia’s ban on out-of-state circulators.

Virtual Unanimity that Texas Primary Cannot be Held on April 3

Posted on by February 8, 2012
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This news story is typical of many recent stories in Texas. It says Texas will not be able to hold its primary on April 3. However, we will apparently need to wait until February 15 for a court order that settles the primary date. UPDATE: the 3-judge San Antonio court will hold a status conference in the redistricting lawsuit on the afternoon of February 9 (Thursday), so that may give a clue about the eventual primary date. FURTHER UPDATE: that status conference has been postponed to February 14.