The New York Daily News and other media are reporting that a substantial portion of contributions to the New York state Independence Party in recent months has been from the Republican Party and Republican State Senators. See this story. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

The New York Working Families Party was a subject of this New York Times story in the March 5 print edition, but the story is sympathetic to the Working Families Party, and the inclusion here of this link does not mean to suggest that the two stories in this post are equivalent.

The opening brief in Citizen Center v Gessler, 12-1414, is due on April 1, 2013 in the Tenth Circuit. This is the interesting case over whether the U.S. Constitution protects a secret ballot. The U.S. District Court had ruled on September 22, 2012, that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires a secret ballot. The case had been filed originally to stop unique bar codes from being printed on Colorado ballots, because they make it physically possible for an employee of the elections office to learn how a particular voter voted.

The Ninth Circuit will hear Townley v State of Nevada, 12-16881, on Monday, March 11, at 9:30 a.m. The panel will be Judge John Noonan (a Reagan appointee), Raymond Fisher (Clinton), and Jacqueline Nguyen (Obama). The issue is whether Nevada’s law placing “None of these candidates” on all primary and general election ballots for statewide office violates the Constitution. The individuals who filed the lawsuit argue that voters who vote for “None” are being discriminated against, because their votes have no effect.