On January 15, the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to shrink the number of state legislators. See this story.
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On January 15, the Oklahoma Election Board released a new statewide registration tally. See this story. One person in the state is registered “Americans Elect.” Americans Elect is no longer a qualified party in Oklahoma, because Oklahoma removes parties from the ballot if they fail to poll 10% for the office at the top of the ballot (president in presidential years, governor in midterm years). However, because the Libertarian Party won a lawsuit against Oklahoma in 1998 (Atherton v Ward), voters are permitted to register into parties that recently went off the ballot.
So although all 18 Americans Elect registrants from 2012 were automatically converted to independent voters at the end of last year, voters are free to register Americans Elect during 2013 and 2014, and one person in Comanche County has done so. But assuming Americans Elect does not re-qualify in 2014, after the November 2014 election, the Americans Elect registrants will again be converted to independents.
Oklahomans who wish to send a message that they are unhappy about their limited political options might join the lone voter in Comanche County, and, like him or her, also re-register into the Americans Elect Party.
The Daily Record of York, Pennsylvania, has this article explaining the legal status of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party. Because, in 2012, the party met the vote test for “political party” status, it has a few advantages, as the story explains. In particular, for an upcoming special legislative election, the Libertarian Party can choose a nominee without any need for a petition.
Until 1986, if a party in Pennsylvania met the 2% vote test and became a “party”, that meant it was automatically on the ballot for all partisan office. But in 1986 the legislature passed a law that said parties are not automatically on the ballot in regularly-scheduled elections unless they have registration membership of at least 15% of the state total (which would be over 1,000,000 registered voters). If that law were in effect in Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Utah, or Idaho, one or the other of the two major parties would not be on the ballot.
The 1986 law change did not change procedures for special elections.
David H. Gans has this persuasive essay about why the entire Federal Voting Rights Act is constitutional. The language of the 15th amendment forms the basis for this opinion. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Maine Governor Paul LePage has submitted a budget that defunds the state’s public funding program for candidates for state office. See this press release from a Maine group that supports the program. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.