On December 22, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates upheld section five of the federal Voting Rights Act, in a 96-page opinion. The case is LaRoque v Holder, 10-0561. The case started after the voters of Kinston, North Carolina, voted to switch the city’s elections from partisan to non-partisan elections, and then the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department refused to allow that change. The Justice Department felt the change would injure black voters. The city council of Kinston refused to challenge the Justice Department’s decision.

Proponents of non-partisan elections then sued to overturn Section Five of the Voting Rights Act. Originally Judge Bates said they lacked standing, but the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, had reversed that, so the case returned to Judge Bates, who has now upheld the act. Even though the decision is very long, it doesn’t actually discuss the merits of the particular controversy in Kinston over non-partisan elections versus partisan elections, and whether the proposed change affects blacks. Instead, the decision is all about the big issue of whether Congress had the authority to extend the Act in 2006. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

In 2010, an anonymous blog came into existence in Maine, in connection with the gubernatorial general election. The web site, called “The Cutler Files”, posted derogatory information about Eliot Cutler, an independent candidate for Governor who was almost elected. Later, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics fined the blogger, Dennis Bailey, $200 for failing to disclose that he was the author of the blog. Bailey then sued the Commission, arguing that the U.S. Constitution protects anonymous speech about political campaigns. He filed his lawsuit in state court, but it was quickly removed to federal court. In federal court, the case is Bailey v State of Maine Commission on Government Ethics, 1:11-cv-00179-JAW.

The case is far from being resolved. However, on December 19, the federal magistrate hearing the case ruled that certain confidential documents and e-mails involved in the case may be made public. These include evidence that the blogger was working with one of the Democratic candidates for Governor, Rosa Scarcelli, when he set up the blog. See this story.

The Libertarian Party News, December 2011 issue, is especially interesting for those interested in political history. The 16-page issue has a compilation by Arthur DiBianca showing instances when Libertarian Party nominees in partisan elections either won, or out-polled one of their major party opponents. The issue also has an extensive summary of Libertarian Party history, by calendar year. This historical emphasis is to mark the party’s anniversary, of 40 years of existence.

The only other nationally-organized political parties in the United States that have existed for at least 40 years, and which were electorally active for at least that long, have been these parties: Prohibition, Socialist Labor, Socialist, Communist, and Socialist Workers.