Illinois Redistricting Lawsuit Might Mean Later Filing Period for U.S. House Candidates in Primaries

Posted on by November 20, 2011
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On November 18, a 3-judge U.S. District Court in Illinois heard arguments in a Republican Party lawsuit against Illinois’ new U.S. House district boundaries. This article says both sides are pondering whether to arrange for a later petitioning period for candidates for U.S. House who are seeking a place on primary ballots. Under existing rules, primary petitions are due in early December. The primary is March 20, 2012.

The case is Committee for a Fair & Balanced Map v Illinois State Board of Elections, 1:11-cv-5065, in the northern district.

Los Angeles Times Article on Americans Elect

Posted on by November 20, 2011
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The November 20 Los Angeles Times has this article on Americans Elect. The reporter focuses on trying to determine the motives of the people who launched it, and on balance concludes that there is nothing conspiratorial about its origins, and that its backers have no hidden agenda to injure either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

The article, near the end, has an error when it says that the directors of Americans Elect can veto the choice of the voters in the Americans Elect primary. It says the directors can remove a ticket if it is not centrist. This is doubly in error. First, using the Ron Paul example that the reporter used, if Ron Paul won the Americans Elect primary and chose a Democrat for vice-president, then Paul’s nomination is guaranteed because the rules say a ticket composed of a Republican and a Democrat is “deemed” to be “balanced.” And even if Ron Paul won the Americans Elect presidential primary and chose a member of a minor party, or an independent, the directors could not veto that ticket on the grounds that it is not “centrist.” They could only scrutinize it to see if it is “balanced”, which is entirely different. Thus, if Ron Paul won the Americans Elect presidential primary and chose a registered independent (for example, Ralph Nader), that ticket would be evaluated to see if it is “balanced”, not “centrist.” Most neutral observers would probably agree that a Paul-Nader ticket is “balanced”, but not “centrist.”

Two Independents Elected to Louisiana Legislature in This Year’s Election

Posted on by November 20, 2011
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Louisiana elects all its state officers in the odd years before presidential election years. This year the first round was on October 22, and if no one received at least 50% in the first round, a run-off was held on November 19. Two independents were elected in this year’s election to the State House.

The first independent was an incumbent, Jerome “Dee” Richard. He was re-elected on October 22, 2011. He had also been elected as an independent four years earlier. In the first round, in the 55th district, he polled 78.04% against a Republican.

The second independent elected this year is Terry Brown, in the 22nd district in north central Louisiana. He had placed second in the first round, where the results had been: Billy Chandler, incumbent Republican, 40.83%; Terry Brown 33.31%; Tim Murphy, Republican, 25.85%. In the November 19 run-off, the vote is: Terry Brown 52.40%, Billy Chandleer 47.60%. See this story.

In 2007, an independent named Joel Robideaux had been elected as an independent in the 45th district. Although he was re-elected in 2011, by then he had become a Republican. His only opponent in the October 22, 2011 election was Libertarian W. David Chance, who polled 21.19% against 78.81% for Robideaux. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the link.

British Newspaper Story on Americans Elect

Posted on by November 19, 2011
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Two leading British newspapers, the Guardian and the Observer, have jointly carried this story about U.S. politics, and about Americans Elect. One wonders what British readers think when they read that it requires 2,900,000 signatures to get on the ballot of all 50 states, which the newspaper says. In Britain, all candidates for House of Commons get on the ballot with 10 signatures plus a filing fee of 500 pounds, which is returned if the candidate polls 5%. All candidates are treated equally, relative to ballot access.

The newspaper story actually isn’t accurate about the petition total. It is possible to place a presidential candidate on the November ballot with approximately 750,000 valid signatures, if the easier method in each state is used. The higher figure is circulated because Americans Elect is not necessarily using the easier method in each state, especially California.

New York Voters File Lawsuit, Asking Federal Court to Take Control of New York Redistricting

Posted on by November 19, 2011
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On November 17, a group of voters filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, arguing that the New York legislature will very likely fail to complete the redistricting process for U.S. House and state legislative districts, and asking the Court to handle redistricting. The New York Senate is controlled by Republicans and the Assembly by Democrats. See this story. The case has been assigned to Judge Dora Irizarry, a Bush Jr. appointee.

Here is the complaint. The case is Favors v Cuomo, cv11-5632, eastern district. Most of the plaintiffs are leaders is community organizations. They say that it is vital that the members and activists of their organizations engage in the political process, but because the redistricting process is so far from being complete, they are stymied. Also, one of the plaintiffs wishes to run for the legislature in 2012, but with no districts even close to being in place, he cannot determine whether he has a suitable district to run in.

The lawsuit also points out that last year, the New York legislature passed a law requiring that prisoners be counted, for redistricting, at the address where they lived before they went to prison. The lawsuit explains that the process of adjusting the population data to comply with this law is a time-consuming process that is not progressing fast enough. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link to the complaint.