On September 14, attorneys for intervenors asked the Third Circuit to rehear the Carl Lewis case. The request is that all 13 full-time judges on the Third Circuit participate. The case is Lewis v Guadagno, 11-3401. The issue is the constitutionality of New Jersey’s requirement that candidates for State Senate must have lived in the state for at least four years. UPDATE: here is the petition for a rehearing.
Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester) is about to introduce a bill that would provide that each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. If this plan had been in effect in 2008, Republicans would have won ten electoral votes from Pennsylvania.
Senator Pileggi is seeking co-sponsors for his proposed bill. He won’t actually introduce the bill until that process is finished. He has been Senate Majority leader since 2006. Republicans hold both houses of the state legislature and the Governorship. The Governor has already indicated he would sign it, if it passes.
The wording of the proposed bill may or may not force candidates for presidential elector to live in the district they seek to represent. If the bill does have a residency requirement, that will make it more difficult for petitioning parties to get on the ballot. They will need to expend time before petitioning to find a resident in each district. Pennsylvania petitions for presidential candidates must include the names of the candidates for presidential elector.
New York held six special legislative elections on September 13. Both the Working Families Party, and the Green Party, had their own nominees in some of these elections. The Working Families nominee in the 54th Assembly district in Brooklyn, Jesus Gonzalez, polled 32%. His Democratic-Republican-Conservative opponent polled 44%, and an independent candidate polled 23%. Gonzalez’ showing is the best ever for a New York WFP nominee for the legislature. The previous best showing had been in 2006, for Joan Millman running in the 52nd district in Brooklyn. Millman had polled 22.62% on the WFP line.
The Green Party had its own nominee on September 13 in the 144th Assembly district in Buffalo. Gregory Horn polled 8%. His Democratic opponent polled 71% and his Republican opponent polled 21%. Horn’s showing was the best ever for a Green Party nominee for the New York legislature, excluding past races in which there was only one major party nominee running. The previous best Green Party showing for a New York legislative race with both a Democrat and a Republican also running had been in 2000, when Javier Enriquez had polled 7.36% in the 50th Assembly district in Brooklyn.
Two pending Libertarian Party election law cases, one in California and one in Massachusetts, are proceeding slowly because attorneys for the state have asked for extensions of time to file responses.
In California, the Libertarian Party is challenging a state law that does not permit candidate petition circulators to work if they don’t live in the district. The case is in the 9th circuit. The state’s brief had been due on September 7, but the state requested an extension until September 22. The case is Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County v Bowen, 11-55316.
In Massachusetts, the Libertarian Party is challenging the state’s refusal to let the party use a stand-in presidential candidate. The state’s response had been due September 12, but the state has received an extension until October 17. The case is Libertarian Association of Massachusetts v Galvin, sj2011-0348.
Until 2010, Rhode Island voter registration forms, like the voter registration forms of almost all other states that have registration by party, listed the qualified parties. Voters could choose one by checking a box. But in 2010, the Rhode Island Board of Elections deleted the names of the qualified parties, and just left a blank line for the voter to write in the name of a party.
However, on September 13, the Board reversed the 2010 decision, and the new forms will again list the qualified parties. They qualified parties in Rhode Island are Democratic, Republican, and Moderate. The Moderate Party is especially happy with this development, because whereas most people know about the two major parties, a substantial number of people are not aware of the Moderate Party.
