On June 27, the British government introduced its bill into Parliament to transform the House of Lords into a mostly-elected body. The name of the body might or might not eventually be changed, perhaps to the Senate. See this story for the details. The first elections would be in 2015. No one can predict whether or not the bill will pass. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to maintain any stay, or delay, on implementing the 9th Circuit opinion in Gonzalez v Arizona. This means that, at least for remainder of the year, Arizona must accept voter registrations using the federal voter registration form, without the addition of any information not asked for on the federal form. Here is the Court’s order. Justice Alito would have maintained the temporary stay that has been in effect for the preceding week. Thanks to Justin Levitt for this news.
At its June 2012 meeting, the Santa Barbara County Republican Central Committee refused to endorse Abel Maldonado for U.S. House, 24th district, even though he is the only Republican on the November 2012 ballot. The other person on the ballot is incumbent Democrat Lois Capps. See this story.
Maldonado supporters will attempt to obtain the party’s endorsement at the July meeting, and are also threatening members of the committee with removal for their failure to endorse Maldonado. However, under the legal theory behind top-two, parties don’t have nominees, and therefore there seems to be no legal theory that would punish a party official body for refusing to endorse someone.
On June 15, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, vetoed HB 5556, which imposed severe changes in the state’s campaign finance law. The legislature has decided not to attempt to override his veto. The bill would have, among other things, required non-profit advocacy groups to list on their web page the names of individuals who donate to that group, if the group makes independent expenditures about candidates for office. The bill defines “independent expenditure” to include not only messages urging voters to vote for or against a candidate, but any message expressing an opinion about bills pending in the legislature. Thanks to the Center for Competitive Politics for this news.
Here is the Governor’s veto message. The veto was considered a victory for the ACLU, and a defeat for Common Cause.
On June 26, an African-American voter, Elise Brown, of Victorville, California, filed a federal lawsuit, charging that top-two, as applied, violates the Voting Rights Act and also violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The claim is based on voting rights. Brown charges that her November 2012 ballot, in the 8th U.S. House district, leaves her with only two Republicans, both of whom she alleges are hostile to her interests. The complaint charges that because there is no write-in space, and because she cannot in good conscience vote for either candidate who is listed on the ballot, the top-two system deprives her of a vote in November.
The case is Brown v Bowen, central district, Riverside, cv12-05547. Here is the complaint, which says that Brown is a member of the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee, and an officer of the Adelanto-Victorville Democratic Club. The two candidates who placed first and second in the 8th district are Assemblyman Paul Cook, a conservative Republican, and Greg Imus, another conservative Republican. The 8th district covers the bulk of the more rural parts of San Bernardino County, plus other counties on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
This is the first lawsuit against California’s top-two open primary that is filed by anyone associated with either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. The other three lawsuits that have been filed against California’s Proposition 14 have all been filed by independent candidates or minor political parties and their members.
