Republican National Committee Files Lawsuit Against Limit on How much an Individual May Donate to a National Committee of a Political Party

Posted on by June 26, 2012
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On June 26, the Republican National Committee, and a prospective donor to the party who lives in Alabama, filed a lawsuit against the federal law that limits how much money an individual may donate to a national committee of a political party. The case is McCutcheon v Federal Election Commission, 1:12-cv-1034. It is filed in Washington, D.C., and the plaintiffs have requested a three-judge court, which is the norm for lawsuits that challenge federal campaign finance laws. The lawsuit also challenges the law that limits an individual’s total donations in any two-year period to all federal candidates and to political parties, combined, to a certain amount of money. Here is the brief.

Under current federal campaign law, political parties have more restrictions relative to receiving donations and spending money than any other type of group. Thanks to Dan Tokaji for the link.

Georgia Files Brief in Green, Constitution Party Ballot Access Lawsuit

Posted on by June 26, 2012
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On June 22, Georgia filed a motion to dismiss the ballot access lawsuit filed last month by the Green Party and the Constitution Party. Although the state’s brief is 17 pages long, not once does it mention either of the precedents that the case relies on. The lawsuit is Green Party of Georgia v State of Georgia and Brian Kemp, 1:12-cv-1822. The lawsuit charges that Georgia’s ballot access law, as applied to presidential candidates, requires too many signatures.

The parties base their case on Anderson v Celebrezze, and Bergland v Harris. In Anderson v Celebrezze, the U.S. Supreme Court said that states must be more lenient in presidential elections, than for other office. Bergland v Harris is an 11th circuit decision from 1985 that repeated that holding, and said Georgia’s requirement at that time, for president, might be unconstitutionally difficult. At the time the requirement for president was 2.5% of the number of registered voters. The 11th circuit remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court, but then the legislature lowered the petition requirement to 1% of the number of registered voters and the case ended.

The state’s brief mentions all the ballot access precedents that upheld Georgia’s requirements for office other than President, but nowhere mentions either Anderson v Celebrezze or Bergland v Harris.

San Francisco Bay Guardian Story on Attempts to Repeal Instant Runoff Voting in San Francisco

Posted on by June 26, 2012
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This San Francisco Bay Guardian article describes the political maneuvering in San Francisco concerning Instant Runoff Voting and a proposed repeal of that system, which was first approved in San Francisco in 2002. Earlier this year, an attempt to repeal IRV was defeated in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Now a new attempt, to repeal it only for the executive offices, is under way.

Six Presidential Candidates Submit Petitions in Illinois

Posted on by June 25, 2012
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June 25 was the petition deadline in Illinois for independent candidates, and nominees of unqualified parties. Six presidential candidates submitted a petition: Stewart Alexander, Socialist; Virgil Goode, Constitution; Gary Johnson, Libertarian; Jill Stein, Green; Rocky Anderson, independent; and Michael W. Hawkins, whose party label is “Together Enhancing America.” Hawkins also submitted a petition for himself as an independent presidential candidate. The Libertarian petition actually carries the name of Rex Green, who is a stand-in for Gary Johnson. Illinois law permits substitution. UPDATE: the first version of this post erroneously did not include Rocky Anderson.

The two petitions that have the largest number of signatures appear to be the Libertarian petition (approximately 48,000) and the Green petition (approximately 30,000). Any petition that is submitted is sufficient, if no one challenges. However, the legal requirement is 25,000. If a petition doesn’t have that many signatures, and is challenged, then of course that petition fails.

Illinois has the third earliest petition deadline (when the later methods for getting on the ballot are compared). Only Vermont and North Carolina are earlier.