California Governor Now Favors Putting Initiative on Ballot

Posted on by April 29, 2011
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On April 28, California Governor Jerry Brown spoke in Los Angeles and said he now favors putting an initiative on the ballot to ask voters if they wish to make certain tax changes. See this story. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats in the legislature, who are backing three separate bills to make it more difficult to put initiatives on the ballot, will now stop supporting those bills. The bills are SB168, to make it illegal to pay circulators on a per-signature basis; AB 481, to make all initiative circulators (volunteers and paid workers alike) wear buttons; and AB 651, to require elaborate paperwork for companies that hire paid circulators.

Political Science Professor Doubts California's "Top-Two" System Will Produce More Moderate Politicians

Posted on by April 29, 2011
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The April 28 Los Angeles Times carries this letter from UCLA Political Scientist Thomas Schwartz, about California’s new “top-two” election system. Schwartz is a specialist in social choice theory and mathematical political science. He is the author of “The Logic of Collective Choice” and “The Art of Logical Reasoning.”

The link goes to all the letters published that day. Professor Schwartz’ letter is the second one down. The letter also chides the Los Angeles Times for telling its readers, in an editorial on April 25, that the top-two system is the same system as the non-partisan system used by all California cities and counties for elections for their own officials.

U.S. District Court in New Jersey Won't Enjoin 4-Year Residency Requirement to Run for State Senate

Posted on by April 28, 2011
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On April 28, U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman, a Bush Jr. appointee, refused to grant injunctive relief to a candidate for New Jersey State Senate, Carl Lewis. The New Jersey Constitution sets a 4-year residency requirement in the state, in order to run for State Senate. Candidate Carl Lewis, who is famous for his success in Olympic track events and who wants to appear on the June 2011 Democratic primary ballot, argued that the New Jersey constitutional provision violates the U.S. Constitution, but he did not prevail. Here is the 2-page order. Here is a newspaper story about the decision. Lewis also has a lawsuit in state court, arguing that he meets the residency requirement. Thanks to Oliver Hall and Heidi Fuller for this news.

Arizona Governor Signs Bill to List Vice-Presidential Nominees on Arizona Ballot

Posted on by April 28, 2011
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On April 27, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2335. It says that vice-presidential nominees’ names should be printed on November ballots. As a result, North Dakota is the only state which does not print the names of vice-presidential nominees on November ballots.

HB 2335 had started out as a bill to also delete the names of presidential elector candidates from the November ballot, but the idea of removing the names of presidential elector candidates from the ballot faced political opposition. Many candidates for presidential elector, for the major parties, are state legislators, and they apparently enjoy seeing their names on the ballot in their role as presidential elector candidates.