On January 24, courts in two states issued rulings in favor of standing for ordinary citizens in election lawsuits. In Texas, the 5th Circuit issued this six-page opinion in City of Houston v American Traffic Solutions, 11-20068, ruling that proponents of a city initiative do have standing to intervene in a lawsuit over whether the initiative (which the voters approved) should take effect. The initiative blocks red-light cameras at traffic intersections. The lower court had refused to let the initiative proponents intervene.

Also on January 24, a Virginia state court ruled that citizens do have standing to challenge the authority of the legislature to pass a U.S. House redistricting bill this year. The State Constitution says the legislature must pass redistricting bills for U.S. House in the odd year following the census, but the legislature did not do that. The case is Little v Virginia State Board of Elections, CL11-5253, in Circuit Court in the city of Richmond. The court will now decide whether to draw the districts itself. A similar case on this point is also pending in federal court in Virginia. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news; his blog has a link to the decision.

Jimmy McMillan was on the ballot for Governor of New York in November 2010, and official returns show he polled 41,131 votes. His ballot label was “Rent is 2 Damn High.” He has just filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, alleging that he really received at least 50,000 votes, but that the vote count was not honest. See this story.

Although McMillan lives in New York city, the official tally shows that he only got 12,858 votes in New York city, but 28,273 votes in upstate New York. If he had been credited with at least 50,000 votes, his party would now be ballot-qualified.

Indiana State Senator Mike Delph (R-Carmel) has introduced SB 405, which requires candidates for Congress to have lived in Indiana at least five years before the election year. Article One of the U.S. Constitution sets forth the requirements for membership in Congress, and the only reference to residency is that an individual live in the state “when elected.” Under U.S. Term Limits v Thornton, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down term limits for members of Congress, the bill would be unconstitutional.