As noted previously, on August 30, a U.S. District Court in Nebraska struck down that state’s ban on out-of-state circulators, which had been passed in 2007. The time for the state to appeal has now run out, and the state decided not to appeal. Thanks to Kent Bernbeck for this news.
On October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a case filed by Dallas County, Texas, over the Voting Rights Act and electronic vote-counting machines. The case had been before the U.S. Supreme Court since last year. Today the U.S. Supreme Court says the case is moot. It is Dallas County, Texas v Texas Democratic Party, 10-755. The lower court had ruled that the county must ask the U.S. Justice Department to pre-clear a change in how certain machines count votes. The county had then sought and obtained pre-clearance.
There was a second part of this case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court in this same case, no. 10-1183, concerning attorneys fees. The Supreme Court remanded that minor part of the case back to the lower court so it could be re-done.
Also on October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Alan Keyes’ lawsuit against California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, over whether Bowen should have investigated Barack Obama’s qualifications before she listed him on California ballots in 2008. That case is Keyes v Bowen, 10-1351. The case, which had come up from the California state courts, had received a significant decision from the State Court of Appeals. The State Court of Appeals had ruled that the Secretary of State has no authority to reject the presidential nominee of any ballot-qualified party, whether the candidate meets the constitutional qualifications or not. That decision will now stand.
Also on October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Massachusetts Libertarian case over presidential substitution. The party had been hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court would leave the party’s case open, until the State Supreme Court rules on what the law actually provides. It is possible the State Supreme Court will construe the law to mean that presidential stand-ins are permitted.
On October 1, the Nevada Republican Party executive board voted to hold Nevada’s 2012 presidential caucuses in January, although the Board did not set a particular date. See this story. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the link. Although the national Republican Party rules permit Nevada to be one of the four earliest states to choose delegates, the national rules do not permit any states, not even the favored four, to choose delegates before February. Therefore, if the national rules are followed, Nevada (and undoubtedly New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina) will lose half their delegates.
Some Republican Party leaders in the states that are breaking the rule do not believe that it matters if a state party loses half its delegates, because in recent decades, the delegates don’t do anything meaningful anyway.
This article discusses SB 397, the California bill that would let individuals register to vote on-line. But it also explains that there are two plausible methods for capturing a signature from the person registering to vote. The bill would use the signature that already exists in government Motor Vehicle Departments. The second half of the article also discusses a device that could be used to electronically record a new voter’s signature.
As the article says, SB 397 has neither been signed nor vetoed yet, and Governor Jerry Brown has until October 9 to act. Another bill concerning voter registration, SB 205, would outlaw paying registration workers on a per-registration card basis. UPDATE: Governor Brown has until October 9 to act on SB 205, not October 1. His deadline is 30 days from the date the legislature adjourned, not 30 days from the date on which the bill was presented to him.
Greta Van Susteren of Fox News interviews Rick Santorum here. The interview is six minutes and 15 seconds long. At four minutes into the interview, Van Susteren expressed the thought that it is not fair for four particular states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) to always be the only states permitted to go first in the major party delegate selection process. She repeatedly presses Santorum to defend that policy.
One of the selling points of Americans Elect is that the Americans Elect presidential nomination process does not arbitrarily single out the voters of four particular states and give them a preference in the process. Thanks to Political Wire for the link to the interview.
