Riverside County, California, Told to Count 12,563 Late Postal Ballots

Posted on by July 9, 2010
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On July 9, California Superior Court Judge Mac Fisher ruled that Riverside County should count the 12,563 mail ballots that were not in the hands of county elections officials by 8 p.m. on June 8, 2010.  See this story.  The case is Riverside County Democratic Central Committee v Dunmore, ric-10-012986.

California election law says mail ballots cannot be counted unless the ballots are delivered to elections officials by the end of election day.  In the case of these Riverside County ballots, the voters had postally mailed them in time for normal delivery.  But county elections officials, who routinely stop by certain post offices to collect such ballots, did not visit the post office that actually had the ballots; instead they visited the wrong post office.  UPDATE:  see this more detailed article.  The Judge relied on part on a provision of the California Constitution, added in 2002, that says voters have a right to have their valid votes counted.  It says, “A voter who casts a vote in an election in accordance with the laws of this State shall have that vote counted.”

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Extra Public Funding in Florida Gubernatorial Races

Posted on by July 9, 2010
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On July 7, a wealthy Republican candidate for Governor of Florida filed a lawsuit against the part of Florida public funding that provides extra public funds for candidates who have opponents with a great deal of private funding.  Florida has had public funding for gubernatorial candidates since 1998.  The Florida law says that if a publicly funded candidate has an opponent who spends more than $24,900,000, then the publicly-funded candidate may receive extra public funds.  Specifically, the publicly-funded candidate will receive extra funding that equals that amount the privately-funded candidate spends in excess of $24,900,000.

The case is Scott v Roberts, U.S. District Court, northern district, 4:10-cv-283.  Similar lawsuits are pending in Arizona and Connecticut.  In the Arizona case, the 9th circuit had upheld the extra public funding, but then the U.S. Supreme Court had stayed the order of the 9th circuit and will probably hear the case next term.  In the Connecticut case, the U.S. District Court had invalidated the provision for extra public funding and the state’s appeal is pending in the 2nd circuit.  Here is a story about the Florida lawsuit.

Wisconsin Greens, Libertarians, in Last-Minute Rush to Qualify Statewide Candidates for their Own Primary Ballots

Posted on by July 9, 2010
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Wisconsin has four ballot-qualified parties, the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican Parties.  All qualified parties in Wisconsin nominate by primary.  Wisconsin requires just as many signatures to get someone on a primary ballot as on a general election ballot.  Statewide candidates need 2,000 signatures.  Wisconsin does not have registration by party, and any eligible voter may sign a petition to get someone on any party’s primary ballot.  Wisconsin’s primary this year is September 14.

The deadline for all petitions this year is Tuesday, July 13, at 5 p.m.  Parties must poll 1% of the November vote for any statewide race in order to remain ballot-qualified.

The Libertarian Party has been hoping to place Erick Scoglio on its own primary ballot for Governor, and Craig Mohn on its own primary for Treasurer.  The Green Party has been planning to put Pete Karas on its own primary ballot for Secretary of State.  However, activists in both parties have been slow to tackle the task of getting 2,000 signatures for their candidates, and now are having to rush to complete these primary petitions.  In Wisconsin, signatures are assumed to be valid if they have the statutory minimum number of signatures, unless someone challenges.  However, Wisconsin has very kind traditions and it is virtually unheard of for any petition to be challenged.  Also, Wisconsin permits out-of-state circulators.  Libertarians and Greens from Illinois are permitted to help with the Wisconsin petitioning, and will probably be doing so this coming weekend.

In 2006, the formerly ballot-qualified Constitution Party failed to place any statewide candidates on its own primary ballot, and the party lost its status as a qualified party, because obviously it couldn’t poll 1% of the November vote for any of its statewide nominees when it didn’t have any statewide nominees on the November ballot.  The Constitution Party has not recovered its status in Wisconsin.  A petition to create a new ballot-qualified party requires 10,000 signatures.

Utah Elections Office Sets Up Interim Rules for E-Signatures for Initiatives

Posted on by July 9, 2010
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Utah’s Lieutenant Governor, who is in charge of state elections in that state, has issued interim rules on how initiative signatures may be obtained electronically.  See this story.  The Lieutenant Governor’s office will also ask the Utah legislature next year to codify such rules into the election code.

This action is a consequence of the  Utah Supreme Court ruling in Anderson v Bell, handed down June 22, determining that electronic signatures on an independent candidate’s petition are valid.  Thanks to Rob Latham for the link.