U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Asks for U.S. Justice Department Advice on Barr Write-in Vote Counting Lawsuit

Posted on by July 8, 2010
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Bob Barr, Libertarian Party nominee for President in 2008, filed as a declared write-in candidate for President in the District of Columbia, because he did not petition to get his name on the ballot.  However, the D.C. Board of Elections refused to tally how many write-in votes he received.  On August 7, 2009, Barr and the Libertarian Party sued the D.C. Board of Elections, arguing that the U.S. Constitution protects the right of voters to have their valid votes counted.  Write-ins for President and all other office are valid in D.C., but the Board says it costs too much money and bother to count them.

On June 30, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan wrote identical letters to both the Attorney General of the United States, and to the U.S. Attorney for D.C., and asked each of them to express the opinion of the United States government about the case.  The judge attached the briefs from both sides to his letter.  He asked for a response by July 30, or at least an indication by July 30 as to whether either official intends to express an opinion in this case.

Ralph Nader Case Against Democratic Party has Hearing in Maine Court on August 6

Posted on by July 8, 2010
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A Superior Court in Maine will hold a hearing in Ralph Nader v The Maine Democratic Party, et al, on August 6.  The issue is whether the national Democratic Party and some other groups violated Nader’s right to run for office in 2004, when it coordinated challenges to his 2004 petition efforts in some two dozen states.

Nader had filed a similar case in 2007 in Virginia and also in the District of Columbia, but the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, ruled that statutes of limitations in those places prevented them from being heard.  The D.C. Circuit said Nader filed those cases a few months too late.

However, Maine has a six-year statute of limitations for cases like this, so Nader essentially re-filed in Maine state court.  The case is in Washington County, macsc-cv-2009-57.  It was filed November 30, 2009.  Maine is one of the states in which the Democrats challenged Nader’s petition in 2004.  That Democratic challenge in Maine in 2004 did not succeed, and Nader did appear on the Maine ballot in 2004.

Oregon’s Largest Newspaper Covers Independent Party’s Privately-Funded Primary

Posted on by July 8, 2010
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The Oregonian has this story about the Independent Party’s primary, which the party is paying for.  The Independent Party, with approximately 56,000 registered members, is ballot-qualified.  However, the Oregon law does not permit it to have a government-funded primary, because it has registration under 3% of the state total.  Yet the party feels it has so many members, nomination by convention (which is the usual method for ballot-qualified small parties in Oregon) is not practical.

So, it has arranged a means for the party to hold its own primary, at its own expense, which the article describes.

West Virginia Governor Now Favors 2010 Special Election for U.S. Senate

Posted on by July 7, 2010
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According to this story, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin now favors a special election for U.S. Senate in November 2010, to fill the vacancy created when Senator Robert Byrd died last month.  Manchin will ask the Attorney General to issue an opinion on whether the existing law requires such a special election.  If the opinion says the existing law does not require a special election, Manchin will probably ask the special session of the legislature to amend the law to provide for a special election.

Chances are, though, that the Attorney General will say the existing law does require a special election.  The existing law explicitly says a special election for U.S. Senate should be held if an incumbent U.S. Senator dies or otherwise leaves the Senate more than six months before the start of the next session of Congress.  The only reason the Secretary of State expressed an opinion against a special election is that the law doesn’t explain how major parties can choose a nominee, because this year’s primary has already been held.

Texas Democrats Drop Legal Action to Keep Green Party Off Ballot, But Will Seek Civil Penalties

Posted on by July 7, 2010
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On July 7, the Texas Democratic Party abandoned its legal efforts to keep the Green Party off the Texas ballot this year.  However, the party will keep the part of the lawsuit alive that seeks civil penalties, if a violation of any Texas campaign finance law is determined to have occurred.  See this story.  Thanks to Professor Mark P. Jones for the link.