U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright will hear oral arguments in Chamness v Bowen on June 13, Monday, at 1:30 p.m., in Los Angeles. This is the lawsuit that challenges two particular details of California’s top-two system: (1) the discriminatory policy on partisan labels on ballots; and (2) and the provision that says that even though write-in space is printed on ballots, no write-ins can be counted for Congress or state office in general elections.
On May 14, the Montana Constitution Party held a state convention. It elected new officers and voted to rejoin the national organization of the Constitution Party. In 2008 the Montana Constitution Party had not been affiliated with the national Constitution Party, which is one reason the Montana Constitution Party in 2008 placed Ron Paul on the November ballot as its presidential nominee, instead of Chuck Baldwin. Thanks to Frank Fluckiger for this news.
On May 14, the Libertarian Party of Indianapolis (which is co-terminous with Marion County) held its nominating convention. Ed Coleman was nominated for city council, 24th district. He is an incumbent who was elected in 2007 as a Republican. Then, in 2008, he had announced that he had joined the Libertarian Party. There had been an expectation, but not a certainty, that when his term was up in 2011, he would run for re-election as a Libertarian.
It will not be easy for Coleman to be re-elected as a Libertarian, because Indiana has a straight-ticket device. See this story about the nominating convention.
On May 2, Alan Keyes asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his lawsuit against California Secretary Debra Bowen. The case is Keyes v Bowen, 10-1351. Here is the cert petition. Keyes, who ran for President in 2008, believes that President Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications. He also believes that California law requires election officials to keep candidates off the ballot if they do not meet the constitutional qualifications.
The State Court of Appeals had ruled in this case last year that the California Secretary of State “has no discretion for the general election ballot…She must (“must” is in italics in the decision) place on the ballot the names of the several political parties’ candidates.” This is a significant ruling, given that in both 1968 and 1984, California Secretaries of State had removed presidential candidates from ballots because those presidential candidates did not meet the constitutional qualifications to hold the office. On February 2, 2011, the California Supreme Court had refused to hear the Keyes case, and it is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will also refuse to hear it. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.
At the August 2010 elections for Australia’s Parliament, the voters of Longman, Queensland, elected Roy Wyatt. He had been nominated at the age of 19, before he had even voted, although by the time of the election he had turned 20. Here is a feature story about him, focused on his speech in the House of Representatives announcing that he is now 21. Thanks to Sam Harley for the link. Roy is a member of the Liberal National Party.
