On June 10, the Federal Election Commission voted 4-1 to expand the definition of “press”, for disclosure purposes. Specifically the FEC voted that Citizens United is “press”. Citizens United has made fourteen movies about politics. Because it is now recognized as “press”, it need not disclose its income and expenditures for its movies. See this Scotusblog story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
On June 10, the Texas Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in state court in Austin, seeking a court order to prevent the Green Party from certifying the names of its nominees to the Secretary of State. See this story. The case is probably called Texas Democratic Party v Texas Green Party. The case number is not available yet.
The Texas Democratic Party also seeks a court order to allow its attorneys to take depositions to find out who donated money to pay for the party’s petition drive.
On June 8, a hearing was held in Solano County Superior Court, California, on the lawsuit over the identity of the state officers of the American Independent Party. The attorney for the faction that nominated Alan Keyes for President in 2008 asked for more time, so there will be another hearing on June 30. The case is King v Robinson, 033119.
Fremont County, Wyoming officials say it is not possible for the county to draw single-member County Commission districts in time for Wyoming’s August 17 primary this year. The County’s at-large system for electing County Commissioners was invalidated by a U.S. District Court Judge several months ago. See this story. The lawsuit had been brought by the ACLU on behalf of Native Americans, who never win at-large elections.
On June 10, Wendell Fant submitted approximately 30,000 signatures to be on the North Carolina ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. House, 8th district. Approximately 17,000 signatures are required in that district. The formula requires 4% of the registered voters of the district to sign. See this story.
If the petition is verified, Fant will be the first independent candidate for U.S. House in the history of North Carolina government-printed ballots, which have existed since 1901. He is backed by the Service Employees International Union and the State Employees Association of North Carolina. Those unions back Fant because the Democratic incumbent, Larry Kissell, voted against the health insurance bill a few months ago. The 8th district is one of the more competitive districts in the nation. In 2006 it elected a Republican, but in 2008 it elected a Democrat. It comprises the counties that are east of Charlotte.
