Congressman John Boehner, leader of Republicans in the U.S. House, told his caucus on May 12 that voters this year are angry at both major parties. See this Politico story. Thanks to ThirdPartyDaily for the link.
The article says Boehner made his remarks behind closed doors, so theoretically one of the Republican members of Congress must have leaked the story to Politico.
Former Republican congressman Joe Schwarz says he will meet with his advisors on Friday, May 14, to make a decision as to whether to run for Governor of Michigan as an independent. See this story.
If he decides to do so, he needs 30,000 valid signatures by July 15. Michigan has never had an independent candidate for Governor on the ballot. Michigan did not have statutory procedures for independent candidates until 1988.
On May 12, the Orange County (California) Register published this story about a lawsuit over whether one of the candidates for Secretary of State should be on the ballot. The lawsuit, filed by Pamela Barnett, a California voter, says that one of the Republicans running for Secretary of State should not have been put on the June primary ballot. Damon Dunn registered as a Democrat in the 1990’s in Florida, but he never voted there, and he was eventually classed as an inactive voter.
Dunn later moved to California and registered as a Republican. However, his California registration was less than one year before the filing deadline. California law says a voter only needs to have been registered in the party in which he or she is running for three months. But California law also says that regardless of the 3-month rule, a candidate can’t be on a partisan primary ballot if the candidate had been a registered member of another party during the year before filing. Also the California registration form asks, “If you were registered to vote before, answer these questions” and asks where the voter was registered previously. Dunn’s California registration form did not complete this portion of the form. Finally, the card says, above the signature block, “I declare that the information on this form is true and correct.”
The obvious rebuttal to the lawsuit is that it was filed far too late. Absentee voting started in California on May 10, and foreign absentee ballots were sent out in April. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.
The May 13 print issue of the San Jose Mercury News has this op-ed by Michael Feinstein, a leader of the Green Party and a former Mayor of Santa Monica.
The Los Angeles Times is now the only big newspaper in California that has endorsed Proposition 14 and that has not carried any op-ed opposing Proposition 14 during the last twelve months. That newspaper has rejected at least ten submissions during that time.
On May 12, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered Monterey County, California, to stop preparations for a special election to fill the vacant State Senate seat in the 15th district. See this story. The lawsuit had been filed under the Voting Rights Act. Monterey County is under section 5 of the Act. On May 20 a 3-judge court will hear the case, which alleges that the date set for the special election, June 22 (only two weeks after California’s primary) is a “change” that should have been cleared with the Justice Department. All such cases require 3 judges. The case is Buell v Monterey County, 10-cv-01952. One of the changes the county made (according to the complaint) is that it plans fewer polling stations in the special election than ordinarily. The complaint says the county should have received permission from the Justice Department before reducing the number of polling places.
