Alan Keyes Faction of American Independent Party Tentatively Wins Intra-Party Dispute on Procedural Issues

Posted on by March 10, 2011
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On March 10, a California Superior Court Judge in Solano County tentatively dismissed the lawsuit King v Robinson on procedural issues. Here is the two-paragraph ruling. This case, or similar cases, have been pending since 2008. They concern the identity of the legitimate state officers of the American Independent Party of California. Neither the Superior Court of Sacramento County, nor the Superior Court of Solano County, has ever made a ruling on the merits of the case. The lawsuits have all been filed by the faction of the American Independent Party that is associated with the Constitution Party, after the Secretary of State recognized the faction that is associated with Alan Keyes.

Procedural Victory in Post Office Sidewalks Petitioning Case

Posted on by March 10, 2011
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On March 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., denied the request of the U.S. Postal Service for summary judgment in Initiative & Referendum Institute v U.S. Postal Service, 10-5337. This does not mean the case has been won. But it does mean that a 3-judge panel will consider the evidence in the case, in the near future. The court today merely issued a one-sentence order, denying the government’s request for summary judgment.

The three judges who signed the order are Karen Henderson (a Bush Sr. appointee), Merrick Garland (a Clinton appointee), and Brett Kavanaugh (a Bush Jr. appointee). Judges Henderson and Garland already participated in this case earlier, when the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that postal sidewalks parallel to the street must permit petitioning. At that time, they sent the part of the case about interior sidewalks back to the U.S. District Court Judge. The third judge on the recent panel, Judge Kavanaugh, is new to this case. However, he was part of the 2010 panel that struck down another regulation that outlawed passing out leaflets in all parts of all national parks. That case was Boardley v U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

Utah Legislature Passes Bill to Outlaw Electronic Signatures on All Petitions

Posted on by March 10, 2011
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On March 8, the Utah Senate passed SB 165 with only one “no” vote. It outlaws electronic signatures on petitions for initiatives, new parties, or candidates. Last year the Utah Supreme Court had construed Utah laws to allow electronic signatures on petitions for candidates, in a case called Anderson v Bell, 234 P.3d 1147. UPDATE: on March 9, the House passed the bill also.

The bill also slightly increases the number of signatures needed for initiatives, from 10% of the last regularly-scheduled gubernatorial vote, to 10% of the last presidential vote. This is a slight change, because Utah gubernatorial regularly-scheduled elections are in presidential years. One wonders why the change was made. It only increases the number of signatures for statewide initiatives by 685 signatures. Utah did have a special gubernatorial election in 2010, because the previous governor had resigned, but the law already excluded using special gubernatorial elections for the calculation of how many signatures are needed. Thanks to Paul Jacob for this news.

National Journal Carries Story on How U.S. Senator Richard Lugar Could Run for Re-Election Without Winning Republican Primary

Posted on by March 10, 2011
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National Journal has this story, detailing Indiana election laws and how they would operate if U.S. Senator Richard Lugar were to run for re-election next year as an independent or as the Libertarian Party nominee. As the story explains, Lugar has not said he has any intent to do either of those things. But some polls have suggested that Lugar will have trouble winning the 2012 Republican primary.

Lugar will be 79 years old in a few weeks, and he has been in the Senate since 1976. No independent candidate for either Governor or U.S. Senator has ever appeared on a government-printed Indiana ballot. Indiana has a tradition of disinterest in independent candidates. No independent has been elected to the Indiana legislature since 1880. Indiana has a straight-ticket device, which injures independent candidates.

Nebraska Seems Likely to Continue Letting Each U.S. House District Choose its Own Presidential Elector

Posted on by March 10, 2011
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On March 9, the Nebraska Senate Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee discussed LB 21, the bill to eliminate Nebraska’s system of electing presidential electors. Nebraska and Maine let the voters of each U.S. House district choose their own presidential elector. See this story, which says that only four Senators on the Committee said they support the bill. The bill cannot pass the committee unless it gets support from five members, so the story predicts that the bill is dead. The committee majority also seemed unwilling to pass LB 583, the National Popular Vote Plan bill.