The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Nader v Cronin, 10-728, at its February 18 conference. The issue is whether there is any state interest in requiring an independent presidential candidate to obtain six times as many signatures as are needed for an entire new party with its own primary.
On January 24, an Illinois State Appeals Court ruled 2-1 that Rahm Emanuel does not meet the one-year residency requirement to serve as Mayor of Chicago. Therefore, he is off the ballot, although it is virtually certain that the State Supreme Court will hear Emanuel’s appeal very quickly. The election is February 22. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news. The majority decision is 24 pages and the dissent is 17 pages.
Although this is a complicated issue, a quick reading suggests that the majority decision is not convincing. Furthermore, as the dissent notes, the case should probably have been certified to the State Supreme Court, and the fact that it wasn’t certified to the State Supreme Court (even though it is bound to go there anyway) will make difficulties for election administrators relating to time.
On January 24, an Illinois State Appeals Court ruled 2-1 that Rahm Emanuel does not meet the one-year residency requirement to serve as Mayor of Chicago. Therefore, he is off the ballot, although it is virtually certain that the State Supreme Court will hear Emanuel’s appeal very quickly. The election is February 22. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news. The majority decision is 24 pages and the dissent is 17 pages.
Although this is a complicated issue, a quick reading suggests that the majority decision is not convincing. Furthermore, as the dissent notes, the case should probably have been certified to the State Supreme Court, and the fact that it wasn’t certified to the State Supreme Court (even though it is bound to go there anyway) will make difficulties for election administrators relating to time.
Several bills have been introduced in the Oklahoma legislature to move the non-presidential primary from the last Tuesday in July, to the last Tuesday in June. They are SB 602, HB 1615, and HB 2138. These bills also all move the deadline for the petition for a newly-qualifying party from May 1 to March 1.
A petition deadline of March 1, for new parties, is very likely to be held unconstitutional. Similar deadlines for new parties have been held unconstitutional in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Tennessee. Thanks to Richard Prawdzienski for the news about these bills.
The difference between HB 1615 and HB 2138 is that the latter bill also moves the presidential primary from February to March. Besides that bill, there are two other bills that move the presidential primary date, but do not move the date for the non-presidential primary. They are SB 808 and HB 1614. Thanks to Josh Putnam for the news about those latter two bills.
The New York Times print edition of January 24 has this op-ed by Sociology Professor Dalton Conley and Political Science Professor Jacqueline Stevens, urging Congress to increase the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.
