The Santa Clara, California, Chamber of Commerce will hold a forum on Proposition 14 on Tuesday, March 23, at 8:00 a.m. Speaking in favor of Proposition 14 will be Brian Brennan of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Speaking against will be Christina Tobin, founder of Free & Equal. The event is at 1850 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara.
On March 18, seven California cities, including San Francisco, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in Sacramento to remove Proposition 16 from the June 8, 2010 statewide ballot. See this story. Proposition 16 has little to do with election law, but this news is interesting because it shows the extent to which the California June 2010 ballot is still unsettled. Proposition 16 would provide that if a city switches to public power, the voters of that city must approve the idea with a two-thirds popular vote.
The lawsuit is Modesto Irrigation District v Bowen. UPDATE: here is the complaint, which says, “The initiative is so permeated with misinformation that it prevents a reasonable voter from making informed choices and therefore constitutes a violation of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
On March 17, Louisiana State Senator Troy Hebert announced that he has changed his voter registration from “Democratic” to “independent”. See this story. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the link.
Green Party Watch reports here that the Maine Greens will have 15 candidates for the State House and 3 for State Senate. This will be the most legislative candidates for the party since 2004, when there were 2 for the State Senate and 18 for State House.
On Thursday, March 18, a Superior Court in San Mateo County, California, will hear Ni v Slocum. This is a case over whether a voter may sign a petition electronically. The plaintiff, Michael Ni, signed a statewide initiative petition in favor of legalizing marijuana. He signed it using the screen of his iPhone. His signature was delivered to the county elections office on a flash drive.
The California law says voters must “personally affix” their signatures to petitions. The county elections office, and the Secretary of State, argue that the law does not permit electronic signatures. See this story about the case from Fox & Hounds blog. Ni is co-founder of a Silicon Valley start-up that makes software for electronic signatures. If electronic signatures are ever accepted, it would be possible to circulate initiative petitions more cheaply than is currently the case. Most California legislators are hostile to the initiative process and are unlikely to approve any bill that makes it easier to get initiatives on the ballot. It is possible someone will circulate an initiative to legalize electronic signature-gathering someday.
