Field v Bowen is the lawsuit pending in the California Court of Appeals over two particular aspects of Proposition 14 and its implementing legislation. The case challenges the policy that says candidates who are members of qualified parties may have a party label on the ballot, but candidates who are members of unqualified parties may not. On January 31, the California Court of Appeals said that Michael Chamness may not intervene in the case, but the Court invited him to submit an amicus curiae brief, which he will do and which will contain the same information that would have been in his briefs if he had intervened.

Michael Chamness is registered in the Coffee Party, and he is on the ballot in the upcoming special election for State Senate in the 28th district. The ballot will say “no party preference” next to his name, even though Chamness wants “My party preference is the Coffee Party.”

The British government desires to hold a ballot question in May 2011 on whether to use Instant Runoff Voting for British elections for House of Commons, but the bill authorizing that vote has been delayed in the House of Lords. According to this story, the Lords are likely to approve the bill on Wednesday, February 2, although it is not certain. The British term for Instant Runoff Voting is the Alternative Vote. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

On January 31, Peace & Freedom Party candidate Daniel Frederick filed a lawsuit in state court in Sacramento, contesting the interpretation and constitutionality of the California Secretary of State’s rules for candidates who choose to file a petition in lieu of a filing fee, rather than paying the filing fee. The lawsuit especially contests the rules for special elections, which frequently give candidates only one or two days after the Governor has called the special election to complete these petitions. Furthermore, that problem (which is an old problem in California, for special elections) is compounded by the severe increase in the number of signatures in lieu of filing fee, caused by the Secretary of State’s interpretation of Proposition 14 and its implementing legislation.

In the past, candidates who are members of small qualified parties needed 150 signatures in lieu of a filing fee for any partisan office, but now they need 1,500 to run for Assembly. The case is Frederick v Bowen, 34-2011-80000773-cu-wm-gds. It will be heard by Judge Kinney in Sacramento Superior Court. Frederick wishes to run for the Assembly in the 4th district. A special election is being held there because the seat is vacant. It is vacant because Assemblymember Ted Gaines, who won that seat in November 2010, recently resigned because earlier this year he won a special election to the State Senate in the First District. That seat, in turn, had been vacant because State Senator Dave Cox had died on July 13, 2010, in the middle of his term.