U.S. Supreme Court Sets Conference Case in Texas Vote-Counting Machine Lawsuit

Posted on by January 10, 2011
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The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Dallas County, Texas v Texas Democratic Party, 10-755, at its January 21 conference. This is the case in which the lower court had ruled that Dallas County can’t continue using iTronic vote-counting machines unless the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department approves those machines. The Democratic Party had filed the lawsuit because those vote-counting machines have a tendency to cause under-votes, for voters who use the straight-ticket device. If a voter uses the straight-ticket device and then votes for one individual candidate from the same party, that erases the original action of using the straight-ticket device. The device attempts to explain this to the voter, but in practice, the instructions are not effective.

Texas, and all states, would avoid these problems by simply repealing the straight-ticket device.

Initiative Proponents Win New York Case over Fastening Petition Sheets Together

Posted on by January 10, 2011
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On January 7, a New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of proponents of a local initiative, in Saratoga Citizens, Inc. v Franck, 03368/2010, Saratoga County. One of the issues was the requirement that petition sheets be fastened together. The proponents testified that when they had submitted the petition sheets, the sheets were fastened together with a binder clip (a spring-loaded clip). The City Clerk testified that the sheets had not been fastened together, but that he had put the binder clip on the sheets. The court ruled that (a) even if the sheets had not been fastened together, the proponents were entitled to “cure” that defect; (b) in any event, even if it were true that it was the City Clerk, and not the proponents, who had fastened the sheets together, the City Clerk’s action itself meant that the sheets were fastened together and that requirement was satisfied.

New York state generally doesn’t have the initiative process, but the local initiative process does exist for citizens who want to revise a charter. This initiative was to change the city of Saratoga Springs from a commission form of government to a city manager form of government. See this story. These local initiatives need the signatures of 10% of the registered voters, initially. After the submission of the 10% petition, the city or county may or may not place the measure on the ballot. If the city or county refuses, proponents are free to then submit a second petition signed by another 5% of the voters, and then the issue must be put on the ballot.

Several Political Parties Post Statements About Arizona Assassinations

Posted on by January 9, 2011
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The Republican Party National Committee has this statement on its web page. It deplores the shooting of Congressmember Gabrielle Giffords but does not mention the name of U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll. The Libertarian Party web page has this statement, which does mention the judge. The Democratic Party National Committee web page has this broadcast by President Barack Obama.

UPDATE: Jared Loughner registered to vote in 2006 as an independent. He last voted in 2008. See this story. Thanks to Cody Quirk for this.

New York Times Publicizes Idaho Republican Party Lawsuit on Primaries

Posted on by January 8, 2011
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The January 8 New York Times has this article about the court fight being waged in Idaho by the Republican Party, over who should be allowed to vote in Republican primaries. The story is misleading when it says that the Republican Party doesn’t want independents to be able to vote in the Republican primary. The party’s objection is to Democrats voting in its primary.

Maryland Extends 2012 Petition Deadline for Parties that want to Retain their Registrants

Posted on by January 8, 2011
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The Maryland petition deadline for a party that wishes to obtain, or regain, its qualified status is not until August 2012. However, parties that were on the ballot in 2010 had been told that if they want their registered members to continue to be registered in those parties, the deadline for submitting that petition was January 7, 2011. In other words, if the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties want their registered members to continue to be registered in those parties, those parties had to rush their 2012 petition.

Now, however, Maryland elections officials have postponed that deadline to March 7, 2011. This postponement will be of most use to the Constitution Party, if it wishes to take advantage of it. The Green and Libertarian Parties had already complied with the January 7, 2011 deadline. The petition requires 10,000 valid signatures.