Libertarian Polling 7% in U.S. Senate Race in Georgia

Posted on by August 19, 2010
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On August 19, an Insider/Advantage/WSB-TV poll was released for the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in Georgia.  For U.S. Senate, the poll shows:  Republican Johnny Isakson 47%; Democrat Michael Thurmond 35%; Libertarian Chuck Donovan 7%; undecided 11%.

For Governor, the same poll shows:  Republican Nathan Deal 45%; Democrat Roy Barnes 41%; Libertarian John Monds 5%; undecided 9%.

In the entire history of popular elections for U.S. Senate in Georgia, only one candidate for that office who was not the Republican nominee nor the Democratic nominee has ever received more than 5% of the vote.  That was in 1920.  An independent candidate that year, Harry Edwards, polled 5.10%.  Edwards was the only opponent of the Democratic nominee, Thomas Watson.

The best Libertarian Party showing for U.S. Senate in Georgia was in 1996, when Jack Cashin polled 3.60%.

Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate, Others, Sue Maricopa County over Vote-Counting Machine Security

Posted on by August 19, 2010
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On August 16, Barry Hess and several other individuals sued Maricopa County, Arizona, over security issues involving vote-counting machines.  The other plaintiffs include for State Senator Karen Johnson.  See this story.  The story has a link to the complaint, but it doesn’t seem to work.  If any reader has more details about the name of the case, or anything else, please post a comment.

U.S. District Court Strikes Down Two Aspects of Maine Campaign Finance Laws

Posted on by August 19, 2010
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On August 19, U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby upheld several Maine campaign finance laws, but also struck down two features of those laws.  Here is the 37-page decision in National Organization for Marriage v McKee, 09-538.

The laws that were struck down are:  (1) a requirement that independent expenditures in excess of $250 per candidate must be reported within 24 hours; (2) Maine’s definition of “Political Action Committee” (PAC), which is too vague to be constitutional.  The definition for a non-major-purpose PAC is an organization that spends money “for the purpose of promoting, defeating or influencing in any way the nomination or election of any candidate to political office.”  The decision says that definition makes it difficult for an organization to know whether it must register as a PAC or not.  Therefore, it is void for vagueness.

9th Circuit Will Re-Hear Felon Voting Case on September 21

Posted on by August 19, 2010
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The 9th circuit will hold an en banc hearing on September 21 in Farrakhan v Gregoire, 06-35669.  The case challenges Washington state’s ban on felon voting.  The original 9th circuit panel had ruled 2-1 that the federal Voting Rights Act does apply to state bans on felon and ex-felon voting rights.  The original 9th circuit panel had also found that Washington state’s criminal justice system does discriminate on the basis of race and ethnic origin.  Therefore, if the Voting Rights Act was meant to apply to this issue, the state ban on felon voting violates the Voting Rights Act.

A similar case from Massachusetts is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.  It is Simmons v Galvin, 09-920.  The U.S. Supreme Court considered taking this case in May and at that time asked the Solicitor General of the United States to express an opinion.  It is possible the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether or not to hear the Massachusetts case in October 2010, when the Court returns from summer recess.  Thanks to the Moritz election law site for this news.