Springfield, Massachusetts Newspaper Opposes Inclusive U.S. Senate Debate

Posted on by December 17, 2009
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The December 17 issue of The Republican, the daily newspaper of Springfield, Massachusetts, has this editorial, opposing any 3-candidate debates in the upcoming special election for U.S. Senate. The independent candidate, Joseph L. Kennedy, should be excluded, the paper argues, because he is “little-known” and “no relation to the family of the deceased Senator.”

The political cultural of Massachusetts, and especially of its newspapers, seems highly tilted against having real competition in elections. According to the neutral, scholarly book “Reforming State Legislative Elections” by Political Science Professor William Salka, Massachusetts has the second-least competitive elections of any of the 50 states. Massachusetts is the only state in the east in which most legislative elections have only one candidate on the ballot. Massachusetts was the only state in the nation in 2008 in which a majority of U.S. House seats only had one candidate on the ballot. But, the Massachusetts media never comment on that aspect of Massachusetts elections. They seem to take it for granted, as though it were the norm, not worthy of commentary.

All Briefs Now Filed with U.S. Supreme Court in Petition Privacy Case

Posted on by December 17, 2009
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On December 16, the last brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Doe v Reed, 09-559, the case over whether governments should release the names and addresses of people who sign petitions. The Court will consider whether the hear this case at its January 8, 2010 conference, although it won’t tell the public what it decided until January 11, 2010.

Here is the Washington state government’s brief, which argues that the names and addresses should be released because they aren’t really private anyway, since some sheets are circulated in public places, so that some people see some of the names in any event. Also it argues that it is necessary to let the names and addresses be public for the benefit of people who wish to contest the Secretary of State’s decision that the petition has enough valid names.

Here is the brief of Washington Families Standing Together, which intervened in the case on the side of the Secretary of State. It argues that the Court shouldn’t take the case because of procedural problems with taking it now.

Here is the response brief of the petition-signers who don’t want their names and addresses released to the public. It belittles the state’s argument that because there is inevitably some exposure of the names and addresses in limited situations, that therefore privacy is not a factor. It points out that when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1950’s that states may not force the NAACP to reveal its donor list and its members, in that situation there were already a relatively small number of people (mostly within the NAACP) who would see the list in any event.

Here is the first brief, filed by the proponents of privacy, back on November 7, 2009. This is the brief that opened this round of briefs, set forth what the case is about, and made the initial argument as to why the Court should hear the case. If the Court refuses to hear the case, then the Secretary of State will be free to release the 136,000 names and addresses of the people who signed the Referendum Petition to force a vote on the Washington state civil-unions law.

Federal Court in New York Issues Ruling in Internal Reform Party Dispute

Posted on by December 16, 2009
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On December 16, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco, a Bush, Jr., appointee, issued an opinion in MacKay v Crews, eastern district, 09-cv-2218. He ruled that the 2008 national convention of the Reform Party in Texas was a valid convention. Therefore, the national officers elected at that convention are the rightful holders of the party’s trademarks and logos. Those officers are: chair David Collison, vice-chair Rodney Martin, secretary Janelle Skinner-Weill, and treasurer Beverly Kennedy. The decision, which is already printed, is 19 pages.

Hawaii Ponders All-Mail Ballot Election in Next Special Congressional Election

Posted on by December 16, 2009
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According to this story, Hawaii elections officials are thinking about holding an all-mail ballot election to fill the expected future vacancy in the U.S. House, district 1. Congressman Neil Abercrombie has said he will resign soon so that he can campaign full-time for Governor in 2010.

Hawaii’s elections office is trying to save money, and feels mail ballots would save money. Last time the state held a special U.S. House election, it cost $2,000,000.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Three Nebraska Ballot Access Restrictions

Posted on by December 16, 2009
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On December 16, the ACLU Voting Rights office filed a lawsuit in federal court against three Nebraska ballot access restrictions: (1) a law passed in 2007 that requires statewide independent candidate petitions (for office other than president) to include at least 50 signatures from each of 31 counties; (2) a law passed in 2008 that makes it illegal for out-of-state circulators to work in the state; (3) an older law that requires petitions that are circulated by a paid circulator to have printed in 16-point type, and in red, “This petition is circulated by a paid circulator.”

The case is Citizens in Charge v Gale, 4:09-cv-3255. The ACLU now has cases pending in Arkansas, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, against various ballot access laws that injure minor parties or independent candidates or both. Also the ACLU is helping with a North Carolina ballot access case, and it is handling the Connecticut case on discriminatory public funding. The new Nebraska case is filed on behalf of Donald Sluti, who wants to be an independent candidate for Secretary of State in 2010. The case is also filed on behalf of Citizens in Charge, which has members in Nebraska and nationwide who are professional circulators.