The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear the case on whether Instant Runoff Voting is consistent with the State Constitution on May 13. The lower court had ruled that there is no conflict between Minneapolis’ IRV law and the State Constitution. The State Supreme Court expedited this case so that the city will have an opportunity to use IRV this year if the city wins in court again.
On March 26, the Arizona State Court of Appeals ruled that the number of signatures needed for a city initiative or referendum should be based on the last city council election, not the last mayoral election. Jones v Paniagua. Phoenix had rejected an initiative because the petition didn’t have enough valid signatures, but the court ruling validates the petition. Phoenix had argued that the law requires 10% of the last Mayoral election, but the Court ruled that the law only requires 10% of the last city council election, which happened to have been a low turnout run-off earlier this year. The last Mayoral election had been in 2007.
Harry Markopolos is a Boston man who had been trying for almost ten years to alert the Securities & Exchange Commission to investigate Bernie Madoff’s financial dealings. Michael Richardson, a member of the COFOE (Coalition for Free & Open Elections) Board, was priviledged recently to conduct an extensive interview with Markopolos. The segments are on the Boston Progressive Examiner. This segment, published April 6, reveals that Markopolos believes the United States would be better off with a new broad-based political party.
The Alaska legislature and Governor Sarah Palin each are refusing to give in over the method to be used in filling a vacant State Senate seat. Earlier this year, a Democratic State Senator from Juneau resigned to join the Obama administration. Alaska law says that when there is a legislative vacancy, the Governor must appoint a member of the party that had held the seat, and furthermore that appointee must be acceptable to other legislators of that same party in that same chamber. Governor Palin appointed Democrat Tim Grussendorf to the vacant seat, but the Senate Democrats then rejected that choice. Palin says the State Constitution conflicts with state law, and that the State Constitution mandates that the appointee only be acceptable to a majority of all the State Senators. However, Republicans in the Senate are not supporting Palin in this matter, since the precedent she hopes to establish might someday injure the Republicans. See this article for more detail.
On April 3, a U.S. District Court in Ohio refused to issue an injunction against a Public Housing regulation in Akron, Ohio, that bars anyone from going door-to-door in public housing towers. The petitioners are working on a petition to recall the mayor. Mendenhall v Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, 5:09cv-00742. Thanks to Don Gallick for this news.
