The Nebraska deadline for introducing bills passed on January 21, and no legislator introduced a bill to change Nebraska’s system of choosing one presidential elector from each U.S. House district. A press survey earlier this month had revealed that almost half of Nebraska’s legislators want to return to “winner-take-all” for choosing presidential electors, but no legislator seems to have introduced a bill to do that.
Back on September 22, 2008, Bob Barr won a federal court injunction against Massachusetts, over whether his name should be on the ballot even though the party had used a stand-in on its presidential petition. The case was called Barr v Galvin. The memorandum and order of Judge Nathaniel Gorton is now reported at 584 F Supp 2d 316.
When a case is “reported”, that means it is printed in the Federal Supplement, a series of books that is found in every law library. Cases that are reported can more easily be cited as precedents. Judges decide which of their decisions should be reported. In the past, many federal ballot access victories have not been reported, which diminishes their usefulness. For example, the only other federal court victory on presidential substitution, a 1996 decision won by the Libertarian Party against Florida, is not reported. Barr v Galvin is the first reported decision on presidential substitution.
States that have refused to permit presidential substitution are Alabama, Maine, and New Hampshire, and having Barr v Galvin reported may help to persuade state legislators in those states to revise the law on that point.
Montana voter registration forms have never asked voters to choose a political party. This year, two very dissimilar bills to create registration by party are pending.
Senator Jose Balyeat (R-Bozeman) has introduced SB 186, for voluntary party affiliation on voter registration forms. If the bill passes, anyone who registers into a political party would then gain the ability to vote in presidential caucuses. Under existing law, the only Montana voters who can participate in presidential caucuses are party officials. The voluntary party affiliation, or lack of it, would have no effect on voting in primaries for office other than president.
HB 248, by Rep. Ken Peterson (R-Billings) would also provide for registration into parties, on voter registration forms. However, this bill would close party primaries, so that no one could vote in a primary unless registered in that party. The bill makes no provision for a party decision to allow independents to vote in its own primaries, and also seems to make no provision for voters to register into an unqualified party. The bill had a hearing in the House State Administration Committee on January 22. All witnesses who appeared, opposed the bill.
As noted earlier, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson earlier this month introduced SJR 4, a proposed constitutional amendment to elect the president directly by popular vote. The same proposal has been introduced in the U.S. House by Congressman Gene Greene (D-Tx). It is HJR 9.
The Congressional Delegates from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa have introduced HJR 2, another proposed constitutional amendment. It says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in the election for President and Vice President shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of residency in a territory or commonwealth of the United States. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” This proposed amendment is badly worded. There is no election for President and Vice President mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, unless one is referring to the vote of the electoral college, or actions by Congress when the electoral college fails to elect a president or vice-president. Furthermore, this proposed amendment says nothing about presidential electors. When the Constitution was amended to let residents of the District of Columbia participate in presidential elections, that amendment specified how many electoral votes D.C. would have.
HR 59, by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tx) would forbid states from disenfranchising ex-felons, in federal elections.
S48, by Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) would outlaw all vote-counting equipment that does not create a paper trail, if it is purchased by election administrators after December 31, 2012. Thanks to Electionline Weekly for this news.
On January 22, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said that he will not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case over whether the U.S. Constitution protects the right of out-of-state circulators to work on Oklahoma initiative petitions. He also said he is dropping criminal charges against Paul Jacob, Susan Johnson, and Rick Carpenter. They had been charged with conspiring to bring in out-of-state initiative circulators.
It will be interesting to see if a bill is introduced in the upcoming session of the Oklahoma legislature to repeal the ban on out-of-state initiative circulators.
