9th Circuit Won't Rehear Alaskan Independence Party Case

Posted on by December 22, 2008
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On December 17, the 9th circuit denied a rehearing en banc in Alaskan Independence Party v State of Alaska, 07-35186. The issue was whether a political party’s freedom of association extends to controlling who can run in its primary. The original decision on October 6 sided with the state, but didn’t really grapple with the constitutional issues involved, and seemed to think the case was about whether the government can require parties to nominate by primary. It is possible the Alaskan Independence Party will ask for U.S. Supreme Court review.

Status of Two Pending Cases on Petitioning on Post Office Sidewalks

Posted on by December 22, 2008
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At least two lawsuits are pending over the Post Office’s regulation that bans petitioning on interior Post Office sidewalks. The case filed in 2000 is still in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., but is likely to have an opinion soon. That case is Initiative & Referendum Institute v U.S. Postal Service, 00-cv-1246.

The other case is Del Gallo v Parent, 08-1511. It had a hearing in the 1st circuit on December 1. One of the three judges seemed favorable to the post office regulation; one judge seemed favorable to the plaintiff (who was petitioning to get on the Massachusetts Republican primary ballot); and one judge didn’t seem to reveal his thoughts. The case arose in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. A decision in this case is probably several months away.

IRV Gains Visibility in Minnesota

Posted on by December 22, 2008
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This link, from a Fox TV news station in Mankato, Minnesota, discusses Instant-Runoff Voting, and suggests that Minnesota would not be having its U.S. Senate recount if the state used IRV. Of course logically a race can be excruciatingly close under IRV as well, but in the particular example of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, chances are overwhelming that it would not have been close if IRV has been in use. The piece gives plenty of time to the Blue Earth County Auditor, a spokesperson for the anti-IRV side.

Partial Pennsylvania Presidential Write-Ins Released

Posted on by December 22, 2008
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The Pennsylvania state elections office has released partial write-in totals from the November 2008 presidential election. The state office only tabulated write-ins for Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, and Chuck Baldwin. Clinton received 4,724; Paul 3,527; Baldwin 986; others 8,180.

Only 49 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties reported any write-ins, which means the other 18 counties, including Philadelphia, unlawfully ignored them. Thanks to Blyden Potts for retrieving these returns. Pennsylvania is the only large state which doesn’t have a law requiring write-in candidates to request that their write-ins be counted. Thus, in theory, all write-ins are valid in Pennsylvania and all ought to be counted. It is likely that anyone who wants to find a partial total for other presidential candidates, such as Cynthia McKinney, could spend additional time looking at the returns sent in by each county to Harrisburg, and could pull out more votes from the 8,180 “other” category.

U.S. District Court Upholds Connecticut Ban on Campaign Contributions from Lobbyists and State Contractors

Posted on by December 21, 2008
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On December 19, U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill upheld Connecticut campaign finance laws that ban campaign contributions to candidates for state office from lobbyists, state contractors, and their spouses and dependent children. See the 98-page decision here.

This case’s name is Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield. However, that is somewhat misleading, because this ACLU lawsuit challenged many aspects of the Connecticut campaign finance laws in a single lawsuit. The first half of the lawsuit, involving discriminatory rules on which candidates may receive public funding, has nothing to do with the issues in the December 19 ruling.

Connecticut defines “lobbyist” to be someone who makes at least $2,000 per year as a lobbyist. “Contractor” is someone who has a contract with the state amounting to at least $50,000.