U.S. District Court Tells Puerto Rico to Print Bi-lingual Ballots

Posted on by September 4, 2008
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On August 27, U.S. District Court Judge Jose A. Fuste ordered the Puerto Rican Election Commission to print ballots in English as well as Spanish. The Commonwealth had been planning to print ballots only in Spanish. The Commission argued that the Voting Rights Act doesn’t apply to Puerto Rico, but the court disagreed. The Voting Rights Act requires that language minorities amounting to at least 5% must have their own language on ballots. The plaintiff presented evidence to show that 14% of the population of Puerto Rico uses English as their first language. The case is Diffenderfer v Gomez Colon, no. 08-1918. Here is the decision, thanks to Professor Eugene Volokh.

After the ruling, the Commission said it would be impossible to comply in time for the November 4 election. The Commission is appealing to the 1st Circuit. Puerto Rico this year elects a Governor, a Commonwealth Legislature, and a representative to the U.S. House of Representatives. Puerto Rico does not vote for president in the general election, although it did hold a Democratic presidential primary this year and in certain earlier years.

UPDATE: the case number in the First Circuit is 08-2107.

Washington State Primary Turnout Worse in 2008 than in 2004

Posted on by September 4, 2008
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The Washington Secretary of State’s office is almost finished tallying the results of the August 2008 primary. According to the Secretary’s web page, only 200 ballots remain to be counted. The Secretary of State’s web page also shows that the 2008 turnout was 42.58% of registered voters. That figure might change a miniscule amount when the absolute final tally is finished.

In the last gubernatorial primary in Washington state, in 2004, the Secretary of State’s webpage shows the turnout was 45.14%. In 2004, Washington state used a classic open primary. In 2008, for the first time, Washington used the “top-two” primary. “Top-two” proponents always argued that “top-two” would surely produce a higher turnout than any other type of primary. Secretary of State Sam Reed, who supports “top-two”, had predicted before the August 2008 primary that turnout would be 46%.

7th Circuit Expedites Independent US House Ballot Access Case

Posted on by September 3, 2008
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On September 3, the 7th circuit expedited the ballot access case Stevo v Keith, 08-3218. The plaintiffs’ brief is due September 5; the state’s brief is due September 12; the rebuttal brief is due September 15. The case challenges the number of signatures needed for an independent or unqualified party candidate for U.S. House. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law on August 27.

Florida Will Have 13 Presidential Candidates on Ballot

Posted on by September 3, 2008
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The Florida ballot will list thirteen presidential candidates, the most ever in Florida history. The previous high had been in 2000, when there had been ten. In 2004 there had been eight.

The thirteen include the six presidential candidates who are on the ballot in states containing a majority of the electoral votes. In addition, there are three socialists (James Harris of the Socialist Workers Party, Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Brian Moore of the Socialist Party).

Also on are the Prohibition Party and Alan Keyes’ America’s Independent Party. Finally there are two parties organized by dissident Libertarians, the Boston Tea Party, and the Objectivist Party. Their nominees are Charles Jay and Tom Stevens.