The two-day trial in Yes on Term Limits v Savage concluded on August 21. The case, in federal court in Oklahoma City, concerns Oklahoma’s ban on out-of-state petition circulators. Federal judge Tim Leonard asked that each side submit post-trial briefs, due September 4. He indicated he will rule by mid-September.
On August 20, the New York Supreme Court in Brooklyn ruled in favor of the Fulani wing of the New York Independence Party, and against the party’s statewide officers. The case is Conroy v State Committee of Independence Party, no. 700025-07. The issue is whether the state committee of the Independence Party could deprive some duly constituted county units of the party from controlling who runs in the party’s primary. The state party had passed a bylaw saying that upstate counties could continue to enjoy that right, but that the New York city units of the party could not. The court ruled that the state party bylaw conflicts with the state election code. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.
The California Poll published a poll on August 21, showing that the proposed initiative to let each California U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector has more voter support than opposition. See here for the details. Thanks to Jack Dean for this news.
See here for more on Sam Nunn, including his views on U.S. policy on Iraq and nuclear arms proposals. This is a link to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, written by the reporter who interviewed Nunn a few days ago. There are also audio links to the Nunn interview.
The new book “Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures 1796-2006”, by Michael J. Dubin, lists the party affiliations of each state legislative body throughout U.S. history. The book shows that since 1854 (when the Democratic and Republican Parties became the two major parties), every state except Arizona and Hawaii has had the nominees of other parties, or independent candidates, or both, represented in state legislatures. A future issue of the paper edition of Ballot Access News will carry more details.
