On September 12, a New Hampshire legislative subcommittee will hold a hearing on HB 48, which lowers the definition of “party” from a group that polled 4%, to a group that polled 2%. New Hampshire is one of only 15 states which currently recognizes only the Democratic and Republican Parties. The median vote test of the 50 states is 2%, so New Hampshire law is tougher than the average law.
On September 6, the California Assembly passed SB 408 by a vote of 46-27. It makes it illegal for anyone to circulate a statewide initiative petition if he or she had not been eligible to register to vote at the time of the previous election. This makes it impossible for 18-year-olds to circulate an initiative if they had not been age 18 at the time of the last election. It also makes it impossible for people who have recently moved into the state to circulate. It is possible Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto it.
The New York election law case being argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3 will feature three attorneys. Arguing for Margarita Lopez Torres and her fellow plaintiffs (candidates who have been excluded from New York Republican and Democratic primary ballots, and voters who want to vote for them) is Frederick A. O. “Fritz” Schwarz. He has been involved in the lawsuit since the beginning. He is Chair of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, a former Chief Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and a leader of the Brennan Center for Justice.
Arguing in defense of New York state election laws are two attorneys. Theodore Olson is a former Solicitor General under our current president, and has argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on 46 occasions. He was not involved with the case until it reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He will speak on behalf of the New York State Board of Elections.
Andrew Rossman will also argue on the side of the state, but he will be representing the Democratic Party of Manhatten (i.e., New York County). He has been involved in this case in the lower courts. It will be his first time arguing in the U.S. Supreme Court.
On September 6, a U.S. District Court in Rome, Georgia, upheld that state’s law, requiring voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. See Rick Hasen’s election law blog here for more details and his analysis. The decision is 159 pages long and Hasen provides a link to the decision (actually, two links, since the decision is so lengthy).
Idaho is one of the 13 states in which the state income tax form lets taxpayers send $1 (or a slightly larger amount) to the political party of the taxpayer’s choice. The printed Ballot Access News has tracked amounts of money sent to each political party in all years, starting in 2000. In the period 2000-2006, the Republican Party always got more money from Idaho taxpayers than the Democratic Party. However, on tax returns submitted in 2007, for the first time the Idaho Democrats got more than the Idaho Republicans. The full figures for all parties, for all 13 states, will be in the printed October 1, 2007 Ballot Access News.
