On August 23, a state court in Denver heard Colorado Libertarian Party v Doty. The issue is whether qualified minor parties may nominate candidates who have not been registered into those parties for an entire year. Major parties have an exemption from the one-year rule. At the hearing, the attorney for the Libertarian Party asked to submit into evidence a letter from the Secretary of State, written in 2002. It said that it is the Secretary of State’s position that relief from the one-year duration of membership also applies to qualified minor parties. The attorney for the county vigorously tried to prevent that letter from being placed into evidence, but the Judge accepted it into evidence. He said he would rule within a week.

On August 22, the Sonoma County Republican Party appealed the California write-in case to the State Court of Appeals. The case is Sonoma County Republican Party v McPherson, co 53443. The issue is a state law that makes it almost impossible for parties to nominate write-in candidates in their own primaries.

On August 22, the California State Senate passed AB 2948, the “National Popular Vote Plan” for electing the president. The California legislature is the first legislature to pass such a bill. No one knows if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign it. The vote was 23-14; no Republican Senators voted for it.