On March 29, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of term limits for county elected officials, in those counties that have such term limits. Bailey v County of Shelby, W2005-1508. The decision has caused consternation in Knox County, since filing for the primary has already closed for those offices, and some county officials running for re-election are now deemed ineligible.
On March 27, Democratis State Senate candidate Lou Correa won his ballot access lawsuit. A state court rejected attempts by Correa’s opponent, Assemblyman Tom Umberg, to remove Correa from the primary ballot. The issue was a state law that says candidates seeking a place on the primary need 40 signatures, but can’t turn in more than 60. Correa had turned in 101 signatures. The law was not clear, so the Superior Court Judge resolved the issue in favor of voting rights.
On March 29, Louisiana Senate Bill 18 passed the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously. This was quick action, since the legislature has only been in session since March 27. The bill only applies to congressional elections. It would let each party decide for itself whether to invite independents into its primary.
The current system is the “top-two” system, with the first round in November and the run-off in December, in which parties do not actually nominate candidates. Instead, all candidates run on a single ballot, and the top two finishers compete later if no one got 50% in the first round. Sometimes this results in two Democrats in the run-off, or two Republicans. Louisiana officials have decided this sytem puts the state at a disadvantage, since sometimes its members of Congress don’t arrive until all other states have already sent their newly-elected members. Therefore, the best committee assignments aren’t available.
On March 27, a state court in Washington state struck down a statute that prevented a class of ex-felons from registering to vote. The class includes those who have served their prison time, but are still paying off fines. The plaintiffs are low-income, and at the rate they are paying off their fines, it will be decades before that obligation is complete. The court ruled that the law violates the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as state constitution’s equal protection clause as well. Madison v State, 04-2-33414-4, Seattle.
On March 27, a Missouri Democrat filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State, because she refused to let him appear on the Democratic primary ballot for U.S. House, 7th district. The Secretary of State refused to accept his candidacy because the Democratic Party of Missouri said the candidate, Glenn Miller, is a white supremacist (Miller accepts this designation as accurate). Miller v Missouri Secretary of State, 06-5032-cv-SW.
A few states empower political parties to reject a member or a candidate in that party’s own primary, if the member or candidate is not in sympathy with party principles. However, Missouri has no such law. Therefore, the state will need to establish that there is a common law right for political parties to exclude, something that will probably be difficult to do. This case may create an interesting precedent.
