First Circuit to Hear Rhode Island Campaign Speech Issue

Posted on by June 8, 2005
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On June 9, the US Court of Appeals, 1st circuit (Boston) will hear Laffey v Begin, 05-1750. The issue is whether state and federal campaign laws can be used to force a public official to give up his talk radio show. The Rhode Island Board of Elections ordered Stephen Laffey to stop being a radio talk show host, on the grounds that he is Mayor of Cranston and a potential (but undeclared) candidate for U.S. Senate next year. The Board claims that since the radio station doesn’t charge him for being a talk show host, the station is making an in-kind campaign contribution to him. On May 18, the US District Court had refused to issue a temporary injunction that would have kept the Mayor’s show on the air. The Mayor is a conservative Republican.

Louisiana Surprise

Posted on by June 7, 2005
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On June 7, the Louisiana House Governmental Affairs Committee passed SB 53, but in a drastically different form. SB 53 in its latest incarnation changes the state’s congressional elections to a semi-closed primary system, a big change from the current system.

Senator Cleo Fields, author of SB 53, introduced it earlier this year as a bill to set up semi-closed primary elections in congressional elections, and in that form, it passed the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. But then he changed the bill into a version of the “top-two” system (but with a timing difference), and in that form it passed the House last month. Now the bill is back to its original version. If it passes the House in this latest version, it will then need to go back to the Senate to see if the Senate concurs.

Colorado Governor Vetoes Good Bill

Posted on by June 7, 2005
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On June 1, Colorado Governor Bill Owens vetoed HB 1147, which would have eased restrictions on who can circulate a petition. The bill would have let any adult U.S. citizen who is a resident of Colorado circulate any kind of petition, anywhere in the state. Governor Owens said he vetoed the bill for two reasons: (1) he feels that petitions to get a candidate on the ballot in a partisan primary should only be circulated by members of that party; (2) he favors requiring circulators to wear a badge indicating whether they are being paid or not.

The current Colorado laws on who can circulate a petition (for initiatives, anyway) were held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 in Buckley v American Constitutional Law Foundation. The Governor said the laws held unconstitutional ought to be repealed, but that there is no reason to repeal other such laws that have not yet been declared unconstitutional.

Nevada Primary Date Bill Advances

Posted on by May 31, 2005
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On May 27, the Nevada State Senate passed AB 455. It moves the Nevada primary from early September to mid-August. Fortunately, the Senate deleted all the provisions of the bill that force minor parties (which nominate by convention) to nominate their candidates any earlier. The Assembly version of the bill had even required minor parties to certify their presidential candidates by mid-June. The Senate also deleted a provision advancing the deadline for independent candidates. The bill now returns to the Assembly to see if the Assembly agrees with the Senate changes.

AB 455 also eases the deadline for potential candidates to change parties. Existing law won’t let candidates seek a party nomination (major or minor) if they changed parties later than Septemer 1 of the year before the election. The bill moderates that deadline to December 31 of the year before the election.

Credit for improving the bill in the State Senate goes to Janine Hansen of the Constitution Party, who is a full-time lobbyist in the Nevada Capitol.