Montana Supreme Court Unseats Jore

Posted on by December 28, 2004
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Today, the Montana Supreme Court issued an order, reversing a lower state court. The lower court had upheld the officials who had recounted the race for district 12, Montana House of Representatives. The recount officials, and the lower court, had agreed that the race was tied. Since the race had been tied, the Governor had exercised her right to fill the vacancy, and she had appointed Jore.

But the Montana Supreme Court said that “at least one” of Rick Jore’s votes is not valid. The Court said it would explain its reasoning later. Rick Jore would have been the first person elected to a state legislature as a Constitution Party nominee.

Since Jore had been appointed to the seat by the Governor, on the basis that the popular vote had been tied, the fact that the Montana eliminated “at least one” of Jore’s votes, means that Jore was not eligible to be appointed to the seat.

Political Party Showings in US House races for November

Posted on by December 27, 2004
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Various political parties polled the following number of votes for their US House of Representatives nominees (these numbers include affiliate parties with different names):

Republican
55,887,080
Democratic
53,077,115
Libertarian
1,053,658
Green
320,259
Constitution
187,006
Reform
85,539
other parties
621,041
indep. candidates
760,985

The Louisiana election returns from November were used above. No Louisiana run-off returns from December are included.

In cases in which two parties jointly nominated the same person, and voters could cast a vote under either party label, the figures above give credit to each party. For example, if a candidate was nominated jointly by the New York Republican Party and the New York Conservative Party, votes cast under each party label are kept separate. By contrast, most other sources that calculate the total vote for U.S. House of Representatives by party give all such votes to the Republican column.

Constitution Party State Legislator Likely to Be Seated

Posted on by December 19, 2004
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On December 17, a lower Montana state court ruled that Rick Jore is the new Montana State Representative from the 12th district. Rick Jore is the Constitution Party nominee, and he becomes the first state legislator in the nation to be elected under the Constitution Party label.

The court ruled that the election results, as tabulated in the recount, are correct. The recount showed that Jore and his Democratic opponent tied. Under Montana law, a tie vote for state legislature gives the Governor the right to appoint, and Montana’s outgoing Republican Governor had appointed Jore to the seat a few days earlier, since the recount had shown a tie. Jore’s Democratic opponent filed a lawsuit to overturn the results of the recount, but her lawsuit did not succeed.

San Diego Write-In Candidate Now Shown to Have Received the Most Votes

Posted on by December 15, 2004
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Today, San Diego city elections officials released the results of an examination of certain write-in ballots cast for Mayor last month. They show that over 4,100 voters wrote in Donna Frye for Mayor, but didn’t blacken the oval next to the write-in line. If these votes are considered valid, Frye received the most votes for Mayor on November 2.

This factual revelation increases the likelihood that Frye will pursue an appeal in the State Court of Appeals, to obtain a decision that those type of votes should be counted.