On April 17, the Third Circuit issued an opinion in Kim v Hanlon, 24-1594. Here is the opinion. It agrees with the U.S. District Court that the old discriminatory ballot format, in Democcratic primaries, should be enjoined.
2
On April 15, Maine joined the National Popular Vote Plan pact, when Governor Janet Mills let LD 1578 take effect. The plan won’t go into effect until more states join. The additional states must have at least 61 electoral votes.
On April 16, Michigan held special elections to fill two vacant seats in the State House of Representatives. 13th district: Democratic 65.6%; Republican 34.4%. 25th district: Democratic 59.6%; Republican 38.3%; Constitution Party (U.S. Taxpayers Party) 2.1%.
In November 2022, the results had been similar. 13th district: Democratic 67.4%; Republican 32.6%. 25th district: 63.3%; Republican 36.7%.
The special election in the 25th district included a Constitution Party nominee, the first time that party had run for a seat in the Michigan State House since 2020.
The results give Democrats a majority in both houses of the legislature. As a result, there is a fair possibility the National Popular Vote Plan bill, HB 4156, will start to advance.
On April 16, a New Jersey state trial court refused to enjoin the Burlington County Clerk from using the discriminatory ballot format in the June 4 primary this year. Burlington County Republican Regular Organization v Schwartz, Bur-L-684-24. The other similar Republican lawsuit against other counties are still pending.
On April 16, the Eleventh Circuit dissolved the stay that the U.S. District Court had issued, relative to whether Georgia can hold elections this year for Public Service Commissioner. This means the state is now free to hold at-large elections for that office this year. Rose v Raffensperger, 22-12593.
The Libertarian Party always polls enough votes for Public Service Commissioner in Georgia to retain its qualified statewide status, so this is good news for the Libertarian Party. There are no other statewide elections this year in Georgia, other than President. The party only once polled enough votes for President to meet the vote test, in 2016.
On April 16, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case filed by the Democratic Party to remove the Legal Marijuana Now Party from the ballot. See this story.
The case is Martin v Simon, A24-0216. The Secretary of State is neutral.