No labels is getting attention for its idea of possibly running a centrist ticket in 2024. But few reporters explain that the No Labels idea is not new, and that it was tried in 2012 by a group called Americans Elect. And even before that, a similar idea was launched in 2008 called Unity ’08. A National Public Radio story recounts the history of the 2008 and 2012 attempts. Ironically, virtually no one attacked those groups, but No Labels is getting fiercely attacked.
On July 20, the Missouri Supreme Court issued an opinion in State ex rel Fitz-James v Bailey, SC100132. It is unanimous, although one justice didn’t participate. It says the Attorney General cannot block an initiative on abortion law simply because he disagrees with the Auditor’s estimate of how much the government would need to spend if the initiative passed.
In Missouri, the initiative petitions cannot start to circulate until the measure has a title and a cost estimate. The Attorney General has delayed the start of the petition drive by 100 days because he asserted he disagrees with the Auditor’s figure. The Court said the Attorney General does not have the authority to interfere with the cost estimate. Here is the opinion. Thanks to several people for the news.
U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones will hold a trial in the Georgia redistricting lawsuits beginning on September 5. The post-trial briefs are due September 25. The case is complicated and involves a challenge to the U.S. House and legislative districts.
If the judge rules against the current districts, the legislature will be given a chance to draw new ones. But the state may appeal any ruling against the districts. It is therefore somewhat likely that the new districdts, if new districts are needed, won’t be known until 2024. And if the district boundaries aren’t known until 2024, several Georgia precedents would require that petitioning candidates will need fewer signatures, relative to how much petitioning time is lost. The Georgia petitioning period runs from January through mid-July.
On July 19, an appeal was filed to the Second Circuit in Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 23-1054. This is the lawsuit over the May petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, in New York. The U.S. District Court had upheld the deadline on July 10, 2023. The case had been filed by supporters of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in 2021. After he had lost the June 2021 primary for re-election, he had circulated a petition to be an independent candidate. But because the 2019 legislature had moved the independent deadline from August to May, his petition was too late.
He still got re-elected in November 2021, on write-in votes. The U.S. District Court had ruled that the burden of the early deadline was “slight”. But the burden on the voters who wanted to vote for Mayor Brown was not slight. Forcing him to be a write-in candidate made it more difficult for voters to vote for him. Also, his voters were not treated equally, because voters who wanted to vote for his opponent in November did not need to cast a write-in vote. It is difficult to understand how the U.S. District Court considered this a “slight” burden, given that a majority of voters in the November election were affected.
This article provides the details of the legislature’s response to the recent SCOTUS Allen v. Milligan decision.
Thanks to politicalwire.com for the heads up!
