Brief Filed in North Carolina Lawsuit Over Exclusion of Independent Voters from Being Members of Election Boards

Posted on by June 12, 2023
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North Carolina has a State Board of Elections, and county boards of election. The law says all members of these boards must be registered members of one or the other of the two largest parties. A federal lawsuit is currently pending against the exclusion of independents. Common Cause v Moore, m.d., 1:22cv-611.

The defendants are trying to get the case dismissed without the need for a trial. The latest brief was filed on May 30, by the plaintiffs, who argue that they do have standing and that the court deserves a trial. Read it here.

Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Most Language on the August 2023 Ballot Measure Relating to Initiative Qualification

Posted on by June 12, 2023
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On June 12, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an opinion in State ex rel One Person, One Vote v Ohio Ballot Board, 2023-Ohio-1928. This is a lawsuit over the wording of the ballot measure that will be on the ballot in August 2023, making it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot and also making it more difficult for them to pass.

The ruling upholds the wording that says the measure “Elevates” the number of signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The plaintiffs had argued that “elevates” implies an improvement. They argued that the ballot should say that the measure “increases” the number of signatures, but the Court said “elevates” and “increases” mean the same thing. That part of the ruling was 4-3. The Court did order a few changes in the wording, but those changes aren’t as important as the issue of which verb to use. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the news about the decision.

New Hampshire Proposed Constitutional Amendment on Presidential Primary Timing is Defeated

Posted on by June 12, 2023
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On June 8, the New Hampshire House tabled CACR 9. It had passed the State Senate earlier unanimously. It is a proposed constitutional amendment saying the New Hampshire presidential primary should be the first such primary in the nation.

If it had passed the legislature, then the voters would have voted on it in November 2024. Perhaps legislators realized the amendment was toothless. Nothing in the New Hampshire Constitution can alter the dates of presidential primaries in other states.

Another bill relating to the presidential primary was tabled in the New Hampshire legislature last month. It was SB 271, and it said New Hampshire delegates to presidential conventions must be seated and have complete voting rights. This is another example of a toothless idea; the state of New Hampshire has no right to determine the rules of national political party conventions. The bill had been motivated by a fear that the Democratic Party might penalize New Hampshire delegates if the date of New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary in 2024 violates national party rules.

New Briefs Filed in Georgia Lawsuit Over Whether Public Service Commissioner Elections Should be At-Large or by District

Posted on by June 12, 2023
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The Eleventh Circuit is currently considering Rose v Georgia Secretary of State, 22-12593, the case over whether Georgia elections for Public Service Commissioner should be at-large or by district. The U.S. District Court had ruled that the at-large system injures African-American voters, and the state had appealed. Meanwhile no election was held for Public Service Commissioner in 2022, pending the outcome of the case.

On June 9, both sides filed new briefs, giving their view of how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision Allen v Milligan should affect the Georgia case. In Allen v Milligan, the U.S. Supreme Court again upheld section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Here is the brief of the Georgia voters who filed the case.

Here is the state government brief.

New Jersey Filing Closes for 2023 Legislative Races

Posted on by June 11, 2023
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New Jersey elects its state legislature on November 7, 2023. Filing closed on June 6. The New Jersey state elections office website has a list of the minor party and independent candidates who submitted petitions. For State Senate, there are three Libertarians, one Socialist Worker, and five independents. For Assembly, there are two Libertarians, one Socialist Worker, one Green, and five independents.

Links to the list are here. There are two links, one for State Senate and one for Assembly. Thanks to commenter Bob M. for reminding me that this list is now available.