New Hampshire Proposed Constitutional Amendment on Presidential Primary Timing is Defeated

Posted on by June 12, 2023
12

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
1

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
1

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.

Politico Story on Cornel West Presidential Candidacy

Posted on by June 11, 2023
30

Politico has this story by Holly Otterbein about the Cornel West presidential candidacy.

The story suggests that Jill Stein injured Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Otterbein and other reporters would do a better job if they checked the exit polls from 2016. Those exit polls show that only 25% of the Stein voters said they would have voted for Hillary Clinton if Stein had not been running, and 11% of them said they would have voted for Donald Trump if Stein had not been running.

Assuming the accuracy of those results, Stein’s presence in the 2016 race did not change the outcome in any state, not even Michigan, which was the closest state carried by Trump. Trum’s margin in Michigan was 10,704 votes. Stein received 51,463 votes in Michigan. Because the exit polls show a net gain of 14% (25% minus 11%) if Stein had not been running, one can calculate 14% of Stein’s vote to be 7,205 votes, so Trump still would have carried Michigan, because 7,205 is less than 10,704.

U.S. District Court in Michigan Libertarian Trademark Case Finds Procedural Problems with Libertarian National Committee’s Request for Injunction

Posted on by June 10, 2023
20

On June 9, U.S. District Court Judge Judith E. Levy determined that the Libertarian National Committee’s request for a Michigan injunction has procedural problems. She struck the document from the record and ordered the LNC to re-file by June 16. Here is the three-page ruling in Libertarian National Committee v Saliba, e.d., 5:23cv-11074.

The case had been filed because the Libertarian National Committee believes that trademark law can be used to adjudicate an internal dispute over who the officers of the Michigan Libertarian Party are.

In the meantime, no attorney for the Defendants has entered the case. The Defendants include four Libertarian Party nominees from the 2022 election, including the party’s gubernatorial nominee.

Thanks to Independent Political Wire for this news.