Andy Craig has published an article explaining that it is a bad idea for Montana to pass SB 566, the bill to use a top-two system only in 2024, and only for the U.S. Senate race. It is published on the Cato Institute’s website. See it at cato.org/blog/california-style-top-two-mistake-montana.
The Democratic National Convention will be in Chicago, August 19-22, 2024. The last time the Democrats met in Chicago was 1996.
The 2024 Republican convention dates and city had already been chosen: Milwaukee, July 15-18, 2024.
Republicans haven’t met in Chicago since 1960.
On April 10, a Tennessee state trial court granted a temporary injunction against a law passed last month that requires Nashville-Davidson County to immediately reduce the size of its council from 40 members to 20. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County v Lee, Chancery Court, 12th district, Davidson County, 23-0336-I. Here is the opinion. Thanks to Democracy Docket for the link.
Former California State Senator Steve Peace says the lawsuit Boydston v Padilla will be appealed to the California Supreme Court. See his op-ed here. The vow to appeal is at the end. This is the case in which some voters argued that the state and federal constitutions require that independent voters be permitted to vote in the presidential primaries of all parties, not just the parties that are willing to let independents vote in their primaries.
Former Senator Peace is a proponent of top-two systems. It is good that he values the principle that all voters should be treated equally. Ironically, the system he supports prevents minor party members from voting for members of their party in general elections. So his system does not treat all voters equally; it treats Republican and Democratic voters far more kindly than it treats minor party voters. Ever since the top-two system started in California, there is not one instance when a minor party member qualified for the general election, except in cases when only one major party had someone running.
Oregon permits fusion, but when a candidate has the nomination of two parties, his or her name only appears once on the general election ballot, with both party labels. Representative David Gomberg has introduced HB 3593. It provides that when a candidate has the nomination of two parties, his or her name appears twice on the ballot, once for each party label. The bill says that if a voter “X’s” both boxes for that candidate, the vote is deemed to be cast for the smaller of the two parties.
The bill had a hearing on April 6, but the Committee hasn’t voted on the bill yet.
