Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.
The Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Rubin v Padilla, 15-135, at its October 9 conference.
Michael Rubin t al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. ALEX PADILLA , as Secretary of State, INDEPENDENT VOTER PROJECT et al., Interveners and Respondents.
Three small political parties and several party members and candidates sought to invalidate California’s electoral system for statewide and legislative offices, contending the system, which consists of an open nonpartisan election followed by a runoff between the top-two candidates, deprives them of equal protection and associational and voting rights secured by the state and federal Constitutions.
According to plaintiffs, because “minor” party candidates are typically eliminated in the primary election, they are denied the constitutional right to participate in the general election upon a showing of substantial public support. This is in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, by excluding the great majority of candidates and their diverse messages from the moment of peak political participation.
No news from that conference will be announced by the court until Tuesday, October 13.
CLICK HERE for Restore Voter Choice website.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
2 comments:
California does not have non-partisan elections for Congress and partisan state office. The very wording of the California Constitution makes this clear. California has non-partisan elections for county and city office. For congress and partisan state office, party labels appear on the ballot and parties may publish endorsements in the government-funded Voters Pamphlet. The California Constitution does not use the term "non-partisan" for Congress or state office, and those elections are to bodies that are organized on partisan lines (the majority party chooses the Congressional leaders and committee chairs; same with the legislature). Anyone who says these California elections are "non-partisan" is just trying to fool people.
"party labels appear on the ballot and parties may publish endorsements in the government-funded Voters Pamphlet"
Can the party's request a designation on the ballot to indicate their choice?
Post a Comment