The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for May 25-31 2015
The Supreme Court agreed to hear Evenwel v. Abbott, a case that will answer a long-contested question about a bedrock principle of the American political system: the meaning of “one person one vote.” Richard Hasen examines the case in an editorial in Slate Magazine. The NCSL Canvass considers the ramifications of the fact that most of the equipment in use around the nation was bought with federal money made available through the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) – before smartphones were invented, and even iPods were new technology – and a significant portion of the country uses equipment that was bought well before that. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a Montana case could make it more difficult for states to defend their restrictions on the amount of money that individual donors give candidates in state elections. A bill that would allow major political parties to hold a presidential-preference primary election passed the Nevada Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee on Thursday — a day after the same committee voted against the measure. A mandate to replace AVS WINVote voting machines has stretched the budgets of some Virginia localities. Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid to stand for a third term in office suffered a new blow on Saturday after it emerged a top a election official had fled the country and the newly-elected UK government has ruled out extending the right to vote in the upcoming EU referendum to all British citizens living abroad, despite a promise made by the Conservative party chairman that it would.