A hearing on two motions to dismiss our suit without a trial will be held on Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:00am. The address is 1221 Oak Street, Department 16, in Oakland ( MAP ).

The requests to dismiss the suit (the technical name is “demurrer”) were filed on March 11 by defendant Secretary of State Debra Bowen and by a group of intervenors in the case led by former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado. We filed our reply on May 21. All of the documents are linked here.

On Friday, June 7, Judge Lawrence John Appel issued this tentative ruling denying the request to dismiss with respect to our ballot access claim, and granting the request to dismiss with respect to our equal protection claim. The tentative ruling means that a trial is needed to judge the ballot access claim. For an analysis of the tentative ruling, see Ballot Access News.

The hearing on Monday morning is an important one. This is an opportunity for the other side to persuade the judge to change his mind (and for our side to persuade him that his tentative ruling should stand). Those in the Bay Area should attend if they possibly can.

The trial itself is tentatively scheduled to start on February 18, 2014.

Since court dates are frequently changed at the last minute, please check this site for updates.

According to Ballot Access News:

On January 4, an Alameda County Superior Court held a status conference in Rubin v Bowen, the lawsuit in which the Peace & Freedom, Libertarian, and Green Parties challenge the essence of the California top-two system. The judge set another status conference for March 4, and said he is working very hard on an opinion as to whether the case should be dismissed. That opinion will be released before January 29.

Updated January 25, 2013 — The opinion, sustaining the defendent’s demurrer but granting leave to amend on two of the four causes of action, is here.

Our constitutional challenge to Prop. 14 costs money. Support the right of voters to a full range of choices on the general election ballot. Donate now to help us cover our legal expenses.

Make checks to payable to Siegel and Yee and send to:

Restore Voter Choice
c/o Woods
PO Box 316
Novato, CA 94948

Please download, print and distribute this flyer.

At a hearing in Alameda County Superior Court on October 29, Judge Lawrence John Appel appeared likely to order a trial on the merits of our case. We will post the actual order as soon as we obtain it.

Ballot Access News has a detailed report on the hearing here.

The next court date is set for Friday, January 4, 2013, at 9:00am. The address is 1221 Oak Street, Deptartment 16, in Oakland. Although this is a purely procedural hearing (called a “case management conference”), it is still good to have supporters in the courtroom.

Since court dates are frequently changed at the last minute, please check here for updates.

Update: on October 8, the hearing originally scheduled for September 25, and then postponed to October 9, was again postponed. The new date is October 29.

A hearing on our constitutional challenge to California’s “top two” elections has been scheduled for October 29. This hearing will about defendant Debra Bowen’s “demurrer” to the suit (a demurrer is a motion to dismiss a lawsuit without holding a trial). Unless the court grants the defendant’s motion, there will be further hearings on the merits of our case.

The plaintiffs encourage supporters in the Bay Area to attend this important court hearing.

The hearing is scheduled for 9:00am on Monday, October 29 in Department 16 of the court, located at 1221 Oak Street in Oakland, before Judge Lawrence John Appel. If there are last minute changes in the schedule, they will be posted here as soon as we learn about them.

This article was originally posted at IndyBay.org on April 10, 2012.

Rubin v. Bowen: Third-Party Challenge to Unconstitutional Prop 14

by Felipe Messina (info [at] mediaroots.org)

Tuesday Apr 10th, 2012 3:18 AM

Yesterday, KPFA Radio’s The Morning Mix spoke with representatives from California’s third-parties about their legal challenge to Proposition 14, Rubin v. Bowen, which created the new statewide ‘Top Two’ electoral system. Under this system, the rigged de facto two-party system has now been virtually codified in California. Given the obscene amounts of corporate funding expended by the pro-1% Democrat and Republican parties, third-party voters are, essentially, disenfranchised under this clearly unconstitutional legislation.
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