U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol ordered the state of South Dakota Tuesday to pay $612,045 in legal fees, and travel expenses of $7,539 for the plaintiffs who won a ballot access trial against the state in February. Judge Piersol ruled in late February that the state signatures requirements for minor parties to access the ballot were onerous, and that the late-winter filing deadline was too early.

San Diego County Measure D Ballot Statement:

INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING CHARTER AMENDMENTS REQUIRING ALL ELECTIONS FOR SAN DIEGO COUNTY ELECTIVE OFFICES TO BE HELD AT A GENERAL ELECTION AND REQUIRING ADOPTION OF LOCAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO WRITE-IN CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY ELECTIVE OFFICEShall this initiative measure, proposing county charter amendments requiring all elections for San Diego County elective Offices to be held at a general election and requiring adoption of local regulations relating to write-in candidates for county elective office, be adop

"CCAs can be good things, but they can also be dangerously manipulated by the exact same energy companies who created the energy crisis." ~ Former Senator Steve Peace

San Diego, CA.- Former Senator Steve Peace knows a little something about energy and the critical relationship between the end user and those who provide electricity.

I. Independent Voters Are Disgusted With The Relentless Negativity of Partisan Gutter Politics

Independent voters make up over 40 percent of registered voters in the United States today, while fewer than 30 percent are either registered Republicans or Democrats.

Since the Me Too movement began shedding light on discrimination and sexual harassment within the workplace, companies around the U.S. have taken notice and are cracking down on lewd behavior.

Women across the country are speaking out against their assaulters and refusing to keep quiet. This has forced companies to re-evaluate their employees and enforce new regulations on how workers should act. Because of this, organizations are starting to improve their company culture and make the workplace a safer and happier place for women.

Jefferson City, Missouri - The Clean Missouri campaign released a new report 5 weeks from the election on the lobbyist gift culture in Jefferson City -- Missouri's capital -- and the campaign says that what they found were shocking statistics:

• "Lobbyists have reported giving an average of $885,020 in gifts to the Missouri General Assembly every year, for years 2004-2017."

• "The reported gift total for 2017—$1,070,667—is the highest on record at the Missouri Ethics Commission. The second highest reported total was $1,006,050 in 2006."

The Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board says 2019 is the year New Mexico needs to adopt open primaries. The two candidates for governor have not closed the door on opening the state's primaries, and the Albuquerque Journal says that's a good thing.

"As our elected officials are deciding whether they want to go out on a limb on this issue, they should take into consideration the fact that there are more than 273,300 independent voters in our state right now locked out of voting in New Mexico primary elections. That’s simply unacceptable.

Here’s the final list of propositions that made the cut for the November election. On the list are proposals to slash the gas tax, re-introduce rent control, absolve major corporations of their legal debt, and borrow billions to fund houses, hospitals, and water canals.

Propositions on the November 2018 California ballot

Reported by Ben Christopher. Interactive by John Osborn D'Agostino.

Writing in a letter to the editor of The Star Democrat, Warren Davis says  "Independent voters should elect Jesse Colvin," the Democrat running to unseat Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) in the state's 1st District 2018 congressional race. Harris had held the seat since 2010 after narrowly losing in his first run for it in 2008.

San Diego, CA.- Central to the Democrats desire to take back the house in November is a strong showing in California.

California is home to seven GOP-held seats that Hillary Clinton carried in 2016.

The 49th District, which includes parts of San Diego County and Orange counties, is one of them. Voters here backed Clinton by 7 points while re-electing GOP Rep. Darrell Issa by less than 1 point. Issa is retiring and going to work in the Trump administration.