Politics in Brief - September 17 2018

NM SUPREME COURT RULES OUT STRAIGHT-TICKET VOTING

The NEW MEXICO Supreme Court ruled unanimously last week that Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) did not have the authority to reinstate straight-ticket voting after that option was discontinued by her predecessor in 2011, saying whether to allow it should be up to the Legislature to decide. Only nine states still allow straight-ticket voting, by which candidates from one party can be selected in every race by marking a single box. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

FEDERAL VOTING PROBE IN NC

U.S. Justice Department prosecutors have demanded eight years of voting records from NORTH CAROLINA’s Division of Motor Vehicles. The order appears to be part of a federal investigation into whether noncitizens illegally voted in the state. (GOVERNING, NEWS & OBSERVER [RALEIGH], NEW YORK TIMES)

NJ WANTS TO SHIELD RESIDENTS FROM OUT-OF-STATE TRAFFIC CAMERAS 

NEW JERSEY lawmakers are considering blocking the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission from providing identifying information about state residents to agencies in other states, including NEW YORK and PENNSYLVANIA, seeking to cite drivers for speed- and red-light camera violations, which the Garden State stopped doing after a red-light camera program ended there in 2014. SOUTH DAKOTA began protecting its residents from out-of-state traffic cameras in 2014. (PHILADEPHIA INQUIRER)

FL SUPREME COURT GIVES GO-AHEAD FOR THREE BALLOT MEASURES

The FLORIDA Supreme Court rejected challenges to three proposed constitutional amendments aimed at banning greyhound racing, requiring Miami-Dade County voters to elect a sheriff and enacting a crime victims’ bill of rights, allowing the measures to appear on the state’s November ballot. But the court narrowly struck down a fourth amendment that would have allowed the expansion of state oversight of charter schools. (GOVERNING)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK