ACLU Wins Court Order Allowing Petitioning in Genesee County, Michigan Park

On July 18, the Michigan ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against officials of the Genesee County Parks Department, because the officials were attempting to outlaw petitioning within the Linden county park, except during daylight hours in a very small, isolated part of that park, and only for people who had first obtained a permit. On July 22 the officials conceded, and signed a consent decree that no one needs a permit to petition, and that most of the park is open to petitioning. See the complaint here. Thanks to Ballot Box News for this news. The plaintiffs are attempting to get signatures on a petition to recall the Governor.

Genesee County includes Flint. The case is Miller v McMillan, eastern district, 2:11-cv-13088.

Four-Candidate U.S. House Debate Set in Nevada

Nevada holds a special election on September 13 to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 2nd district. All four ballot-listed candidates have been invited to debate each other on August 25. The debate is sponsored by a radio station, a television station, and Reno’s daily newspaper, the Gazette-Journal. The four candidates are: Republican Mark Amodei, Independent American Party nominee Tim Fasano, independent candidate Helmuth Lehman, and Democrat Kate Marshall.

The inclusiveness of this debate is an improvement for Nevada. In 2010, no televised debates for the Nevada major party nominees for Governor or U.S. Senator included any minor party or independent candidates.

Americans Elect Says It May Wish to Run Congressional Candidates

On June 25, the Americans Elect facebook page featured a question from an individual who said, “I would actually prefer to see some viable legislative candidates put forward. There’s only so much a President can do.” From the context, it appears the individual meant the national legislature, i.e., Congress.

Americans Elect responded, “We would also like to extend the platform to do that too, after we work on this nominating convention.” Thanks to Jim Cook of Irregular Times for this news.