U.S. Census Bureau Releases Calculation on How Many House Seats for Each State.

On December 21, the Census Bureau released its calculation of how many seats in the U.S. House each state will have, starting in 2012.

Texas gained four seats; Florida gained two seats; and these states each gained one seat:  Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington.

New York and Ohio each lost two seats; and these states each lost one seat:  Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Texas Had the Lowest Turnout of Any State Last Month

On December 13, Professor Michael P. McDonald and his United States Elections Project posted data on voter turnout for last month’s election.  See here.  It shows that Texas had the lowest turnout of any state, although the District of Columbia was even lower than Texas.

If one adds up the vote for the top office on the ballot in each state, in November 2010, one finds only 89,073,836 votes were cast.  By contrast, in November 2008, the number of votes cast for President was 131,313,820.  Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

Ron Paul Interviewed for British Publication, Comments on U.S. Minor Parties

The Quarterly Review, a distinguished British publication, has an interview with Congressman Ron Paul in its Autumn 2010 issue.  The interview was conducted during the last week of October 2010 by Peter Gemma.  See it here.  Gemma asked Paul about his run for President as the Libertarian nominee in 1988, and about today’s minor parties.  Paul said he ran in 1988 as a Libertarian because the people deserved a legitimate alternative to the increasingly indistinguishable major parties.  He added, “I believe alternative parties serve a crucial role in politics because they give voice to the issues the major parties ignore.  The problem is that both Democrats and Republicans have made the American system very biased in order to entrench their power.  I find it especially interesting that the establishment justifies unconstitutional wars as ‘promoting democracy’ overseas while doing its best to silence opposition at home.”

Paul has more to say about that subject (as well as many other subjects), all of which can be read by using the link.

Independent American Party Nominee for Eureka County Clerk Wins Card Drawing, Gets Another Term

On December 20, Eureka County, Nevada officials finally held the card drawing to determine who will be the county clerk for the next term.  Jackie Berg, the Independent American Party incumbent, drew the winning card.  She chose the 8 of Hearts and her Republican opponent drew a 3.  The drawing was held to break the tie vote from last month’s election.

The original count had shown Berg winning by 3 votes, but the recount showed a tie.  One difference between the original count and the recount is that the recount eliminated two votes for Berg because they had been faxed in, instead of being postally mailed or hand-delivered.  Thanks to Cody Quirk for this news.  The Independent American Party now has 4 elected office-holders in partisan office in Nevada.

Hispanic Voters Sue Compton, California, to End At-Large City Council Elections

On November 30, three Hispanic voters in Compton, California, filed a lawsuit in state court to overturn that city’s at-large elections for city council.  The case is Gonzalez v City of Compton, BC450494.  Compton is in Los Angeles County and has a population that is 67.6% Hispanic, but no Hispanic has been elected to the city council since before 1999.  The lawsuit depends on California’s Voting Rights Act of 2001.  Here is the complaint.

Compton elects four city council members, and a Mayor, in at-large elections.  However, four city council districts exist, and only one resident of each district may be elected.  The Mayor and members of the council have 4-year terms, and there are two city council positions filled every two years.