The period October 12-15 will make election law news. In California, Governor Schwarzenegger must sign or veto three election laws. One makes it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot; one makes it easier for write-in votes to be counted; one expands Instant Runoff-Voting.

In Illinois, the fate of the National Popular Vote Plan should be decided.

In New Jersey, a state court is likely to rule on whether the Libertarian who qualified for public funding can have “Clean Elections Candidate” printed on the November 2007 ballot next to his name (his Democratic and Republican opponents will have such a label next to their names. The Libertarian qualified but without a court order, he doesn’t get the “Clean” label). The ballots need to be printed so this decision can’t wait.