New York requires a party to poll 50,000 votes for Governor in order to be a qualified party. The Libertarian Party and the Serve America Party both met this goal, so they both become qualified parties for the first time in New York. The Reform Party and the Women’s Equality Party both polled substantially fewer than 50,000 votes for Governor, so they will lose their qualified status. See the unofficial returns here.
Florida Amendment Four, which needed 60% to pass, has 64.4% of the vote, as of midnight east coast time. There was no statewide ballot measure anywhere in the United States more important than this one. It will enfranchise over 1,400,000 individuals.
On November 2, a U.S. District Court in North Dakota issued this 3-page Joint Stipulation, letting the six plaintiffs in Spirit Lake Tribe v Jaeger cast a vote tomorrow. The state requires photo voter ID that includes a street address, but the plaintiffs in this case didn’t have a street address, or at least didn’t have a street address that everyone agreed was correct. This is a common problem in North Dakota on reservations.
On October 31, Pennsylvania State Representative Vanessa Brown (D-Philadelphia) was convicted of six counts of bribery. However, she is on the ballot unopposed as a candidate for re-election. See this News Growl story.
Michael Feinstein, former Mayor of Santa Monica, has this Fox & Hounds opinion piece calling on the California legislature to hold hearings on the top-two system. As the column points out, the legislature passed the measure in 2009 without holding any legislative hearings on the bill.
