Florida does not permit ex-felons to register to vote, unless the Governor restores that individual’s voting rights. A proposed Florida constitutional amendment is circulating to let ex-felons register, if they are off parole or probation. The initiative excludes persons convicted of murder or certain sexual offenses.

The initiative needs 766,200 valid signatures. It currently has 638,343 signatures that have already been validated. The organizers of the petition drive believe they need another 130,000 signatures to be safe, and they hope to obtain them by February 1, so the initiative can go on the November 2018 ballot. See this story. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Minnesota Voters Alliance v Mansky, 16-1435, on Wednesday, February 28. This is the case that challenges the Minnesota law that makes it illegal to wear any clothing with a political message, or any attachment to clothing with a political message, at the polls.

On December 29, officers of the North Carolina Green Party presented the State Board of Elections with evidence that the party meets the new definition of “political party”. The evidence consists of proof that Jill Stein was on the ballot in at least 35 states in 2016.

An employee of the State Board of Elections said that this evidence cannot now be accepted, because the State Board technically now has no members, and therefore it doesn’t exist. The State Board’s web page says that all the member slots are “vacant.” This is because in 2017 the state legislature passed a bill changing the makeup of the State Board, and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper sued to invalidate the new law. The lawsuit, Cooper v Berger, 52PA17-2, is pending in the State Supreme Court (the lower state court had rejected the lawsuit). Until it is settled, the employees of the Board maintain that there is no Board.