Matthew Yglesias here writes that the U.S. would be better off if it used proportional representation, especially for Congress. Yglesias is a founder of Vox, a well-read politics blog. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
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The North Carolina legislature will vote on Tuesday, October 17, on whether to override the gubernatorial veto of SB 656, the ballot access bill. The legislature can override a veto with 60% in each house of the legislature.
Even though the Florida legislature doesn’t convene until January 9, 2018, Florida legislative committees are already working on 2018 bills. On October 11, SB 45 passed the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. It says that elected state and local officials who want to run for federal office must first resign their state or local position. See this story. The bill is sponsored by Senator Travis Hutson (R-Elkton).
Such “resign-to-run” laws have generally been upheld by courts. They do not run afoul of the principle that states can’t add to the qualifications to run for federal office, because they don’t block anyone from running for Congress. But, they do force potential federal candidates to take an action that they would probably rather not do.
WCBU, Peoria’s public radio station, has this article about the restrictive Illinois ballot access laws.
Cosmopolitan Magazine has this article by Mindy Finn, the vice-presidential nominee who ran in 2016 as an independent with Evan McMullin. The article doesn’t say much about her vice-presidential run, but instead focuses on the need for more woman candidates for important elected office.