Maine Legislative Committee Sends Both Ranked Choice Voting Bills to the Full Legislature

Posted on by June 9, 2017
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On June 8, the Maine joint Veterans & Legislative Affairs Committee sent both bills on ranked choice voting to the Senate and the House. Maine is one of a very few states in which bills can receive votes on the floor of either house, even if the committee itself didn’t approve the bills. Apparently the vote in committee on both bills was a tie. One bill, LD 1624, would set in motion a constitutional amendment to allow ranked choice voting; and the other bill, LD 1625, would repeal it. See this story.

British Election Results

Posted on by June 9, 2017
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According to wikipedia, with one seat still unsettled, the results of the June 8 House of Commons election are: Conservative 317, Labour 261, Scottish National Party 35, Liberal Democrat 12, Democratic Unionist 10, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, Green 1, one independent, and the district that elects the speaker always elects a non-partisan individual.

The popular vote shares for the parties that won at least one seat are: Conservative 42.4%; Labour 40.0%; Liberal Democrat 7.4%; Scottish National 3.0%; Green 1.6%; Democratic Unionist .9%; Sinn Fein .7%; Plaid Cymru .5%. Here is the wikipedia article; scroll down for the results.

The Conservative and Democratic Unionist Parties will cooperate with each. Together the two parties have 327 members, out of 650 seats.

Seventh Circuit Agrees with Lower Court that County Can’t Bar Some Groups from Holding Rallies on Courthouse Steps, While Letting Other Groups Hold Rallies

Posted on by June 8, 2017
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On June 8, the Seventh Circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court that Tippecanoe County, Indiana, can’t bar the Higher Society from holding a rally on the county courthouse steps, because the county lets certain other groups hold meetings on those steps. The Higher Society works for legalization of marijuana. Higher Society of Indiana v Tippecanoe County, 17-1089. Thanks to How Appealing for the link.