The May 14 Washington Post again calls on the city council to put Instant Runoff Voting in place, at least for city council elections. Here is the editorial. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
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Annette Bosworth, a South Dakota Republican who ran in the primary for U.S. Senate last year, is charged with 12 felonies because she signed a petition sheet as the witness, and she did not actually see the signers sign the petition. However, all the people who signed her petition were registered Republican voters. Her trial begins May 18. She has pleaded “not guilty” and faces 24 years in prison (two years for each count).
Paul Jacob, who was himself once arrested and charged with conspiracy to bring out-of-state circulators into Oklahoma, has been speaking out against the severe charges filed against Bosworth. Here is an article about the case, which came about because Jacob has gone to South Dakota to assist Bosworth.
In 2013, Kshama Sawant was elected in a non-partisan Seattle city election for City Council. She is running for re-election this year. This story says some Seattle Democrats favor inviting her to party-sponsored debates, but other Democrats object. Washington state voter registration forms do not ask about party affiliation, so whether someone is a member of one particular party is often ambiguous.
The Bloomberg View editorial says that British Prime Minister David Cameron “should make a priority of electoral reform”, and explains why Britain needs proportional representation. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
On May 15, the Michigan Senate Elections & Government Reform Committee passed SB 329. Here is a description of the bill. IT would say that if a municipal city clerk misinformed candidates for city office about the deadline for them to submit petitions to be on the ballot, then that deadline could be adjusted for that year only.
The bill exists because election officials in Flint this year told candidates that the deadline was a week later than the actual deadline. If the bill doesn’t pass, all candidates for Mayor will be required to be write-in candidates, because no one running for Mayor submitted a valid petition by the deadline. Candidates needed 900 signatures. The election is non-partisan.