Canada is electing a new national government on October 19. On August 28, a new poll was released showing a slight lead for the New Democratic Party, a party that has never before named the Prime Minister of Canada.
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On August 27, the California Senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 1461, the bill to provide that all adult citizens known to the state should be automatically registered to vote. Such individuals would be informed that they had become registered, and would be given a chance to opt out.
The bill was amended on August 27 to provide for a new category of registered voters, relative to party affiliation. Individuals who were automatically registered, and who did not choose to then make a decision about affiliation, would be categorized “unknown.” This would be a new, separate category from “independent”. Other states that have separate categories for voters who didn’t fill out the affiliation question, versus independent voters, are Alaska, Kentucky, and South Dakota. Thanks to C.T. Weber for the news about the amendment.
The bill is likely to pass. It had passed the Assembly on June 2. The Republican leader in the Assembly, Kristin Olsen, had voted “No” but now she appears to support it, according to remarks she made at a public meeting on August 19.
Frontloading HQ here reports that the District of Columbia Republican Party won’t use the presidential primary to choose delegates to the Republican national convention. Instead it will use a caucus, held in the second half of March.
On August 27, Level the Playing Field, Peter Ackerman, the Libertarian Party, and the Green Party filed this new complaint against the Federal Election Commission. Like the similar complaint filed on June 22, this lawsuit concerns general election presidential debates. The complaint is 42 pages. A new complaint was needed because the first one is now out-of-date. The first complaint dealt with the failure of the Federal Election Commission to respond to the 2014 request for a new rule on debates. But then in July 2015, the FEC denied the petition, so now the case attempts to argue that the existing FEC rule violates federal campaign finance law.
In 2013, Emily Mathews, a former Texan who had moved to New York city, attempted to start a new political party called the 1787 Party. The group announced it would try to qualify in Texas for the 2014 election. Later it changed its mind and did not do that.
But according to the group’s web page, the party may be revived in time to enter the 2016 elections. The 1787 Party is a centrist party. Mathews had once been a Republican. Thanks to Ben Barber for the link.