On April 6, Huffington Post Live carried this interview with Jill Stein, who is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination.
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Here is the text of California’s AB 1461. The bill was amended on April 6 to eliminate the prior contents. The new contents provide that the state will notify everyone who is not registered to vote, but who has a state ID card or drivers license, that he or she will be automatically registered unless hr or she declines in the next three weeks. The author is Assemblymember Lorenz Gonzalez (D-San Diego). Thanks to Steve Chessin for this news. The bill is similar to the Oregon bill signed last month.
On the evening of April 6, the Greenville, South Carolina, city council tentatively voted to switch to partisan elections for city office. See this story. Assuming the change is finalized, the Greenville County Republican Party will be free to again sue the state over the law that forces county parties to pay for the administration of partisan primaries in cities within that county. The party does not object to paying for the primary but it objects to being told that the party must let non-members vote in its city primaries.
Just a few weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit dismissed the earlier Republican lawsuit on the grounds that the case is moot, since Greenville had switched to non-partisan elections last year. The Fourth Circuit said it was unlikely the city would switch back to partisan elections.
Nevada SB 434 has a hearing in the Senate Legislative Operations & Elections Committee on Monday afternoon, April 6. Here is a copy of the bill. It makes it more difficult for initiative circulators to work, by requiring them to orally tell everyone they approach whether they are being paid or not. It also requires initiative proponents to file a list of the names and contact information of all paid circulators before the petition can circulate, and requires updated information on a monthly basis. The latter provision is almost identical to a Washington state law that was held unconstitutional in WIN v Rippie, 213 F.3d 1132 (2000). Thanks to Janine Hansen for the news about SB 434.
On April 6, Maine Representative Stanley Short announced that he is leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent. See this story. He is in his second term. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.