Israel will elect a new Knesset on March 17, 2015. This will be the first election in which a party needs 3.25% of the total vote cast instead of just 2% to earn seats in the body. The change was made in March 2013. Israel’s form of proportional representation has long been criticized on the basis that too many parties win representation.
On December 22, the last possible day, the states of Kansas and Arizona asked the Tenth Circuit for a rehearing in Kobach v U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 14-3062. This is the case concerning the federal voter registration form. The Tenth Circuit had ruled 3-0 on November 7, 2014, that the states cannot force the federal government to amend the federal forms that are used in those two states, to require applicants to attach proof of citizenship other than just a signature over penalty of perjury. Kansas and Arizona are only asking the three original judges to reconsider; they are not asking for a rehearing en banc. This post has been amended; it originally said the states were asking for an en banc rehearing.
The Washington Post has this interesting article by Philip Bump, imaging the U.S. Congress if it contained four parties.
According to this story, U.S. Senator Rand Paul has told the Republican leader of the Kentucky State Senate not to bother introducing a bill in the 2015 session that would allow someone to run for President or Vice-President, and another office, simultaneously.
The Mayor of Harvey, Illinois, Eric Kellogg, is being told he can’t have his name on the city ballot as a candidate for re-election unless he pays old campaign finance fines. See this story. Harvey is in Cook County and has a population of 25,000. The problem with keeping a candidate off the ballot for misdeeds is that the voters are being denied their ability to elect the candidate of their choice.
