Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) has introduced HB 1771. It would let two parties jointly nominate the same candidate, if the party rules of both parties permitted fusion. The bill covers already-established parties (which nominate by primary), as well as newly-qualifying parties (which nominate by convention). Dogan is vice-chair of the House Elections Committee. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.
According to this story, objectors to the Illinois presidential primary petitions of Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Larry Cohen, and Rocky De La Fuente have withdrawn their objections. That means those four candidates will definitely be on the Democratic presidential primary ballot.
The only challenges still pending are to Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. The latter two are not based on insufficient signatures, but on constitutional qualifications to be President.
Ralph Nader has this interesting analysis in TIME of the ramifications of a possible Mike Bloomberg presidential candidacy.
Famous statistician Nate Silver uses the Nolan chart to discuss the past and present positions of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Mike Bloomberg. The Nolan Chart was developed by Libertarian Party founder David Nolan, decades ago, and is a two-dimensional analysis of anyone’s political ideology.
The Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court will hear Straw v Illinois State Board of Elections, 2016-CH-227 on Monday, February 8. The issue is whether Illinois petition procedures violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, as applied to physically disabled individuals. The plaintiff, Andrew Straw, is seeking to be on the Republican primary ballot for U.S. House. He was required to get several hundred signatures. He cannot stand or walk for more than a few minutes without severe pain. He is willing to show that he has voter support, and points out that the law could be amended to allow for on-line petitioning.
Illinois is one of a minority of states that requires all primary candidates to submit petitions.
