On February 12, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed SB 6002. The bill makes it a felony for a city council member, or a county governing board member, to vote to create a sanctuary for persons who are not legally in the United States.
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On February 7, Cornel West filed this amended complaint in his Pennsylvania ballot access lawsuit, West v Pennsylvania Department of State, w.d., 2:24cv-1349. The case challenges the unequal state requirements for presidential elector candidates. If a party has 15% of the registration, its candidates for presidential elector need file nothing. Instead the party files a list of their names and addresses.
But everyone else must have a full slate of presidential elector candidates, and each presidential elector candidate must submit a notarized declaration of candidacy. This rule kept Cornel West, Claudia De la Cruz, and Randall Terry off the ballot last year.
On February 13, the U.S. Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. As far as is known, this is the first time in history when an independent or minor party presidential candidate became a member of a President’s Cabinet, after having run for president outside the two major parties.
The lawsuit over the election for North Carolina State Supreme Court may bypass the State Court of Appeals. This story explains the entire case and contains that news.
On February 11, the Washington State Senate Committee on State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections amended SB 5225 and passed it. The original bill added a provision for mandatory petitions for candidates to get on a primary ballot. But the Committee deleted that provision and passed it. Now it only deals with cases when two candidates with the same name are on the ballot for the same office. Thanks to Darryl Perry for this news.