On June 3, the Michigan legislature passed SB 329, which (assuming the Governor signs it) allows late-filing candidates for Flint Mayor and City Council to appear on the August 2015 non-partisan ballot. See this story.
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Political scientist professor Alan I. Abramowitz and PhD student Steven Webster have published this essay about partisanship in the United States. The main point is to show that over half of Americans have strong hostility and dislike toward one major party. The dislike of one major party among these voters is stronger than their liking for the other major party. Increasingly, the United States is divided into two camps of voters who not only dislike one of the major parties, but dislikes their members as well.
The essay also asserts that only 10% of the electorate is truly independent.
The essay does not mention Federalist Papers No. 10, written by James Madison. Madison warned against having just two parties. He wrote that the United States would enjoy greater security if there were a greater variety of parties than just two. This point is in the last three paragraphs of Federalist No. 10. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link to the Abramowitz-Webster paper.
On June 3, the Latvian Parliament chose Raimonds Vejonis to be the new President of Latvia. See this story. He is apparently the first Green Party politician to become head of state of any nation.
On June 18, Thursday, a U.S. District Court will hear Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, 1:14cv-322. This is the case that challenges the 2014 law that makes it illegal to circulate the party petition during an odd year. The hearing is at 10:30 am in Concord. The federal courthouse is at 55 Pleasant Street.