Chicago holds an election for city office, including the three citywide offices, in February 2015. The petition filing deadline is Monday, November 24. Citywide candidates need 12,500 valid signatures. See this story, which explains the difficulty of obtaining these signatures for candidates who are not backed by the Democratic Party organization. The elections are non-partisan but the Democratic Party still has a very large influence in the process.
The United States Election Project, which studies turnout, has revised its figures for the November 2014 election. See here. The Project still estimates that 36.2% of the voters who could have participated did so. The link has figures for each of the 50 states, unlike the original data that omitted Indiana, Missouri, Utah, and Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Reed v Town of Gilbert on January 12, 2015. This is the case challenging restrictions on outdoor signs. Although it is not an election law case, all First Amendment cases inevitably affect election law. The Ninth Circuit had upheld the town’s restrictions on signs, both as to size, and as to how long they may remain up. The case was brought by a church that doesn’t have its own church building and depends on signs to inform the public of where its services are.
Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee Chair, seems inclined to support the National Popular Vote Plan for presidential elections. See this story.
As of the close of business on Friday, November 21, the Oregon initiative requiring labels for genetically engineered foods is very close. “Yes” is 752,163; “no” is 753,239. With a margin of only 1,076 votes, and many remaining uncounted ballots, it seems somewhat likely a recount will be held. See this story.
