On the evening of December 18, the Washington, D.C. City Council repealed the District of Columbia’s ban on out-of-district petitioners. The new law says that circulators who don’t live in the District must notify the District before they start to work, and must sign an agreement promising to be subject to subpoena power, should authorities in the district wish to investigate any possible election law violation.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office prepared a certification form for the state’s Democratic presidential electors. The form spelled the President’s name “Barak Obama.” See this story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
The National Popular Vote Plan bill will soon be introduced in Minnesota, and will have co-sponsors from both major parties, according to this story.
Vermont permits write-in votes, but does not have a law that requires candidates to file a declaration of write-in candidacy. Therefore, to the extent that any write-ins for President are tallied depends on the good will of the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. In 2008, the Secretary of State tallied the write-ins for Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney. This year the office says it does not have the resources to tally any presidential write-in votes.
But, Kathleen Scheele, Director of Elections, says that if outside volunteers visit her office, they will be permitted to not only examine the election results sent in by each town clerk, but that if these volunteers tally the write-ins, she will accept their work product and place the tally on official letterhead. Having the returns on official letterhead stationery means that the various publications that tally the final, official vote for President will include these votes.
Therefore, if anyone living near Montpelier, Vermont, is willing to do this interesting work, for at least some of the write-in candidates, he or she should contact Scheele. Her e-mail is kscheele@sec.state.vt.us. The Vermont ballot last month did not include Jill Stein, nor Virgil Goode, nor Roseanne Barr, and they are probably the three actual presidential candidates who received the most write-ins. Of course, anyone would be free to tally any or all presidential write-ins, and chances are there were many write-ins for Ron Paul as well, and his total would be interesting.
The Ninth Circuit will hear Chamness v Bowen on February 13, Wednesday, in its courthouse on the western edge of Pasadena. This is the case that challenges California law that permits some members of political parties to list their party affiliation on the ballot, whereas certain other members of political parties are not permitted to list their party affiliation. Also, the law does not permit independent candidates to have the ballot label “independent” on the ballot. Instead they must use the label “no party preference”. However, California still permits independent presidential candidates to be listed on the ballot as “independent.”
A survey of California’s independent candidates for Congress and state legislature, conducted in June 2012, found that more than two-thirds of those candidates wished they could have “independent” on the ballot. The only independent candidates who said they didn’t want “independent” were a few who worried that “independent” would be confused with “American Independent.” Also, a few of the independent candidates could never be reached.
Anyone who is in southern California on February 13, 2013, should consider attending this hearing. The Court has set aside 40 minutes for the hearing. The Courthouse, at 125 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, is one of the nation’s most beautiful courthouses. It was once a luxury hotel and is set in extensive gardens. The building is entirely for the use of the Ninth Circuit when it hears cases in southern California, and is not a courthouse for any other court.
