The Federal Election Commission, at its April 26 meeting, had been scheduled to decide whether to lift the contribution limit when a candidate suffers a loss of campaign funds due to embezzlement. The request had been made by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is running for re-election this year. The FEC had also been set to decide this issue at its April 12 meeting, but had postponed the decision until April 26.

At the April 26 meeting, the FEC postponed the decision again, and now it is scheduled for the May 10 meeting. It is alleged, and widely believed, that Feinstein’s campaign treasurer embezzled $4,500,000 from the Feinstein campaign treasury, which had previously contained $7,000,000. The treasurer has enterd a guilty plea.

On April 26, the Alabama Senate passed SB 15. As amended, it lowers the number of signatures for minor parties and independent non-presidential candidates from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 1.5% of the last gubernatorial vote. It also moves the deadline for newly-qualifying parties (but not for independent candidates) from primary day, to 22 days after the runoff primary. This year the runoff primary was April 24.

The bill has an urgency clause so if it is signed into law, it takes effect immediately. However, if it to be helpful in 2012, any minor party would need to move quickly, because the new petition deadline for minor parties would be May 16 this year. The number of signatures would be 22,415 for statewide office. Thanks to Richard Rutledge for this news.

On April 26, U.S. District Court Judge Garland E. Burrell declined to order the California Secretary of State to list Peta Lindsay on the Peace & Freedom Party presidential primary ballot. Here is the 14-page order. However, he said the case is not moot, and the case will remain alive for a fuller development of the issues.

The Secretary of State declined to put Peta Lindsay on the primary ballot because she acknowledges that she is under age 35 (she is 27). However, under a California State Court of Appeals ruling from 2010 (Keyes v Bowen), if the Peace & Freedom Party were to nominate her, the Secretary of State would be obliged to print her name on the November ballot. The order does not discuss that. It differentiates the treatment of Lindsay from the various lawsuits over whether the Secretary of State should investigate whether President Obama is eligible for the presidency by saying that the Obama matter is disputed, whereas the Lindsay matter is not.

This implies that if she had lied about her age, she could have been on the ballot.