Dan Walters, Veteran Sacramento Bee Political Columnist, Advocates Repealing Limits on Campaign Donations

Posted on by July 2, 2012
3

Dan Walters, the Sacramento Bee’s veteran politics reporter and columnist, writes here that it would be good policy to repeal limits on how much individuals may contribute to candidates. AB 1146, which has a hearing in the Senate Elections Committee on July 3, would repeal limits on how much individuals may contribute to candidates for state and local office. Instead, all contributions above $200 would need to be reported within 24 hours.

AB 1146 was introduced last year, and originally it merely doubled from $100 to $200 the amount of money that may be contributed without having to be reported. In that form, the bill passed the Assembly. Now that it has been revamped, it needs to pass both houses.

Californians for Electoral Reform Will Oppose ACA 10, the Measure to Make it More Difficult for Constitutional Initiatives to Get on Ballot

Posted on by July 2, 2012
Reply

On July 1, Californians for Electoral Reform voted to oppose ACA 10, the measure to make it more difficult to put statewide constitutional initiatives on the ballot. Current law requires a petition signed by a number of voters equal to 8% of the last gubernatorial vote. ACA 10 would provide that a constitutional amendment also needs the signatures of 8% of the last gubernatorial vote in each of at least 27 of the 40 State Senate districts. The change would probably double the cost of getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

California does not have a glut of constitutional initiatives on the ballot. This year, there are only two. Californians for Electoral Reform will send Paula Lee to the Assembly Elections Committee hearing on July 3 to express opposition to ACA 10. The hearing is in Room 444 of the Capitol, at 1:30 p.m.

Libertarian Party Posts List of Candidates

Posted on by July 1, 2012
5

The Libertarian Party national web page now has a list of Libertarian Party candidates in the November 2012 election. See it here. This list will grow. In some states the time for the party to nominate candidates is still in the future.

The list mentions some California candidates for partisan office, but all of those candidates are barred from running in November because they failed to place first or second in the June 5 primary.

The state with the most Libertarian candidates so far is Texas.

Attorney in Vermont Ballot Access Case Asks State Supreme Court to Expedite the Case, so as to Possibly be Useful in 2012

Posted on by July 1, 2012
1

On June 29, Charles Merriman, attorney for the independent candidate who has been challenging the Vermont June petition deadline for independent candidates, asked the Vermont Supreme Court to expedite the case. Here is the letter, requesting that the case be expedited. It explains that two presidential candidates, Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson, could benefit if the June 14 deadline were declared unconstitutional. The letter could have mentioned Virgil Goode as well.

The plaintiff who filed this case, Gerald Trudell, was trying to get on the ballot as an independent for U.S. House in 2010. Because that election is in the past, the lawsuit had previously not been perceived as one that needs to be expedited.

Colorado Constitution Party Nominates 17-Year-Old High School Student for Statewide Partisan Race

Posted on by July 1, 2012
1

According to this news story, the Colorado Constitution Party’s nominee for Regent of the University of Colorado will be Tyler Belmont. He is now age 17, but he will be 18 by the time of the election, and thus eligible to serve if elected. Colorado elects Regents of the University in partisan elections. There are both at-large seats (covering the whole state) and seats representing districts. Belmont is running in the at-large seat.