The California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, and the California Association of County Election Officials (CACEO) have decided to ask the legislature to repeal all residency requirements for petition circulators. The proposed bill will provide that out-of-state residents must first register with the Secretary of State before working in California.
On February 6, the Colorado Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee heard testimony on SB 65, a bill to permit cities and counties to use Approval Voting if they wish, for their own local elections. The bill was defeated 3-2 after Colorado local elections officials testified against it. Approval Voting lets voters cast votes for as many candidates as they wish (even though only one person is being elected). Thanks to Frank Atwood for this news.
On February 7, Massachusetts state representative Dan Winslow declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, in the 2013 special election. Winslow was chief attorney for Americans Elect during the period when it was working to get on state ballots, during 2010, 2011, and the first five months of 2012. See this article, which does not mention Winslow’s work for Americans Elect, but which focuses on the fact that he was once chief counsel to Mitt Romney.
On January 31, North Carolina State Senators Thom Goolsby (R-Wilmington) and Jerry Tillman (R-Archdale) introduced SB 39. It would make all state judicial elections partisan, whether for State Supreme Court, State Court of Appeals, or District Court. According to this article, there is a fair chance the bill will pass.
The city of Wheaton, Illinois, has filed a lawsuit to prevent one particular individual from being a declared write-in candidate for city council. The County Board of Elections accepted his write-in filing, so presumably the city is suing the County Election Board. The issue is the duration of residency for the candidate. See this story.
