One Ohio state legislature race is still not decided. After a recount, the Republican incumbent leads by five votes over the Democratic challenger, but the Ohio State Supreme Court has accepted the challenger’s lawsuit, which concerns a few dozen disputed ballots. See this story. The case is O’Farrell v Landis, 2012-2151. The Court’s schedule for all evidence to be gathered puts resolution into the second half of February.
The Post-Star of Glens Falls, New York, has this interesting article about all the reasons it will be difficult for New York state to begin permitting early voting. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Mitchell Jay Rabin will interview Rocky Anderson on the evening of January 8, Tuesday, between 10:30 p.m. eastern time and 11 p.m. eastern time. Viewers in the New York city area can watch on television, and viewers anywhere else can watch on-line at this link, A Better World TV. Possibly Anderson will reveal his thoughts about the future of the Justice Party. As most readers know, Rocky Anderson is a former Mayor of Salt Lake City who founded the Justice Party slightly more than a year ago, and was its first presidential nominee. To watch on-line, use the button near the top of the TV’s web page.
On January 8, two Wyoming legislators introduced HB 96, which makes it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified. The bill says that when a party meets the vote test, it is then qualified for the next two elections, not just the next election. The sponsors are Representative Kendell Kroeker (R-Evansville) and Senator Cale Case (R-Lander).
This idea is especially relevant to Wyoming, because unlike a majority of states, not every statewide office counts toward meeting the vote test. The only offices that count are U.S. House, Governor, or Secretary of State. Of those three offices, only the first is up in presidential years. But in midterm years, the vote for three offices can be used to keep a party on the ballot.
Other states that provide for four years of qualification, instead of just two, after the retention test is met, are Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Those states apply the idea, no matter whether the vote test is met in a midterm year or a presidential year. Separate from those states, these are the states in which meeting the vote test lasts four years, but it only works if the vote test is met in a midterm year: Indiana, New York, South Dakota. These are the states in which meeting the vote test lasts four years but it only works if the test is met in a presidential year: Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
The Country Party did the work of finding sponsors for this Wyoming bill.
Charlie Cook, famous political analyst, has this column at National Journal, on the difference between independent voters and moderate voters. He highlights what had already been reported, that in the November 2012 election, Mitt Romney carried independent voters by a margin of 50%-45%, with 5% of independents voting for minor party presidential nominees.
But, President Obama carried moderate voters, 56%-41%, with 3% of moderates voting for minor party presidential nominees.
In the U.S. House races, independents supported Republicans more than Democrats by 7%, but moderates supported Democrats more than Republicans by 16%.
These figures make it clear that independent voters and moderate voters are not the same. This fact ought to be faced by the California business community, the Chamber of Commerce, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the editors of most of California’s large daily newspapers, all of whom constantly told the public in 2010 that independents and moderates are the same people and that only a top-two system would enhance the power of moderates. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
