On September 2, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is free to set the date of the state’s presidential primary to any date in January or February, said she will not put the presidential primary in January. See this story from Frontloading HQ. The Republican National Committee just sanctioned a Republican presidential debate to be held in Arizona, as an incentive for her not to choose a January presidential primary.

She hasn’t said when the February presidential primary will be held. If she doesn’t move it at all, it will be February 28. Republican Party national rules say no state except New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina, may hold a primary or a caucus earlier than March, but usually a few states break the national rules.

On September 2, a Superior Court judge in Bridgeport, Connecticut, restored a slate of candidates for Mayor and Selectman to the Democratic Party’s primary ballot. The judge also postponed the primary from September 13 to September 27. See this story. The case is Foster v Ayala, Fairfield Co. Superior Court, cv-11-602-1487 S. Here is the decision.

A slate of candidates for city office had been kept off the ballot, because the petition (which was permitted to list multiple candidates for various city offices) also included candidates for Board of Education. However, there is no Board of Education election in Bridgeport this year. The city had rejected the entire petition because the petition included the names of candidates for Board of Education. The candidates then sued, arguing that it doesn’t follow logically that just because some of the candidates on the petition can’t run (because that particular office isn’t up), therefore the entire petition is invalid. Thanks to Matt Waggner for the link to the decision.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has several subcommittees. The subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights will hold hearings in early September on “New State Voting Laws – Barriers to the Ballot?” The subcommittee has already chosen witnesses, and they appear to be individuals who will talk about state laws that require voters to show a photo ID in order to vote at the polls.

The subcommittee’s chair is Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). Other Democrats on the subcommittee are Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Al Franken of Minnesota, Christopher Coons of Delaware, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Republican members of the subcommittee are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Jon Kyl of Arizona, John Cornyn of Texas, Michael Lee of Utah, and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.