On Tuesday, June 19, at 1:30 p.m., the California Senate Elections Committee will hear AB 2058, which makes it illegal to pay registration drive workers on a per-registration card basis. The author is Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Sacramento). The hearing is in Room 3191.

Under current law, the only method for a party to remain ballot-qualified is for it to increase its registration to over 100,000 members. AB 2058 would make it significantly more difficult for parties to increase their registration. In 2011, an identical bill, SB 205, passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown.

The same Committee will hear AB 2410, which would bar anyone from running for any elective office if that person, during the past twenty years, has been convicted of a felony involving bribery, embezzlement, or theft of public money. The bill makes no exception for federal office, and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution. States are not permitted to add to the qualifications for federal office.

KPBS, the Public Television station in San Diego, has this 5-minute interview with Gary Kreep. The election between Kreep and his only opponent for Superior Court Judge in San Diego County is still too close to call. KPBS invited both candidates to appear on the show, but only Kreep accepted. He has been an attorney for the American Independent Party, for Alan Keyes, and others, over whether the California Secretary of State has a duty to investigate the qualifications of presidential candidates who appear on the California ballot.

The election returns, as of 5 p.m. June 11, are: Garland Peed 193,486; Gary Kreep 192,885. There are still over 50,000 votes not counted yet.

On June 11, Americans Elect revised its web page, www.americanselect.org. Until today, the webpage had posted the number of “clicks” for each presidential candidate and draft choice. That tally has been removed. Instead, Americans Elect has a new, brief message, essentially thanking many of the individuals and groups that worked on the project. The site also says, “See you in 2013”.

Just for the sake of the historical record, the twelve candidates who received the most clicks are: Buddy Roemer 6,293; Rocky Anderson 3,390; Michealene Risley 2,351; Lawrence Kotlikoff 2,027; T. J. O’Hara 584; Mike Ballantine 425; Blake Ashby 269; Dwight Smith 229; Stuart Hillman 180; Beck Sanderson 170; Merlin Miller 148; Michael Levinson 136. Among this group, the only two who are petitioning to be on the November ballot are Rocky Anderson and Merlin Miller.

The twelve highest draft committees were: Ron Paul 9,498; Jon Huntsman 3,883; Bernie Sanders 2,716; President Obama 1,912; Michael Bloomberg 1,556; Gary Johnson 1,191; Stephen Colbert 848; David Walker 692; Elizabeth Warren 637; Dennis Kucinich 596; Jon Stewart 559; Hillary Clinton 458. Among this group, the only one of these who is petitioning to be on the November ballot is Gary Johnson.