Four Democratic Members of Congress from California May Have Violated Federal Election Law

This Washington Post article says that four Democratic members of Congress from California may not have followed Federal Election Commission rules that require safeguards for campaigns, to prevent embezzlement or other dishonest activity by campaign treasurers. Federal rules say large checks written on campaign accounts must be signed by two individuals, not one. Also the rules say the person who writes the checks is supposed to be someone other than the person who reads campaign bank statements. Thanks to Political Activity Law for the link.

New Jersey Democrats Won’t Replace Carl Lewis with Another Nominee

This story says it is virtually certain that the Democratic Party of Burlington County, New Jersey, won’t replace Carl Lewis with a new nominee for State Senate in the 8th district, in the election of November 8, 2011. It is very common in most states for the two major parties to fail to nominate anyone for many legislative seats However, it is rare in New Jersey for either major party to ever fail to run someone for a legislative race. The 8th district will be the only State Senate race in New Jersey this year without nominees from both major parties. In the 8th district, the Republican nominee will be the only name on the ballot.

Lewis, a former Olympic star, is off the ballot because he didn’t meet the duration of residency requirement, and because his lawsuit to overturn that requirement did not win.

New York State Asks Federal Government to Let it Hold 2012 Primary in September

New York state is trying to persuade the federal government to give it a waiver of the 2009 law that tells all states they must send overseas absentee ballots no later than 45 days before any federal primary or federal general election. See this letter, sent by the state on September 21.

New York holds its non-presidential primary in September, and the state wants to continue that policy in 2012. The state promises to move the primary date to an earlier month, starting in 2013. Thanks to the Election Law Center for the link.

Governor Jerry Brown Acts on Many Bills, but Not on the Remaining Election Law Bills

On September 26, California Governor Jerry Brown signed many bills, and vetoed a few bills. But he did not act on three interesting election law bills: (1) SB 202, which says statewide initiatives cannot be placed on primary ballots; (2) SB 205, which makes it illegal for voter registration workers to be paid on a per-registration card basis; (3) SB 397, which makes it possible for people to register to vote on-line.