Cynthia Davis, a former Republican state legislator in Missouri, will enter the 2012 Constitution Party as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. In Missouri, Lieutenant Governor is elected separately from Governor. See this story.
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On October 4, the seven candidates for President of Ireland held a televised debate. This story about that debate was written just as the debate was beginning.
If the United States held inclusive general election presidential debates, and invited every candidate who was on the ballot in enough states to theoretically be elected, there would never have been a U.S. presidential election with a number of candidates greater than seven who would have been eligible for such debates. In 2008 and 2004 there would have been six such candidates.
On the morning of October 4, the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee heard testimony for and against SB 1282, the bill to provide that each U.S. House district would choose its own presidential elector. See this story. Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican, sent an aide to testify in favor of the bill on the Governor’s behalf. Republicans have a majority in both houses of the legislature. The committee won’t vote on the bill for several days.
On October 3, New Hampshire said the filing period for candidates running in the state’s presidential primaries will be between October 17 and October 28. Candidates get on the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries in New Hampshire by paying $1,000. No petition is needed. The date of the primary is still not set. Every other state that holds a presidential primary has now set its date. But New Hampshire won’t set its date until it knows the dates of the caucuses in Iowa and Nevada.
On October 3, a U.S. District Court Judge in Washington state heard oral arguments in Doe v Reed, the case over whether people who sign referendum petitions may block their names and addresses from being put up on a web page run by opponents of that petition. See this story. This case has already been to the U.S. Supreme Court and back down again. The U.S. Supreme Court said in general that there is no privacy right for voters who sign petitions, but there may still be a privacy right if the signers can show they are subject to harassment if their names and addresses are made public.
The judge indicated he is likely to rule in two weeks whether the names and addresses should be released. The petition involved whether or not to suspend a law passed by the legislature that permitted civil unions for same-sex couples.