A Public Policy Poll released September 12 shows these results for the September 13 election for U.S. House, 9th district in New York: Republican Bob Turner 47%, David Weprin 41%, Socialist Workers Party nominee Chris Hoeppner 4%, undecided 7%.

Darcy Richardson’s Battleground Blog has this story on Hoeppner. No Socialist Workers Party nominee for U.S. House (in a race with both a Democrat and a Republican) has polled as much as 4% since 1998, when SWP nominee Andrea Morrell polled 3.99% in the Massachusetts 8th district, which included Cambridge.

This election will not determine which party has control of the U.S. House for the remainder of this year’s session of Congress. Republicans already have a large majority in the U.S. House. This election is important, not because it affects the balance of power in Congress, but because it is so symbolic. The district is strongly Democratic, so if it elects a Republican, that sends a signal. But Hoeppner’s presence in the race, if he polls a balance of power vote, will also be strongly symbolic. Hoeppner’s presence in the race is making it possible for voters in the 9th district to send a different kind of signal.

The New York Times has published many stories about this race, but has not mentioned Hoeppner once, even though he has been in at least three debates with both of his opponents.

In the other special election for the U.S. House tomorrow, the Nevada race, another Public Policy Poll shows: Republican Mark Amodei 50%, Democrat Kate Marshall 37%, Independent American Party nominee Tim Fasano 4%, independent Helmuth Lehman 4%, undecided 5%.

On September 8, the New York State Board of Elections settled the lawsuit that had been brought by the Conservative Party, the Working Families Party, and the Taxpayers Party, on the subject of how to count votes when a voter erroneously casts two votes (one vote under each party label) for a single candidate. The parties had sued the Board last year, because the state was automatically giving that vote only to the party closer to the top of the ballot. In New York, the parties are listed on the ballot in order of how many votes they received for Governor, so the Democratic and Republican Parties are always closer to the top of the ballot than all other parties. Therefore, the Democratic Party, or the Republican Party, would get the vote, and the minor party would not.

In May 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff had refused the Board’s request to dismiss this case. That was a signal that the judge felt the case had significant merit, although he hadn’t yet made a final ruling. So, the state decided to stop defending the old policy, and agreed to a fairer system.

The Board of Elections will cause the optical scan voting machines to alert voters when they have double-voted. The machine will display a message that says, “You filled in more than one oval for a candidate in at least one contest. While your candidate preference is clear, it is not clear which party you prefer.” The machine will then show which office is affected, and ask the voter to vote again. The message will also tell the voter that if the voter doesn’t re-do the ballot, the vote will be counted for the party listed first. If the voter wants a new ballot, he or she won’t be required to stand in line again. Also, the polling places will have signs near each voting booth that say in big print, “DO NOT VOTE MORE THAN ONCE FOR THE SAME CANDIDATE.” Thanks to Nancy Hanks for this news.

Carl Lewis, the Democratic Party nominee for State Senate in New Jersey’s 8th district, is off the ballot for the November 8, 2011 election, although he is hoping the 3rd circuit puts him back on next week. In the meantime, the Democratic Party has declined its opportunity to replace Lewis with a new nominee. See this story. The party will take the chance that Lewis can ultimately win his lawsuit, even though the party knows that if he doesn’t, the party will have no nominee on the ballot.