On April 21, the Indiana Senate passed HB 1242. Current law says if a general election winner is found ineligible, the runner-up takes the position. The bill changes that, for state office (other than Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and judicial posts) so that if the winner is found ineligible, the position is deemed vacant and the Governor may appoint someone. Indiana has a Republican Governor, Mitch Daniels. See this story.

Most observers expect the current Republican Secretary of State, Charlie White, to be found ineligible. He was elected in November 2, 2010, but he had registered in a precinct in which he didn’t live, and then he voted in that precinct.

The Tampa Tribune has this story about the April 18 amendment to the omnibus election law bill that makes it vastly more difficult for the presidential candidate of a new party to get on the Florida ballot. The bill, HB 1355, passed second reading on the evening of April 20, and will probably receive a vote on third reading on April 21.

The reporter who wrote the story tried, but failed, to find out which legislator inserted the ballot access amendment.

On April 20, an Arizona State Court of Appeals reversed the lower court and ruled that if Tucson desires partisan elections for itself, it may have them. In 2009 the legislature had passed a law requiring all cities in the state to use non-partisan elections for city office, but the Court of Appeals ruled that the 2009 law violates the State Constitution. Here is the 24-page opinion, which is City of Tucson v State of Arizona, 2ca-cv2010-0083. The vote was 2-1.

The voters of Tucson had voted in favor of partisan city elections several years ago. No other city in Arizona uses partisan city elections. Generally, Democrats win Tucson elections for city office. UPDATE: this article in the Tucson Sentinel says the losing side is likely to appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.