Christina Tobin, founder of Free and Equal, has this op-ed in the Desert Sun, the daily newspaper of Palm Springs, California. The subject is California’s Proposition 14, the “top-two” measure on the June 8, 2010 ballot.
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Canada’s election administration office has granted qualified political party status to the Pirate Party. The Pirate Party started in Sweden some years ago, but is spreading to other countries. See this story.
Spiegel, the English-language version of the famous German news magazine, has this article about Nick Clegg, leader of the British Liberal Democratic Party. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.
The headline of the story, about the possible destruction of the two-party system in Britain, is not a good title for the piece. Don’t let the title prevent you from reading the article.
In a few days, a lawsuit will be filed in federal court in New York state to force the state to hold a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 29th district. Congressman Eric Massa resigned in March. New York Governor David Paterson first said he would call a special election to fill the vacancy, but now he seems to believe that he won’t, citing the cost to taxpayers.
The Evening Tribune newspaper of Hornell, New York, has this interesting article, suggesting that the leading precedent on whether Governors must call special elections to fill U.S. House vacancies is favorable to the plaintiffs. That precedent is American Civil Liberties Union v Taft, 385 F 3d 641 (2004). In that case, the 6th circuit ruled that the U.S. Constitution requires special elections to fill such vacancies in the House, unless the vacancy occurred very close to the end of the term. In the Ohio precedent, the vacancy had not occurred until July 24, 2002. So the case against New York state is even stronger than the Ohio case had been.
A Sixth Circuit opinion is not binding in New York, but the precedent will be influential. The Sixth Circuit includes Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.
Mark Colvin of the Australian Broadcasting Company has this interesting article about that rare event, the death (or, at least, decline into minor party status) of major political parties. Thanks to Sam Harley for the link.
One odd coincidence mentioned in the article is that the date of the upcoming British House of Commons election is 100 years exactly from the death of King Edward VII. Colvin traces the fall of Britain’s Liberal Party to the end of the Edwardian era.