The New York Times print edition of January 24 has this op-ed by Sociology Professor Dalton Conley and Political Science Professor Jacqueline Stevens, urging Congress to increase the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.
On January 20, Randall Terry, who has been a leading anti-legal-abortion activist for many decades, declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President in 2012. See this story. His chief motivation seems a desire to run television campaign ads that show unpleasant photographs that relate to the abortion process. Broadcast television stations are not permitted to censor the content of ads run by candidates, nor can the stations refuse to air these ads, if the candidate is able to pay the station’s charges for running the ads.
The story does not mention whether or not Terry will seek primary season matching funds, but chances are, he will. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.
Nebraska State Senator Paul Schumacher (R-Columbus) has introduced LB 566. It makes it possible for proponents of an initiative or recall to collect signatures electronically. Groups using electronic signature-gathering methods would pay a special fee to the government to cover the extra costs. The fee would be $5,000 generally, or $10,000 for initiatives that intend to try to change the Constitution. Here is the text of the bill. Thanks to Kent Bernbeck for this news.
This Columbus, Ohio Dispatch story features candidates who are attempting to get on the ballot for city council. The elections are non-partisan and 1,000 signatures are required. Even though most people would probably assume that it is easy for a candidate to get 1,000 signatures, the story explains the difficulty involved, especially when the signatures must be gathered during cold weather.
The Idaho Secretary of State has asked for many minor election law changes, all wrapped up in one large bill, H 14. Among other things, the bill moves the primary (for president and all other office) from the fourth Tuesday in May, to the third Tuesday in May.
