On February 22, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down an initiative passed by the voters in 2008, Amendment 54. It made it illegal for companies or unions with a government contract of value greater than $100,000 to contribute to candidates for state or local office. Here is the decision. The case is Dallman v Ritter, 09SA224.
The Government of Alberta’s election law reform bill will include a provision letting prisoners cast votes. See this story.
Howard Dean, former national chair of the Democratic National Committee, has this op-ed in the February 26 issue of the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press. His op-ed asks Burlington voters to retain Instant Runoff Voting. He points out that the Democratic Party nominee lost the Mayor’s election in both 2006 and 2009 in Burlington, but he still supports IRV and he also predicts the Democratic nominee will win the Mayor’s election in 2012.
According to this story, Kristin Davis will announce her candidacy as an independent candidate for Governor of New York on March 1. Earlier, Davis had said she would seek the Libertarian Party nomination.
On February 25, the Minnesota House passed SF 2251, which moves the primary from mid-September to August 10. It takes effect this year.
The bill also moves the petition deadline for independent candidates (for office other than president) from 56 days before the primary, to 70 days before the primary. If it is signed into law, the independent candidate deadline this year moves from July 17 to June 1.
Courts in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, have ruled that independent candidates (for office other than president) cannot be forced to file their petitions as early as the same day on which primary candidates file. But no one in Minnesota government seems to be aware of this.
SF 2251 is still not through the legislature. The House amended the bill, so now it returns to the Senate.
