The December 1 issue of “Capital”, a leading internet news source for information about New York state government and politics, has this lengthy analysis of whether redistricting reform may pass the 2011 session of the New York state legislature. The article seems to suggest that even though a majority of New York state legislators say they support redistricting reform, such reform will not pass unless the Assembly Speaker decides to support it.
On December 4, the Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee will vote on whether to endorse closed primaries for Tennessee. See this story. Thanks to Nancy Hanks for the link. Presumably, if the party backs the idea, the party would try to obtain closed primaries by supporting a bill in the state legislature, rather than suing. The Tennessee Republican Party has a majority in both houses of the legislature.
Tennessee has never had registration by party. Most southern states have always had open primaries.
Voters in Fort Collins, Colorado, will probably vote in April 2011 on whether they wish to use Instant Runoff Voting in city elections. If the measure passes, it would first be used in 2013. See this story.
The Conservative Party, and the Christian Party, have both recently filed paperwork with the California Secretary of State, indicating that they intend to qualify for the California ballot. In California, ever since 1950, all new parties that have qualified for the ballot have done so by persuading voters equal in number to 1% of the last gubernatorial vote to register into the party. The Conservative Party, and also the Christian Party, will now receive a tally of how many voters register into those parties. If either one persuades approximately 101,000 voters to become members, then they will become ballot-qualified parties.
In Nevada, the Tequila Party recently filed a copy of its bylaws and a list of its officers. The idea of a Tequila Party was first mentioned a few weeks earlier by advocates for an easier path for illegal immigrants to become legal immigrants. However, it is not clear that the people who organized the Tequila Party in Nevada have a political purpose. The paperwork was filed by George Harris and Irma Aguirre, who own a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas. The Tequila Party is now free to place candidates on the general election ballot for all offices except President, with a small number of signatures. Each of the party’s nominees needs his or her own petition, but none of these petitions require more than 250 signatures. See this story, which has a link to the Tequila Party’s bylaws, which were filed November 30. Thanks to Glenn Brown for the link.
On November 24, Annie Lee Cooper died at the age of 100. She is remembered for what she did, and what was done to her, in 1965 in Selma, when she tried to register to vote. See this story. Thanks to Ed Still’s VoteLaw blog for the link.
