The November 18 issue of the Sacramento Bee has this editorial, criticizing the California Independent Voters Project for treating some California legislators to a free trip to a Hawaii resort.  The California Independent Voters Project was the original sponsor of the “top-two” idea in California.  It had planned to qualify the idea through the initiative process.  In the end, the California legislature put the idea on the June 2010 ballot, so no initiative petition was needed.

California Independent Voters Project is a non-profit organization, so it is not required to reveal the source of the money that was used to pay for the legislators’ trips.  But it appears that the money came from for-profit corporations.  Also, because CAIVP is a non-profit organization, it was able to send campaign literature in support of the top-two measure (Proposition 14) at the least expensive postal rates.

The Sacramento Bee editorial does not mention that California Independent Voters Project was the original author of Proposition 14.  The Fresno Bee had a story about CAIVP and the Hawaii matter on November 16, and that story does mention the connection between Proposition 14 and CAIVP.  Also see this commentary.

Kathleen Curry, Colorado’s only independent state legislator, still does not know if she won the election on write-in votes.  The odds seem to suggest that she lost narrowly to her Democratic Party opponent, Roger Wilson.  See this story.

This Chicago Tribune article reveals that Rahm Emanuel’s voter registration in Chicago was switched to “inactive” status after the post office returned mail sent to the address in Chicago at which he is registered to vote.  Emanuel has been President Obama’s chief of staff but is now the leading candidate for Mayor of Chicago in the February 2011 non-partisan election.  However, the Chicago city charter requires candidates to “reside” in Chicago for the year before running.  Although Rahm can make a convincing argument that his domicile has long been in Chicago, there is a legal difference between a person’s domicile and his or her residence.