Seattle Weekly Story on How Vermont and Maine Cope with Letting Felons Vote

Posted on by January 8, 2010
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Seattle Weekly of January 7 has this interesting story on Maine and Vermont, the two states that currently permit incarcerated felons to vote. As noted earlier, on January 5 the 9th circuit had ruled that Washington must let felons vote. Secretary of State Sam Reed said in response that he would seek an immediate stay of the ruling, as the state prepares to ask for U.S. Supreme Court review. Reed said there are logistical problems if felons are allowed to vote.

But Reed also said that he had not checked with elections officials in Maine and Vermont to see how those states handle felon voting. Seattle Weekly therefore did its own story on the process in those two states.

California Supreme Court Appears Hostile to Airports as Public Fora

Posted on by January 7, 2010
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On January 6, the California Supreme Court heard arguments in Society for Krishna Consciousness v City of Los Angeles, S164272. The issue was whether the California Constitution contains more protection for free speech in publicly-owned spaces where large numbers of people congregate, specifically airports. Witnesses say the argument went very badly for the Hare Krishna side. On the other hand, the California Supreme Court has said in the past that the California Constitution grants more protection in this area of the law than the U.S. Constitution does. UPDATE: see this story.

The attorney for the Society for Krishna Consciousness apparently even told the court that his clients have a constitutional right to be inside the “sterile” part of the airport, the part beyond the security checkpoints.

Nebraska Bill to Abolish Letting Each U.S. House District Elect its Own Presidential Elector

Posted on by January 7, 2010
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Nebraska Senator Beau McCoy, a Republican from Omaha in his first term, has introduced LD 777. It would provide that all presidential electors from Nebraska be elected on a statewide basis. Currently, Nebraska lets each U.S. House district elect its own presidential elector. In 2008, the Omaha district chose the Democratic elector, so the Nebraska electoral vote in 2008 was four for John McCain and one for Barack Obama. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.

Rhode Island Republican Party Internally Split Over Closing its Primary

Posted on by January 7, 2010
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Rhode Island Republican Party officials are split over a proposal to close the party’s primaries to voters who have not been registered Republicans for the preceding 90 days, according to this story in the Warwick Beacon. Some decision is likely by the end of the month.

Currently, registered independents in Rhode Island are free to vote in any party’s primary. Rhode Island has three ballot-qualified parties, Democratic, Republican, and Moderate.