The U.S. Supreme Court has set a conference date of May 13 to decide whether to hear the Mississippi ballot access case, Moore v Hosemann, 09-982. The case originated in 2008 when the Secretary of State kept Brian Moore off the November ballot because his presidential elector paperwork was turned in at 5:10 p.m. instead of by 5 p.m. Moore was the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate.
Although California State Senator Abel Maldonado authored California’s Proposition 14, on the ballot for the June 8, 2010, election, he has never before agreed to participate in any debate over the merits of that “top-two” measure.
However, on April 27, he is participating in a debate, in Sacramento, at 9:30 a.m. Speaking against Proposition 14 is Tom Del Beccaro, a vice chair of the state Republican Party. The public is not permitted to attend. The debate is sponsored by Citizen Voice, which will put a tape of the debate on its web page no later than May 3 (www.citizenvoice.org). The debate will only be 15 minutes. The moderator is Gary Dietrich. It is being held in the studios of Pacific Satellite.
The League of Women Voters of California is neutral on Proposition 14, the “top-two” ballot measure. Here is the League’s analysis of the measure. The League does not mention that the measure makes it more difficult for ballot-qualified parties to remain qualified, nor does it mention the implementation law that says write-ins may not be counted in November for Congress and state office. But the analysis is impartial and interesting. It links to the debate earlier this month before the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, between Mike Feinstein of the Green Party and Brandon Gesicki, former campaign manager for Senator Abel Maldonado.
On April 26, Colorado SB 179 passed the State Senate on second reading. It would allow ex-felons who are on parole to register to vote.
For those interested in history, the 1990 paper issues of Ballot Access News are now posted on this web page. Thanks to Michael Ravnitzky and Eric Garris for their work making this possible.
Past paper issues are reached via the link near the upper right corner of the site. Don’t confuse past paper issues with past blog entries.
