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.
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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.
On April 26, the California Senate confirmed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nomination of State Senator Abel Maldonado to be the state’s new Lieutenant Governor. Senator Maldonado is the author of Proposition 14, the “top-two” primary measure on the June 8, 2010 ballot. UPDATE: Governor Schwarzenegger says the special election to fill the vacant Senate seat will be in the summer of 2010. See this story.
The Assembly had already confirmed him. The confirmation will probably help the campaign against Proposition 14. Proponents of the measure repeat over and over that the California legislature is polarized and partisan. The fact that the California legislature, with strong majorities for the Democratic Party in both houses, was willing to vote for a Republican, will blunt that charge.
Alabama State Senator Harri Anne Smith, the only female Republican in that body, said on April 23 that she had started petitioning to get on the November ballot as an independent candidate. Her party refused to let her file for the primary this year because she had endorsed a Democrat for the U.S. House in 2008.
According to this story, the Massachusetts Republican Party won’t have any nominee on the November 2010 ballot for Attorney General. Any minor party that manages to get on the statewide ballot and to run a candidate for Attorney General is virtually guaranteed to poll at least 3%, under those circumstances. Groups that poll 3% for any statewide race become qualified parties.