The U.S. Supreme Court held a conference on Friday, April 23. One of the cases considered was Simmons v Galvin, 09-797, the case from Massachusetts on whether the Voting Rights Act applies to the question of whether felons and/or ex-felons may register to vote. The Court did not decide whether to hear this case or not, and will consider that question again at the April 30 conference.

If the Court takes the case, it will be the first time it has taken a case on ex-felon or felon voting rights since 1985.

Illinois held its 2010 primary in February, and the Democratic Party primary for Lieutenant Governor was won by Scott Lee Cohen. Party leaders did not like Cohen and after the primary was over, they successfully persuaded him to resign from the ticket. The party then chose Sheila Simon as its replacement Lieutenant Governor nominee.

Now, two independent gubernatorial candidates are aiming to qualify for the November ballot. One is Cohen himself, who now appears to regret that he resigned the Lieutenant Governor’s nomination. The other is William “Dock” Walls, who had tried to appear on the Democratic primary ballot as a gubernatorial candidate, but party officials didn’t like his candidacy and threatened to challenge his primary petition, causing him to withdraw. Walls is gaining support from black voters, because many black political activists had expected the party to choose a black to replace Cohen as the party’s Lieutenant Governor candidate, but the party did not do so. See this story about the Cohen independent race.

See this poll, from the May 6 British election for House of Commons. It shows the race is still a 3-way election. Two of the three debates have already been held; one more is coming.