Bob Dempsey has been elected seven times to the partisan position of San Miguel County Coroner, in Colorado. He is running for re-election this year. He was elected as a Libertarian in 2002 and 2006 and the Libertarian Party just renominated him for another 4-year term. See this story. In November he will face a Democratic Party opponent.
The state of New Jersey is asking the State Supreme Court to settle whether states may make it possible for voters to recall members of Congress. See this story.
The lower court had refused to decide the issue. It had said, since the question is unclear, at a minimum the state should at least let the committee have the petition blanks. New Jersey allows recall and makes no exception for Congress. However, because New Jersey requires a petition of 25% of the registered voters, it is very unlikely that a statewide recall would ever succeed. Over 1,200,000 valid signatures would be needed. The case is Committee to Recall U.S. Senator Robert Menendez v Wells. The position of the Secretary of State and the Attorney General is that no recall is permitted, due to the U.S. Constitution.
On March 17, the Southern California ACLU Board voted to oppose Proposition 14, the “top-two” election measure on the California ballot in June. The Northern California ACLU Board had already opposed it, back on February 11.
Both major parties recently set the dates for their 2012 national conventions. The 2012 general election is on November 6.
The Republicans will meet August 27-30, and the Democrats will meet September 3-6. Both major parties will be able to comply with state certification deadlines, which is some states are 60 days before the election. Sixty days before the 2012 general election works out to September 7.
The location for these conventions will be determined in the next six months.
Andy Shugart, who wanted to be on the ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. House in Alabama in 2008, has just filed this cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is Shugart v Chapman, number not yet assigned.
He challenges the number of signatures required for an independent candidate for U.S. House, which, in his district, is greater than the number of signatures an independent presidential candidate needs. Alabama has six U.S. House districts, so the state requires more signatures for an office that covers one-sixth of the state than it requires for an office in the entire state.
