Jim Hedges, a leader of the Prohibition Party, has custody of 65 copies of the book, “Partisan Prophets: A History of the Prohibition Party 1854-1970”, written by Roger Storms. The Prohibition Party Executive Committee has given him authority to give them away to anyone who can establish that the person will use the book himself or herself (for scholarly purposes); also, the party will also give copies free to public libraries. Hedges asks that interested persons contact him by postal letter, at Box 212, Needmore Pa 17238.

Roger Storms was a leader of the Prohibition Party in Maine during the 1970’s. Under his leadership, the party overcame the Maine petition requirement of 10,920 valid signatures in 1976, and was able to place its presidential candidate, Ben Bubar, on the Maine ballot. Bubar received .72% of the presidential vote in Maine, and some party members were elected to non-partisan office in Maine. Storms was killed in an auto accident in the late 1970’s, and the party never again appeared on the ballot in Maine.

On Sunday, November 1, Republican congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava endorsed her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens. She had previously indicated she would be neutral between Owens and Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party nominee. See this story. Thanks to Sam Harley for the link.

New stories that say Scozzafava has withdrawn are misleading. Scozzafava remains on the ballot and every voter is free to vote for her. “Withdraw” generally means a process by which a candidate removes himself or herself from the ballot, but Scozzafava has not done that.

Quimby, Iowa, is holding its city election on November 3, 2009. Voters will be choosing a Mayor and three city councilmembers. However, no names are printed on the ballots. The winners will be determined by write-in votes. Iowa is one of the few states that permits write-ins but does not have a write-in declaration of candidacy procedure, so there is no such thing as a declared write-in candidate. Thus anyone might win, even if the person who wins didn’t want the job. See this story. UPDATE: the same is true of Spencer Mountain, North Carolina, which is also electing a Mayor and three City Councilmembers this week, and which also has no candidates printed on the ballot. See this story. Thanks to Christopher Cole for the North Carolina link. North Carolina does have a write-in declaration of candidacy law, but it doesn’t apply to non-partisan elections or to municipal elections.