Ohio Supreme Court Rules Initiative Has Enough Valid Signatures

Posted on by July 31, 2009
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On July 31, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled that one particular initiative should appear on the 2010 ballot. The 8-page decision is here. The case is State ex rel Scioto Downs v Brunner, 2009-3761.

The Secretary of State had certified an initiative, providing for casinos in four Ohio cities, for the ballot. Opponents had then sued to overturn her decision, and had claimed that one of the circulators was an ex-felon and that other circulators had listed their address as hotels or various nonresidential addresses. The decision says that the ex-felon had only submitted 19 signatures, and also says that other charges are insufficient to disturb the determination that at least 402,275 signatures were submitted.

Navajo Nation Will Use Initiative for First Time

Posted on by July 31, 2009
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On July 30, the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation ruled that two initiatives had successfully qualified for the Navajo ballot. The Court ordered the election to be held before the end of 2009. See this article. The Navajo Constitution provides for the initiative, if a petition signed by 15% of the qualified Navajo voters. The tribal administration had said the two initiatives did not have enough valid signatures, but the Court disagreed. The two initiatives concern (1) reducing the Tribal Council from 88 members to 24; (2) providing for a line-item veto.

Delaware Holds 4-Candidate Debate

Posted on by July 31, 2009
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Delaware chooses a new State Senator in the 19th district on Monday, August 3, to fill a vacancy. Four candidates are running, a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, and an independent. All four participated in a debate on July 30. See this story. The League of Women Voters sponsored the debate. It was held in the County Council Chambers, and drew a standing-room-only crowd. Also it was broadcast live on the Sussex County web site, and was twittered.

Rhode Island Moderate Party Likely Finishes Petition

Posted on by July 31, 2009
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The Moderate Party of Rhode Island will have collected 30,000 signatures on its petition to become a qualified party by Monday, August 3. The law requires 23,589 signatures, so the party believes that in four days, it will have enough valid signatures.

If the party has qualified, this is the first time any political party, or any statewide independent candidate, has completed a petition of 5% of the last vote cast since 2000, when the Libertarian Party, and the Reform Party, each completed Oklahoma’s 5% petition. Also, this is the first time a party has qualified itself using a 5% statewide petition in a midterm year since the Libertarian Party completed such a petition in Nevada in 1978 (Nevada eliminated its 5% petition requirement in 1987).

Congress Hears Testimony on Public Financing

Posted on by July 30, 2009
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The U.S. House Committee on Administration held a hearing on HR 1826 on July 30. The bill would provide for public funding for candidates for Congress. This AP story mentions what some of the witnesses said, but has no information on how members of the Committee reacted. Nor does the story mention any of the testimony against the bill.

The Center for Competitive Politics has a link to the webcam of the hearing here.

HR 1826 treats all candidates alike, regardless of their party affiliation or independent status.