On August 27, the California Senate Appropriations Committee took no action on AB 308, so it becomes a “two-year” bill, and will next get action in 2010. This is the bill to help absentee overseas voters who are voting in a race that may require a second round of voting (an old-fashioned run-off). The bill would have made it possible for an overseas absentee voter to vote in both stages at the same time, using a single piece of mail. That avoids the problem that the postal mail to a foreign address might not get back and forth in the run-off quickly enough to be counted.

A group of individuals who care about treatment of animals has decided to build a new political party, to be called the Humane Party. Here is the party’s webpage. The founders appear to be Californians.

Washington State Senator Ed Murray is considering whether to enter the race for Seattle Mayor as a write-in candidate. The election is November 3. See this story.

Last week, the non-partisan primary resulted in the defeat of the incumbent Mayor, Greg Nickels. The names printed on the run-off ballot will be Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn. The third-place finish by the Mayor was somewhat surprising, and apparently there is support for someone new to enter the race.