In 2004, the large law firm Reed Smith coordinated the challenge to Ralph Nader’s Pennsylvania petition. In 2008, Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania Attorney General indicted state employees who worked on the petition challenge on state government time, using government computers and registration records (Pennsylvania ballot access challenges must be made by private individuals, not arms of the government).

The Corbett investigation into “bonusgate” is continuing. It is somewhat plausible that the Attorney General has been mulling over including the law firm in his indictment. On June 22, Ralph Nader noticed that some Pennsylvania attorneys who are part of Reed Smith have made $15,900 in campaign contributions to Attorney General Corbett. Nader issued a press release calling on the Attorney General not to accept contributions from Reed Smith, and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette carried the story here.

On June 23, California newspapers reported that Assemblymember Juan Arambula has recently changed his registration from “Democratic” to “Independent.” It is not known exactly when he did this. He cannot run for re-election in 2010 because of term limits. He represents part of Fresno and Tulare Counties. See this story.

California’s last independent state legislator who had been elected as an independent had been San Francisco Senator Quentin Kopp, who had been elected to the Senate as an independent in 1986, 1990 and 1994. Also, Audie Bock (elected to the California legislature as a Green in 1999) had, while in office, re-registered as an independent, although when she ran for re-election as an independent in 2000, she was defeated. Thanks to Bob Richard for this news.

On June 22, the Florida Secretary of State announced that the “Florida Hometown Democracy” Initiative has qualified for the 2010 ballot. It is the only initiative that has qualified for that ballot so far. It needed 676,811 valid signatures, and it had 698,562 valid. The group took 4 years to collect its signatures. The initiative only qualified because a week earlier, the Florida Supreme Court invalidated a 2007 law that lets initiative petition signers remove their names. Opponents of the initiative had been out in public, circulating the paperwork for signers to delete their names.

The initiative would require city and counties to hold a referendum before changing their comprehensive land use plans. Opponents of the initiative will now circulate their own counter initiative, which would also permit such local votes, but only after a group upset by the change had completed a petition within that city or county signed by 10% of the registered voters. Initiatives need 60% approval to pass in Florida.