The Connecticut House expects to vote on HB 6437, the National Popular Vote Plan, sometime in the next few weeks. See this article. The bill had passed the Joint Committee on Government Administration & Elections on March 25.
Reply
On April 20, newly appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York met with state leaders of the Working Families Party. See this news article.
Florida Governor Charlie Christ says he doesn’t like S956 and HB CS497, the two identical bills that, among other things, make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. See this news story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On April 20, a 3-judge panel of the North Carolina Appeals Court heard arguments in Libertarian Party of North Carolina v State Board of Elections, a case filed in 2005. The arguments lasted for one hour. The judges were John C. Martin (who asked no questions), Sanford L. Steeleman (who asked the attorney for the state whether it would help with ballot crowding to have just one party on the ballot), and Ann Marie Calabria. UPDATE: here is a newspaper story about the hearing; thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.
A decision will probably be out in three or four months. The case will probably depend on whether the judges feel that the North Carolina Constitution gives more protection to voting rights than the U.S. Constitution. The North Carolina Constitution says, “All elections shall be free”, and also “Every qualified voter in North Carolina who is 21 years of age, except as in this Constitution disqualified, shall be eligible for election to the people to office.” The U.S. Constitution does not have similar language.
North Carolina is one of only four states in which Ralph Nader has never appeared on the ballot. It was one of only four states in which Ron Paul’s name didn’t appear on the ballot in the 1988 election, when he was the Libertarian Party presidential nominee.
The Constitution Party is petitioning for status as a qualified party for 2010 in both Wyoming and Arizona. The Wyoming drive, which could not legally start until April 1, 2009, already has 250 volunteer signatures.