The bill pending in the Maine legislature to assist write-in candidates has a hearing on March 20 in the Joint Committee for Legal & Veterans Affairs. The bill would require that the names of declared write-in candidates be posted at the polls. It would also delete the requirement that the write-in must include not only the name of the candidate, but the name of that candidate’s town of residence. And it would require that the votes for declared write-in candidates be included in the official state election returns.

On February 23, a lower state court in Pasco County, Florida, ruled that the Green Party of Florida may subpoena financial records of the “mystery” candidates from the 2008 election. In the 2008 election, five individuals unknown to the Green Party had filed to run for the legislature in the party’s primary. The Green Party suspects that the five were recruited by Republican Party activists, for the purpose of injurning Democratic nominees. The suspicion was heightened when the candidates refused to communicate with either the public or the party’s officers, even after they were nominated. The case is King v Roman. The party is curious to see who paid the filing fees, which were approximately $2,000 each. Thanks to Kai Schwandes for this news.

On the evening of March 4, the Brooklyn Republican Party voted overwhelmingly to let Mayor Michael Bloomberg run in the New York city Republican primary in September 2009. Bloomberg needs permission from the committees in at least three of the five boroughs, because he is a registered independent, not a registered Republican. His strong showing in Brooklyn makes it likely that he will also receive permission from at least two other borough committees.