On January 6, the U.S. Supreme Court asked Ralph Nader to respond to Arizona’s request that the Court take the Nader Arizona case. The response is due February 6. The case is called Brewer v Nader, 08-648. The issues are the validity of Arizona’s early June petition deadline for independent presidential candidates, and the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators.
On January 8, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) refiled his proposed constitutional amendment for a direct election of the president. It is SJR 4.
On January 8, the 7th circuit refused to rehear Stevo v Keith, the case that challenged the number of signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House in Illinois. The original unfavorable decision had been issued on October 1, 2008.
On January 8, the 7th circuit refused to rehear Stevo v Keith, the case that challenged the number of signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House in Illinois. The original unfavorable decision had been issued on October 1, 2008.
Texas will have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, when the legislature convenes next week. He is Joe Straus, age 49, who has only served two terms and has never been a committee chairman. The outgoing speaker, Tom Craddick, had been in the House since 1969. Republicans control the new House by a narrow margin (76-74) but not all Republicans were willing to re-elect Craddick.
It is not clear if having a new Speaker will make it easier to pass ballot access reform or not. If you are a Texan and have some insight into this, please comment. Texas drastically toughened ballot access in 1967.
