On October 30, Philadelphia attorney Phil Berg filed his appeal in Berg v Obama in the 3rd circuit, case number 08-4340. That Court has not acted. Berg then filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, case number 08-570.

The U.S. Court of Appeals Clerk’s office is treating this case in an unusual manner. Normally, when one telephones the Clerk’s office and asks about the status of a case, someone in the clerical staff answers the question. In this particular case, the employees have been told not to release any information, without having the caller speak to one of the attorneys who works in the Clerk’s office.

The case concerns Berg’s assertions that Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications to be president. The U.S. District Court had ruled earlier this month that Berg lacks standing.

The national Green Party hopes to win up to four state house seats this year. In Arkansas, Richard Carroll is favored to win. In Minnesota, Farheen Hakeem is well-known in her district in Minneapolis and formerly polled 14% for Mayor (in 2005) and 33% for County Commissioner (in 2006).

In Arizona, Kent Solberg, running in Tucson, has qualified for public funding and has been endorsed by Tucson’s biggest daily newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star.

In Illinois, Ante Marijean has been endorsed by both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.

On October 29, the Los Angeles City Council decided not to ask the voters (in the spring 2009 city election) if they want to use Instant-Runoff Voting for elections for city offices. Instead the Council created a working group to study how IRV could be implemented if it were approved. That study will probably take six months.