Although there have been perhaps half a dozen lawsuits filed in various states around the country alleging that Barack Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications to be president, the one that has received the most publicity is Berg v Obama. Phil Berg, a Pennsylvania attorney, had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the election. He had filed that request on Friday, October 31. Justice Souter denied the request on Monday, November 3. Berg v Obama, 08A391. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.

On November 4, independent candidate Tim Madden was elected to the Massachusetts State House, in the Barnstable, Dukes & Nantucket District (Massachusetts legislative seats don’t have seat numbers). No incumbent was running. There may be other independents elected to state legislatures around the country. One was also elected in Wisconsin.

The new Massachusetts House will consist of 160 members, but only 16 Republicans. Republicans had 19 members in the 2007 session.

Tennessee State Senator Rosalind Kurita, running for re-election as a write-in candidate after the Democratic Party rejected her as its nominee (even though she had won the Democratic primary in August) only received 17% of the vote as a write-in candidate. See this story for more details.