On Saturday, July 19, the Arkansas Democratic Party State Committee unanimously passed a change in the party rules. It says that no person who resigned from public office as part of a felony plea bargain, is eligible to run in a Democratic primary.

The proposal was motivated by a desire to remove Dwayne Dobbins from the November ballot. Currently he and Green Party nominee Richard Carroll are the only names set to be printed on the November ballot, for State Representative, 39th district (North Little Rock). Dobbins already won the Democratic primary in May, because he was unopposed and Arkansas doesn’t permit write-ins in primaries. Dobbins had been in the state legislature in the past, but he had plead guilty to a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl. His seat has been taken over by his wife. But the wife, Sharon Dobbins, surprised everyone when she didn’t file for re-election this year, and Dwayne Dobbins did file, on the last day.

The new Democratic Party rule seems harsh, since Dobbins already is the party’s nominee and the rule wasn’t passed until after he had won the primary. But the press in Arkansas all seem to assume that the Democratic Party’s rule change does mean that Dobbins’ name will be removed from the November ballot. This will leave Green Party nominee Richard Carroll as the only name on the ballot. But the Democratic Party will encourage voters to cast a write-in for Clinton R. Hampton, a Democrat and the former Mayor of Dermott.

Approximately 70% of all candidates running for the Connecticut legislature are expected to participate in the state’s public funding program. It passed in 2005 but was not in effect until 2007, when it was used for a few special elections. 2008 is the first time the system has been in usage for a regularly-scheduled election. This article in the Boston Globe about the Connecticut system does not mention that the Connecticut system is currently under attack in federal court over the parts that discriminate against minor party and independent candidates.

On July 18, the Nevada Secretary of State announced that Ralph Nader’s independent petition has enough valid signatures.

A few days before that, the Washington Secretary of State made the same announcement. Thanks to the poster below for this information.

Nader is now officially on the ballot in 6 states, a number that will sharply increase in the next few weeks, as more of his petitions are submitted and presumably verified.