On June 19, the Rhode Island House passed S 2112, the National Popular Vote Plan bill. It had already passed the Senate. The vote was 36-34. It now goes to Governor Donald Carcieri, a Republican. He has not indicated whether he will sign it or veto it. Thanks to Rob Van Stee for this news.
On June 18, incumbent Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, a Republican, began his re-election campaign. Press coverage in Vermont refers to Douglas has having “two major party opponents”, and the press is giving equal coverage to Gaye Symington (likely Democratic nominee for Governor) and Anthony Pollina (Progressive nominee for Governor). For example, see this story.
InsiderAdvantage released this poll for the presidential election in Georgia on June 19. It shows McCain 44%, Obama 43%, Barr 6%, other and undecided 7%. For more detail, see here. Thanks to DailyKos.
This editorial from the Fort Wayne, Indiana, News-Sentinel, is a remarkably well-informed attack on Indiana’s ballot access laws. One point the editorial could have made, and didn’t, is that no one has successfully completed a statewide independent or minor petition in Indiana since 2000. Indiana is one of only five states in which Ralph Nader has never appeared on the ballot. Thanks to Mitch Harper for the link.
A U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, will hear the Libertarian Party’s ballot access case on July 14, at 10 a.m. The issue is whether the party is a qualified party. The hearing will be before Judge Edmund Sargus.
The party submitted a petition on March 3, 2008, to qualify itself as a party. It had 6,500 signatures on it. The Secretary of State’s office had ruled last year that, since Ohio has no valid law on how a new party gets on the ballot, she would administratively require 20,114 signatures, due in late November 2007. The Libertarian Party argues that (1) it has a modicum of voter support, as shown by its petition and also by being qualified now in 30 other states; (2) the Secretary of State did not have authority to create a new procedure, in the absense of any legislative grant of authority to her to do that; (3) her procedure, in any event, is still unconstitutional, because of the extraordinarily early deadline. No other state has a mandatory procedure for a new party to get on the ballot that is as early as November of the year before the election.
