The May 2 issue of the Washington Post has this article about what legal scholars say about John McCain’s eligibility for the presidency, given that he was born in the Canal Zone in 1936. Thanks to Howard Bashman’s “How Appealing” law blog.
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The May 2 issue of the Washington Post has this article about what legal scholars say about John McCain’s eligibility for the presidency, given that he was born in the Canal Zone in 1936. Thanks to Howard Bashman’s “How Appealing” law blog.
On April 8, a non-controversial technical Illinois election law bill was amended by its authors, so that the bill now would also restore the straight-ticket device in Illinois general elections. The bill is HB 2673. The sponsors are six Democrats from urban areas: from Cook County, John Fritchey, Joseph Lyons, Louis Lang, and John D’Amico; from the part of Illinois that is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Daniel Beiser and Thomas Holbrook.
Straight-ticket devices make it possible for voters to vote for all offices without even looking to see whom they are voting for or against. They have been in decline in the United States. Elections administrators dislike them, because they introduce ambiguity and confusion into counting the votes.
On May 2, 4 U.S. Senators introduced S.2959, which would require states to permit same-day voter registration in federal elections. The sponsors are Senators Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jon Tester of Montana, and Tom Harkin of Iowa. The four Senators all represent states that use same-day voter registration.
The American Independent Party state convention in California this year is set for June 6-8, in Sacramento, at a Denny’s Restaurant at 9256 3rd Street. This convention will choose presidential elector candidates. It is likely to receive a large attendance, because the state chair, Ed Noonan, apparently wants to nominate candidates pledged to Alan Keyes for president. This would effectively sever the American Independent Party of California from its status as the California affiliate of the Constitution Party, since the Constitution Party recently chose Chuck Baldwin as its presidential candidate.
The AIP state central committee will make the decision. The room reserved for the convention only holds 25 people. It is likely that the convention will need to move to a different location, since this meeting will attract a very large number of people. The AIP state central committee, according to the California election law, is not comprised of county central committee members of that party. Instead, the AIP state central committee is composed of the party’s candidates for partisan public office at the last election, and their appointees. The existing state central committee can appoint members (if the county central committee is not organized in that county) for all the partisan offices for which the party had no candidates in the last election.