On April 14, the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission, case no 1:08-cv-639, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit is really directed at Senator John McCain, who has spent more than is permitted already, during the primary season, for candidates who accept primary season matching funds. McCain has said he is not bound by the limit because he never actually took primary season matching funds. But the Democratic complaint points out that he because he was eligible for them, he was able to get on the Delaware and Ohio presidential primary ballots without petitioning (the law exempts presidential primary candidates from petitioning if they are entitled to primary season matching funds).

The Democrats are suing the FEC to force the FEC to act against McCain. However, since the FEC only has two commissioners and four vacancies, it is without a quorum, so the lawsuit asks that the Democratic National Committee be given permission to sue McCain directly, since it is hopeless that the FEC can act. See their complaint here.

On April 11, Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed S.1514. It takes effect immediately. It says that if someone changes his name and then runs for office, the ballot will list both the candidate’s new name and the old name. The bill was introduced because Marvin Richardson had changed his name last year to “Pro-Life” and is running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The primary is May 27. The ballot will now say, “Pro-Life, Formerly Known as Marvin Richardson.”

Josh Goodman has posted this interesting analysis on whether the National Popular Vote Plan can really pass in enough states to take effect. It is dated April 11, 2008.