Although the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on April 23 in a non-election law case, it did not issue the Indiana photo voter ID decision. The next possible date for that decision is April 28, Monday. The Court will be sitting in April, May and June for the sole purpose of issuing decisions; the oral arguments for this session will be over by noon on Wednesday, April 23.
On April 22, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican, again vetoed the National Popular Vote bill. This year’s bill is SB 2898. Now the legislature has one week to decide whether to override it.
On April 22, Mississippi held an election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House, First district. Mississippi special elections do not provide for a party nomination process, so two Republicans and two Democrats were on the ballot, along with an independent and a Green.
The results: Travis Childers, Dem., 49.41%; Greg Davis, Rep., 46.32%; Glen McCullough, Rep., 1.43%; Steve Holland, Dem., 1.17%; Wally Pang, Independent, 1.08%; John Wages, Green, .59%. Since no one got 50%, there will be a runoff on May 13. This was the first time a Green Party member had ever run for Congress from Mississippi.
When the First District voted in November 2006, the results had been: Republican 65.92%; Democratic 34.08%. The First District is in the northeast corner of Mississippi, and had been represented by a Republican in all elections starting in 1994.
Here is a link to CNN election night returns for Pennsylvania primaries.
Although the media is only concentrating on the Democratic primary, the Republican primary is also interesting. With 90% of the vote counted, the Republican percentages are: McCain 73%, Paul 16%, Huckabee 11%.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle must either sign or veto SB 2898 by late Tuesday evening (April 22). As of 1:30 pm Hawaii time, her office says she is still considering it. If she vetoes it, the legislature is likely to override her veto, since the bill passed by overwhelming majorities in both chambers. The legislature would have time to override her veto since it doesn’t adjourn until May 1. SB 2898 is the National Popular Vote Plan bill.
