On May 27, the Rhode Island Senate passed S.2112 by a vote of 27-10. This is the National Popular Vote Plan bill for presidential elections. The same concept has already been signed into law in Hawaii, New Jersey, Illinois and Maryland.
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The Ohio Petition Company has implemented an idea that has been talked about for some time…outfitting its circulators with a portable computer that is connected to the state’s list of registered voters. The Ohio Petition Company is a profit-making firm that collects signatures for any group that needs them. The new device enables a circulator to know instantly if someone who is about to sign a petition is a registered voter, and what his or her address is, in the voter registration records. See the company’s web page here. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 required each state to have a computerized list of all the voters in that state. The device can also be used to know how many signers have signed a petition more than once. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
On May 28, a U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, again ruled in favor of the Democratic National Committee, in a lawsuit filed by a Florida voter over Florida’s having no delegates at the national convention. DiMaio v Democratic National Committee, middle district, 8:08-cv-672T.
This was the second DiMaio lawsuit. He had lost the first one on standing and had re-filed a new case to cure that defect. The judge ruled from the bench at the conclusion of the oral argument. He said parties have a right to make their own rules.
On May 31 and June 1, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee will meet in Washington, DC, to reconsider whether to give Florida and Michigan any convention delegates. The Rules & Bylaws Committee has 28 members, 13 of whom have already committed themselves to support Hillary Clinton, and 8 of whom have already committed to Barack Obama. Whatever the Rules & Bylaws Committee decides can be appealed to the National Committee, so the meeting may be somewhat inconclusive.
Ohio is holding a special election in November 2008 for Attorney General. Normally this office is only on the ballot in mid-term years. But because the incumbent resigned last month, a special election is being held. State law says that independent candidates need 750 signatures in special elections. The only independent who turned in a petition by the May 27 deadline is Robert Owens, chair of the Ohio Constitution Party. He is an attorney. Since he used the independent procedure, the ballot will not list his party name, just “other-party candidate.” The Secretary of State’s office says the petition will have been checked by June 10. UPDATE: Owens won’t have any label on the ballot. He could have chosen to have either “no-party candidate”, “other-party candidate”, or just nothing, and he chose the latter.