According to this story in the Palm Beach Post, the District Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida, does not believe that any Florida law was broken by 17 voters who appear to have voted in both Florida and New York, in the November 2006 election.

The conclusion probably wouldn’t be any different if 2006 had been a presidential election year, either. Technically, someone voting for president in two different states in the same presidential election would not be voting “twice” for any office. This is because voters in November of presidential election years are not voting for president. They are voting for candidates for presidential elector. Of course, each state is conducting a separate election for that office. So, the voter would not be voting twice for any particular office.

The New York Sun, more than any other daily newspaper in the U.S., runs frequent commentary about the possibility that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg might run for president as an independent. The December 14 Sun ran this article, noting that at the Iowa Republican presidential debate on December 12, Senator John McCain had praised Mayor Bloomberg’s record on improving New York city schools. The story hints at the possibility that McCain and Bloomberg are forming an alliance.

Pennsylvania State Representative Kerry A. Benninghoff, a Republican from Bellefonte, has sent a short written letter to Ballot Access News. It says he has introduced a bill to abolish mandatory ballot access petitions, and use filing fees instead. The letter says, “Petitions are an insider’s ‘ball game’ used to throw candidates off the ballot.”

The bill doesn’t seem to have a bill number yet. The Pennsylvania legislature has 2-year sessions, so any bills introduced this month can be taken up in 2008.