On October 31, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minneapolis) introduced HR 4046. It would make it illegal for states to require government photo-ID, for voters who vote at polling places. The bill, if passed, would only relate to federal elections. Congress has the authority under Article One to overrule state election laws in Congressional elections. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On November 6, Virginia voters will elect state legislators. The 40 State Senate races include two Libertarian nominees and two Independent Green Party nominees. One of the Libertarians, Arin Sime, was endorsed by one of the two largest daily newspapers in the district (the Waynesboro News Virginian) on October 31. Sime has raised more money than the Democrat running in that race, although not as much money as the Republican incumbent who is running for re-election.
The other Libertarian running for State Senate is W. Donald Tabor, in a 2-person race against a Republican incumbent. The two Independent Green Party nominees for State Senate are Samuel D. Burley (running in a two-person race against a Democrat) and Mario Palmiotto (also running in a two-person race against a Democrat).
For the 100 races for the House of Delegates, the only minor party nominees are Independent Greens Craig Ennis (running against both a Democrat and a Republican) and Laura Clifton (running in a 2-person race against a Democrat).
The Virginia House has three independent members. All three are running for re-election. They are Lacey E. Putney, Watkins Abbitt, and Katherine Waddell. Putney had been serving in the Virginia House since he was first elected in 1961. He has run as an independent every two years starting in 1971. He is 79 years old and chairs the Committee dealing with election laws.
Stephen Colbert says he will pay his filing fee to run in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary on November 1. That fee is $2,500. Since that is below $5,000, and he hasn’t spent any other money on his campaign, the FEC still doesn’t consider him to be a presidential candidate. The FEC only requires people to file campaign finance reports, and to follow the restrictions, if they have raised or spent $5,000.
Colbert will not file in the Republican presidential primary, because that fee is $35,000 (it was $25,000 for candidates who filed early).
The deadline for all presidential primary candidates in South Carolina is at noon on November 1. The Democratic Party is not obliged to accept the fee and the state chair reportedly will urge that Colbert’s fee be rejected. UPDATE: Colbert did file, as he had said he would.
Unity08 has completely revamped its own web page. The address is the same: www.unity08.com. The new page reveals that Unity08 has decided to use the independent procedure, rather than the new party procedure, in California, Alabama and Idaho. In all 3 states, the independent presidential procedures are easier than the new party procedures.
According to this story in the Riverside, California Press-Enterprise, wealthy Congressman Darrell Issa of San Diego County has agreed to pay to get an initiative on the California June 2008 ballot. That initiative would provide that each U.S. House district elect its own elector. The initiative already collected 100,000 signatures in August, then had been abandoned for lack of funding. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news. A poll released on October 31 shows that the initiative would lose; see this report.
The Democratic response continues to lack any hint that the Democrats might qualify similiar initiatives in states such as Florida and Ohio. As noted earlier, 17 of the 23 states that have the initiative process are states that voted for George W. Bush in each of the last two presidential elections.
