Houston, Texas elects its Mayor on November 6, 2007. The race is officially non-partisan. Only three candidates are on the ballot: incumbent William White, Socialist Workers Party candidate Amanda Ulman, and Outlaw Josey Wales IV. Wales’ name seems to be a tribute to the somewhat famous 1976 movie “The Outlaw Josey Wales”.
Illinois Senate Bill 662 was sent to the Governor on September 13. It includes the ballot access improvements required by the 7th circuit decision Lee v Keith. It lowers the number of signatures for an independent candidate for the legislature from 10% of the last vote cast, to 5%. It moves the deadline for all independent candidates from December of the year before the primary, to June of the election year. And it repeals the law that says someone who signs for an independent cannot then vote in the next primary.
SB 662 passed the legislature on August 15. Illinois procedures for getting bills to the Governor are very slow. But now that the Governor has the bill, he must sign the bill (or veto it, which is extremely unlikely) by November 12.
According to this article, published September 14, the Florida Democratic Party is about to concede that it will not use the state’s January 29 presidential primary to choose delegates. The Democratic primary will be a “beauty contest” only, and Florida Democrats will likely determine some other method to choose delegates. The Florida party is apparently thinking of a party-financed mail ballot, which would be very expensive.
On August 30, U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf, a Reagan appointee, ruled that the Voting Rights Act does apply to the issue of whether felons and ex-felons may vote. Thus, if it can be shown that a state’s ban on felons and ex-felons has a racially disparate result, such a ban would be unconstitutional. The case is Simmons v Galvin, 01-11040, U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. This particular case now must have a trial on whether Massachusetts’ ban on felon voting has a racially disparate effect.
The issue of whether the Voting Rights Act applies to state laws that restrict voting by felons and ex-felons has been hotly contested. The 9th circuit has ruled that it does apply; the 2nd and 11th circuits have ruled that it doesn’t. All 3 decisions provoked dissents. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
Three election law bills in California are now in the hands of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you wish to register your request that he either sign or veto any of these bills, the phone for that is (916) 445-2841. SB 439 legalizes write-ins, even when the voter forgets to “X” the box next to the name written in. AB 1294 lets any city or county use Instant-Runoff Voting.
On the restrictive side, SB 408 adds restrictions on who may circulate a statewide initiative petition.
When anyone telephones (916) 445-2841, one gets a recording that says to push “2” to express an opinion about an Assembly Bill, and to push “5” to express an opinion about a Senate bill. If one pushes “2”, one hears a recording mentioning 6 particular Assembly bills, none of which is an election law bill. If one pushes “5”, one hears a recording mentioning 4 particular Senate bills, none of which is an election law bill. Those callers who don’t push a button for any of these other bills, then reach a human being, and one can give one’s opinion to that human.
