On August 31, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee became the first candidate for the Republican presidential nomination to endorse full voting rights for the District of Columbia. He said, “They’re American citizens. They pay taxes and it just doesn’t seem right that someone could be even partially disenfranchised.” He endorsed HR 1905, the bill that would give D.C. a voting member of the House of Representatives, combined with an additional seat for Utah. HR 1905 passed the House on April 19, and is likely to be considered by the Senate when Congress returns on September 4.

SB 37, the California National Popular Vote Plan bill, will not be brought up in the Assembly until next year. California legislative sessions last for two years, so the bill won’t need to start all over again. It passed the Senate several months ago. The sponsors feel that the controversy over a proposed Republican-backed initiative, to give each U.S. House district its own elector, will have been resolved one way or another by 2008, and the choices will be clearer for decisions about the electoral college.

On August 30, a member of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Democratic National Committee. The lawsuit attacks the National Committee’s rule barring Florida from having any delegates to the 2008 national convention. It is DiMaio v Democratic National Committee, in U.S. District Court, Middle District, no. 07-cv-1552. It was assigned by Judge Richard Lazzara, a Clinton appointee. The complaint is here.