Anti-Initiative Bill Will Get Vote in California Assembly Next Week

Posted on by August 31, 2007
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State Senator Jenny Oropeza plans ask the California Assembly to pass SB 408 next week. The bill makes it illegal for anyone to circulate a statewide initiative, unless that person had been registered to vote (or had been eligible to be registered to vote) at the time of the previous election. This would make it impossible for people who had not yet been 18 years of age in the last election, or people who had moved into California since the last election, to circulate a statewide initiative.

US Supreme Court Puts Indiana Voter Photo-ID Case on September 24 Conference

Posted on by August 30, 2007
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The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Indiana Democratic Party v Rokita, 07-25, at its September 24 conference. This is the case challenging the Indiana law that requires voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. The 7th circuit had upheld that law by a vote of 2-1.

September 24 is also the day the U.S. Supreme Court will be considering whether to accept the Pennsylvania ballot access case, Rogers v Cortez.

Post Office Surveys First Amendment Activity on Its Own Sidewalks

Posted on by August 30, 2007
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In 2000, the Initiative & Referendum Institute filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service against a regulation passed that year that makes it illegal for petitioning to occur on post office sidewalks. The part of the case involving interior postal sidewalks is still in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Recently, the judge in the case asked the postal service to send a survey to all postmasters, asking to what extent people have used interior postal sidewalks for First Amendment activity, including petitioning. The results should be known in a month. “Interior sidewalks” means sidewalks that lead from the street to the post office, or to its parking lot, or between the parking lot and the post office itself.

Florida Democratic Fund-Raisers Threaten Democratic National Committee Over Primary Decision

Posted on by August 30, 2007
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Two Florida Democrats who have raised a large amount of money for the Democratic Party in the past are threatening to withhold all future financial assistance to the Democratic National Committee, if that Committee eliminates all Florida delegates to the 2008 national convention.

Wayne Hogan and his wife have donated more than $730,000 to units of the Democratic Party and its nominees during the past ten years. Also he was the Democratic nominee for U.S. House in the 7th district in 2002, and he spent over $2,000,000 of his own money on his campaign. On August 28, he cancelled a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee that he had planned to host. He said he will also refuse to help the Committee in the future, unless it reverses its decision to deny Florida any delegates to the 2008 national convention.

Dick Batchelor, another Florida fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, said, “If Wayne Hogan turns off the spigot, other people will follow suit. Why should I support the national party when they’re basically vaporizing the influence our delegates would have in the nominating process?”

Florida Democrats could have their delegates restored if they agreed not to use the January 29 presidential primary to elect delegates. But Florida Democrats say setting up a caucus procedure in February would be far too expensive and complicated, especially with so little time to plan caucuses. The Florida Democartic Party has used a presidential primary to choose convention delegates since 1928.