The California legislature re-convenes on Monday, August 20. Interesting election laws somewhat likely to pass in the next 30 days are: SB 37, the National Popular Vote Plan for presidential elections; SB 439, which would legalize write-ins when the voter forgets to “x” the box next to the name written in; AB 1294 and AB 1662, expanding use of ranked-choice voting; and SB 408, which restricts who may circulate an initiative petition.
On August 16, the Illinois Republican Party sponsored a straw poll for its presidential nomination, at its booth at the Illinois state fair. Voting was open between 11 am and 4 pm. Any adult resident of Illinois could vote. The results: Mitt Romney 373, Fred Thompson 184, Ron Paul 174, Rudy Giuliani 107, John McCain 38, Mike Huckabee 28, Sam Brownback 10, Duncan Hunter 6, Tom Tancredo 3.
According to this NBC news story, the Michigan legislature is likely to pass a bill next week setting the major party presidential primaries on January 15.
The Federal Election Commission has published Federal Elections 2006, the compilation of election returns for both houses of Congress from the 2006 election. The book can be seen on-line here. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news. The FEC has been publishing such election returns books ever since 1980 or possibly a few years earlier.
On August 16, leaders of the California Democratic Party announced a new organization to fight a proposed ballot initiative that would let each U.S. House district elect its own presidential elector in California. The new organization is headed by the state’s two Democratic U.S. Senators, the Mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Democratic state legislative leaders. See its webpage at www.fairelectionreform.com. An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on August 16 is critical of the proposed initiative. The Wall Street Journal supports the existing electoral college system, and the op-ed says that the proposed Republican initiative will merely play into the hands of the National Popular Vote Plan. Thanks to Jack Dean for this news.
