According to an article in the Austin Statesman posted May 21, the Texas legislature is not likely to pass the bill that moves the primary (for all office) from March to February 5.
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New Jersey has all its legislative elections in odd years. This year, the Libertarian Party has 22 candidates for the legislature; the Green Party has 10; the Conservative Party has 2. The petition deadline for each of these candidates is in early June. Since each candidate needs 100 signatures, it is likely that all, or almost all, will succeed in getting on the ballot. Two years ago the Libertarians had 7, the Greens had 6, and the Conservative Party had one.
The lawsuit filed by the three parties mentioned above may perhaps be settled successfully in June 2007. That lawsuit covers a multitude of election law issues. They include the ability of circulators to petition outside their home districts; campaign finance laws that discriminate against unqualified parties relative to qualified parties; and the state’s failure to draft a regulation on how an unqualified party becomes entitled to a registration tally.
The Socialist Party, which is not part of the lawsuit, has one candidate for the legislature this year. In 2005 it had three.
On May 21, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed HB 537, which moves Florida’s presidential primary to January 29. The bill also outlaws vote-counting machines with no paper trail. Both major party national committees have warned their Florida affiliates that January 29 is too early and breaks national party rules. Both national committees insist they will penalize Florida by depriving it of some of its delegates. It is possible the Florida Democratic Party will not recognize the primary and will hold caucuses instead, in February, to avoid this penalty.
Jerome Corsi recently joined the Constitution Party and says he is mulling over seeking its presidential nomination. He is the author of over 15 books, and has a Doctorate in Political Science from Harvard. He spoke to the Maine Constitution Party state convention on May 18 in Portland. He is probably best known for being the co-author of Unfit for Command, a criticism of Senator John Kerry. He has also co-authored a book with Jim Gilchrist called Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America’s Borders, and a book co-authored with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell called Rebuilding America. Although in 2005 he said he wanted to run against Senator John Kerry in Massachusetts in 2008, he has since moved to New Jersey.
On May 21, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Underwood v Guam, 06-1268, the case over whether the Republican Party candidate for Governor in 2006 should have faced a run-off, or whether he should have been declared the winner. The dispute centered around whether “votes cast” includes void votes. The Guam Supreme Court had said a void vote is not a “vote cast.” The federal law governing Guam gubernatorial elections requires that the winner receive a majority of the “votes cast.”