The state chair of the Michigan Republican Party said on May 17 that he wants to bar Ron Paul from future Republican congressional debates. See here for the story.
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On May 15, the Illinois Senate passed HB 426 by a vote of 48-10. It moves the primary for all office from March to February 5.
It also moves the deadline for a qualified party to submit its presidential and vice-presidential candidates to September 5, to accomodate the Republican Party’s very late national convention. That convention will be held September 1-4, and is the latest major party presidential nominating convention in U.S. history.
Assuming the Governor signs the bill, Illinois will have the earliest primary (for office other than president) ever held in U.S. history. Always before, when a state has had a presidential primary as early as February, it has had a much later primary for other office. Illinois will probably be the first state to break that pattern, although chances are good that Texas will soon imitate it. Many commentators have noted that having primaries for office like Congress and Governor in February of an election year is an asset to incumbents.
The Indiana Democratic Party has decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Indiana’s requirement that voters at the polls must show a government photo-I.D. The 7th circuit had upheld that law on January 4, 2007, by a vote of 2-1. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On May 16, Scotland’s Parliament chose Alex Salmond to be First Minister. He is the leader of the Scottish National Party. Although that party is 73 years old, it has never before been able to form a government of Scotland. The vote was 49 to 46. The 47 members of the SNP, plus the 2 Green Party members, voted for Salmond. All 46 Labor Party members voted for the outgoing First Minister. The representatives from the Conservative and Liberal Democratic Parties, and the lone independent, all abstained. The two Greens were only elected because elections for the Scottish Parliament use proportional representation.
On May 11, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer signed SB 96, which makes it illegal for out-of-staters to circulate initiative petitions in Montana, and makes it illegal to pay circulators on a per-signature basis.