Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Says he Wants to Be an Independent Candidate for Re-election

Posted on by April 27, 2007
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George Dale, Mississippi’s Democratic Insurance Commissioner since 1975, was denied the right to file as a Democrat last month. Mississippi elects all its state officers in the odd years before presidential elections, so the state election is in November 2007. Dale was kept off the Democratic primary ballot because he endorsed President Bush for re-election in 2004. He filed a lawsuit in state court to overturn that decision.

However, at the hearing on April 27, he said that he no longer wants to be the Democratic nominee, and that he wants to be an independent. Since this issue had not been briefed, the court took no immediate action. Dale needs 1,000 signatures to be on the ballot, which he undoubtedly could collect. Unfortunately, the deadline has already passed. It is possible he will file new papers to argue that the deadline is unconstitutional. Thanks to Steve Rankin for this news.

Florida January Primary Bill Passes Senate

Posted on by April 27, 2007
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On April 27, the Florida Senate passed HB537, which would create a presidential primary that is one week later than New Hampshire’s primary. The Senate amended the bill to outlaw vote-counting machines with no paper trail. The bill had already passed the House, but must now return to the House to see if the House agrees with the amendment.

It is difficult to know for sure what will happen if this bill is signed into law, because New Hampshire won’t clearly say when its presidential primary will be. But even if New Hampshire holds its primary as late as January 22, the Florida bill would create a January 29 for Florida, ahead of almost all other primaries.

Minnesota Bill Passes Senate With Harmful Provision Deleted

Posted on by April 27, 2007
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Minnesota SF1298 passed the Senate on April 27. Fortunately, the part of the bill making it more difficult for new parties to qualify for the ballot had been amended out of the bill on April 19.

Minnesota currently requires a group that wants to transform itself into a ballot-qualified party to submit a petition signed by 5% of the last vote cast. This petition is so difficult, it has never been used, even though it has been in existence since 1913. The law set no limit on when such a petition could start to circulate, and said it was due in July of election years. SF1298, as originally introduced, set a January 1 start date on such petitions, and moved the deadline from July to May, but those parts of the bill were deleted.