On April 25, the Alabama House Constitution & Elections Committee passed HB 407. It says that the state’s presidential electors shall be elected proportionately. Alabama currently has 9 electoral votes. If the bill had been in effect in 2004, it would have meant that President Bush would have received 6 electoral votes and Senator Kerry would have received 3 electoral votes (based on the popular vote percentages for each).
On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Federal Election Commission v Wisconsin Right to Life. According to the Associated Press, “a majority of the Supreme Court appears to be skeptical of restrictions on campaign ads.” Observers said it was the most energized U.S. Supreme Court argument so far this term. Every justice except Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question. There will be voluminous news media coverage of the argument throughout all major media later today and in print tomorrow morning. For an amusing eye-witness account by Allison Hayward, see here. To read the 72-page transcript of the oral argument, see here.
On April 24, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed SB 488, which lets ex-felons register to vote.
On April 24, the Florida Senate Ethics & Elections Committee passed SB 960 by a 3-2 vote. It moves the presidential primary from March, to one week after the New Hampshire primary. That could create a January 29 primary, or even an earlier primary, depending on what New Hampshire does.
The bill also outlaws vote-counting machines with no paper trail.
However, the bill was amended to toughen the rules for groups that carry on voter registration drives, thereby causing Democratic legislators, and many interest groups, to say they will now fight the bill. In 2005, Florida had passed a bill imposing huge fines on groups that carry out voter registration, if they don’t get all the forms turned in quite soon after they have been filled out. But the 2005 law made an exception for political parties. In 2006, a federal court had issued an injunction against the law, citing the discriminatory treatment given to political parties. The 2007 amendment to SB 960 removes the exemption given to political parties, and reduces the fines.
On April 24, the Colorado House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee passed SB 83. The bill lets qualified minor parties nominate someone, even if that person has not been a registered member of the party for the past year. This provision of the bill gives qualified minor parties the same flexibility that major parties in Colorado already enjoy. The bill also lets people circulate a petition for a candidate for district or local office, even if those circulators don’t live in that district or local jurisdiction. Another part of the bill, to let parolees register to vote, was deleted from the bill. Opponents said this part of the bill violates the State Constitution, and that the policy change can only be made by amending the State Constitution.
