A Wisconsin Assemblyman, Dave Travis (D-Madison) has introduced an Assembly Joint Resolution. If the legislature passes it, Wisconsin voters would vote in February 2008 on “Withdrawal of the United States troops from Iraq. Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?”
A somewhat similar bill is pending in the California legislature.
Law Professor James A. Gardner has recently authored “Deliberation or Tabulation? The Self-Undermining Constitutional Architecture of Election Campaigns.” It is in the Buffalo Law Review, April 2007, vol. 54, no. 5. It points out that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said that election campaigns are times when parties and candidates try to persuade the electorate to a particular point of view. Yet, many U.S. Supreme Court election law decisions legitimize laws that make it impossible or very difficult for new and relatively unpopular ideas to be heard.
There are at least a dozen scholarly articles in law journals, cricitizing the U.S. Supreme Court for being to eager to uphold restrictive ballot access laws. As far as is known, there are no scholarly articles that praise the U.S. Supreme Court record on ballot access.
On July 2, the Indiana Democratic Party asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of Indiana’s law, requiring voters at the poll to show government photo-ID in order to vote. The case, Indiana Democratic Party v Rokita, doesn’t have a number yet. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
A state trial court in Pennsylvania has set a trial date in the case to determine which faction of the Prohibition Party is entitled to the annual endowment. It will be August 16, 2007, in Media, Pennsylvania. The case is Residuary Trust Under Will of George Pennock, Delaware Co., Pa.
On June 26, the Federal Election Commission authorized the U.S. Treasury to send a check for $16,356,000 to the Democratic Party, and another such check in the same amount to the Republican Party. This money is to be used for each major party’s national convention next year. Thanks to Tom Jones for this news.
