On May 9, the Minnesota Senate passed SF 893. It moves the date for major party presidential caucuses from March to February 12. The bill originally also moved the state’s primary (for office other than president) from September to August, but that provision has been deleted from the bill.
On May 9, the 11th circuit denied the Reform Party’s petition for a rehearing in Federal Election Commission v Reform Party. This is the case in which the FEC has been seeking repayment of $333,000 that it gave to the party for its national convention in 2000. As a result, the national party remains under a court order that it not spend any money on anything except repayment of the debt. Therefore, it is unable to spend money on fund-raising. It is most unlikely the FEC will ever get its money back.
On May 9, two California election law bills advanced. AB 1294, which permits all cities and counties to use Instant-Runoff voting for elections for their own officers, passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee. SB 439, which legalizes write-ins when the voter forgets to “X” the box next to the name just written in, passed the Senate Elections Committee.
On May 9, the Vermont House Government Operations Committee took testimony on SB 108, the Instant-Runoff Voting bill that has already passed the Senate. The House Committee will vote on the morning of May 10.
On May 9, Massachusetts Congressman Martin Meehan said he is resigning from the US House effective July 1. He is a Democrat. A special election to fill the vacancy will be held October 16, 2007. Massachusetts has 4 ballot-qualified parties: Republican, Democratic, Green, and Working Families. They will each have a primary on September 4, 2007, for this special election. Parties that are not ballot-qualified may also participate if their nominees submit 2,000 signatures. The Constitution Party has already said it will run someone.
