Unity08 is holding a state meeting in Florida on July 19 at 7 p.m, at the Boca Pointe Country Club in Palm Beach County. It is expected that the meeting will select state party officers. Then, Unity08 can file that list of its state party officers, and it will be a ballot-qualified party in Florida. The Florida contact person for Unity08 is Jake Jacobson of Boca Raton.
On July 8, peace activist Cindy Sheehan told the Associated Press that she may run for U.S. House in California’s 8th district as an independent. The incumbent is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sheehan said she will run unless Pelosi files articles of impeachment against President Bush by July 23. If Sheehan runs, she will need 10,198 valid signatures to be collected between April 2008 and August 2008. She must take care not to be registered as a member of a qualified party at any time in the period October 2007 through August 2008. California election law does not permit anyone to become an independent candidate (for office other than president) if that person has been member of a qualified party during the 13 months before an election.
If she does run and if she does get on the ballot, she would be the first independent candidate for U.S. House from California since 1996, when Steven Wheeler ran in the San Luis Obispo County district against Andrea Seastrand and Walter Capps. Wheeler only got 4.0%.
The U.S. Supreme Court has set October 1, the first day of the new court season, to hear Washington v Washington Republican Party, no. 06-730. This is the case over whether states may use “top-two” primaries in conjunction with party labels on ballots. A “top-two” primary is very common for non-partisan elections around the U.S. Every voter gets the same primary ballot, and that ballot lists all candidates. A run-off between the top two vote-getters is then held.
Washington state law says that this type of primary should be used for all elections, except presidential elections. The Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties sued shortly after this law was passed in 2004. The parties argue that if Washington state is going to use this type of primary, it must leave party labels off the ballot. The U.S. District Court, and the 9th circuit, agreed with the political parties.
The U.S. Supreme Court has set October 1, the first day of the new court season, to hear Washington v Washington Republican Party, no. 06-730. This is the case over whether states may use “top-two” primaries in conjunction with party labels on ballots. A “top-two” primary is very common for non-partisan elections around the U.S. Every voter gets the same primary ballot, and that ballot lists all candidates. A run-off between the top two vote-getters is then held.
Washington state law says that this type of primary should be used for all elections, except presidential elections. The Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties sued shortly after this law was passed in 2004. The parties argue that if Washington state is going to use this type of primary, it must leave party labels off the ballot. The U.S. District Court, and the 9th circuit, agreed with the political parties.
On July 10, the California Senate Elections Committee passed both AB 1294 and AB 1662. The first lets non-charter cities and counties use Instant-Runoff Voting for elections for their own officers (currently, only charter cities and counties may do so). AB 1662 lets overseas absentee voters use ranked-choice ballots when they are voting in election which normally have the possibility of an old-fashioned two-stage runoff.
These are the first two bills to advance IRV that have ever made this much headway in the California legislature. The two bills have already passed the Assembly.
