OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Criticizes U.S.

Posted on by July 8, 2005
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The OSCE (formal name for the Helsinki Accords) Parliamentary Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. for violating the accords, on July 5. Specifically, the U.S. was condemned for giving residents of the District of Columbia no voting representation in congress. 260 legislators from OSCE countries comprise the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly. This includes 12 members of congress from the U.S. Outside of the U.S. delegation, only two members voted against the resolution, a member from Canada and one from Denmark.

N.J. Presidential Primary Bill Signed

Posted on by July 8, 2005
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On July 7, New Jersey’s Governor signed A30, which moves the state’s presidential primary from June to the last Tuesday in February. He also signed A38, which provides for a blank line on the voter registration form in the question about choice of “political party”. In the past, the voter registration form itself didn’t ask about the voter’s choice of political party, but a separate form associated with the voter registration form did ask. Because the two forms were separate, many voters didn’t deal with the second form, so a small proportion of New Jersey voters had been members of any party.

James Stockdale Dies

Posted on by July 5, 2005
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On July 5, James Stockdale died at the age of 81. He had been Ross Perot’s running mate in 1992. He was the only individual running for vice-president who ever participated in a debate with the major party nominees for vice-president.

Louisiana Bill Signed

Posted on by July 3, 2005
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On July 1, Louisiana’s Governor signed SB 53, which moves the state’s congressional elections to late September. Only if no one gets 50% will a run-off be held, and such run-offs would be in November. Because the US Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that federal law forbids such timing (which Louisiana used between 1978 and 1996), it is likely that the new law will not go into effect. The state is under a federal court order to obey the 1997 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which was called Foster v Love.

Oregon May Legalize Fusion

Posted on by June 30, 2005
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On June 30, the Oregon House of Representatives passed HB 3021 by a vote of 49-2. It would let two parties jointly nominate the same candidate. A candidate who was the nominee of two different parties would be listed once on the November ballot, with the names of both parties adjacent to his or her name. For example, John Doe, Libertarian/Democrat. The bill exists because of lobbying by the Libertarian Party.