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.
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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.
On May 8, voters in Greenville County, South Carolina, voted to fill a vacancy on the County Council, 20th district. Only two candidates were on the ballot in this partisan election. The Constitution Party nominee, Butch Taylor, polled 514 votes, or 38.4%. The winning Republican nominee, Sid Cates, is an administrator at Bob Jones University. Thanks to Austin Cassidy’s Third Party Watch for this news.
On May 8, the House Administration Committee passed Congressman Rush Holt’s HR 811. The vote was 6-3. The bill outlaws vote-counting machines that don’t produce a paper trail.
On May 7, the New York State Senate passed S5755, which moves this year’s primary from September 11 to September 18. The identical bill in the Assembly, A 8129, is sponsored by the Speaker of the Assembly, so this bill is extremely likely to pass. The bill’s purpose is “to recognize the significance of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, by prohibiting the scheduling of the 2007 primary on that day.” Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.