On May 2, a Colorado House of Representatives Committee killed SB 06-223. That bill was one of the bills in 5 states that proposed an interstate compact. States agreeing to the compact would only appoint presidential electors who promised to vote for whichever presidential candidate polled the most popular votes nationwide. The Colorado bill had passed the Colorado Senate last month.
Late last year, the Ohio legislature passed a new method to invalidate signatures on petitions. The law requires that circulators, if paid, specify who employed them to circulate the petition. On May 5, a state court construed the new law strictly, and said that 44,000 signatures on an initiative petition are invalid because the circulators filled out that question incorrectly. In re Protest of Evans, 06-ms-0133, Franklin Co. Common Pleas Court. The petition was initiated by the American Cancer Society, to propose to the voters an anti-smoking law. The circulators listed the American Cancer Society as their employer, but the court said the true circulator is the paid petition firm that contracted with the American Cancer Society, and that the circulators should have filled in “Arno”, the name of that professional circulation contracter.
On May 6, the South Carolina AFL-CIO endorsed the Green Party nominee for Secretary of Education, a statewide partisan elected position. That nominee is Arnold Karr.
On May 5, a lower state court in North Carolina ruled against the State Board of Elections’ motion in the ballot access case. The State Board of Elections had tried to persuade the judge to dismiss the case filed by the Libertarian Party against the state’s 2% petition requirement for a party to get on the ballot, and the 10% vote test for it to remain on. However, the judge ruled that the case is weighty enough to require a trial. Recently, the Green Party intervened in the case on the side of the Libertarian Party. Libt Pty v State Bd. of Elections, Wake Co. superior court 05-cvs-13073.
Two parties that have no representation in the British Parliament did well in local British elections on May 4. The British National Party won 44 city council seats around the nation, and the Greens won 21 city council seats.
