In February 2006, a campaign was launched to, in effect, force the U.S. to switch to a direct popular vote for president (see March 1 2006 Ballot Access News story). At the time that story was written, only in Illinois was there a bill to put the idea into practice. A bill has now been introduced in California, AB 2948. The chief sponsor is Assemblyman Tom Umberg, chair of the Assembly Elections Committee. The bill has support from both Democrats and Republicans.

On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted an amicus brief in the Texas congressional redistricting case. Since the oral argument has already been held, this acceptance of a brief is extraordinarily rare. The brief points out that the Georgia legislature passed a bill in January 2006, adjusting the State Senate boundaries of just three districts, and that the motive for this was to help one particular candidate (who is the brother-in-law of the incumbent, who is retiring). Specifically, the new boundaries exclude the residence of the strongest Democrat in the open district, so he can’t run for that seat. The brief points out that if the Court permits mid-decade redistricting for partisan reasons, this behavior will become common. The brief also points out that the bill wasn’t signed by Georgia’s Republican Governor until a few hours after the oral argument was over, on March 1. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Igartua v U.S., the case over whether international treaties that the U.S. has signed (promising to treat all citizens equally for voting rights purposes) force the U.S. to let residents of Puerto Rico have representation in the Electoral College. 05-650.