On April 20, the 9th circuit agreed to a rehearing en banc in Padilla v Lever, 03-56259. The original 9th circuit panel had ruled that petitions must be in languages other than English (if they circulate in areas in which ballots must be in other languages than English). The result had threatened the ballot status of several circulating initiatives. Now the case will be re-argued before eleven judges picked randomly. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On April 19, the California Senate Elections Committee heard one hour and forty minutes of testimony on AB 583, by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, to establish public funding for state office. The Committee did not act on the bill, which would provide public funding for candidates who raised a certain number of $5 contributions from members of the public. The bill will be re-written and scheduled for a committee vote in the near future. Anyone can watch the testimony at caclean.org. C.T. Weber of the Peace & Freedom Party, and Richard Winger, who were the last two witnesses, were the only witnesses who complained about the fact that independent candidates and most minor party candidates would need twice as many qualifying contributions as other candidates.
The federal court hearing in Texas over procedures for checking the signatures of independent candidates, filed by independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Strayhorn, will be on May 1 in Austin. The issues are whether independents can turn in signatures on a flow basis, or whether they are restricted to only a single turn-in; and whether the Secretary of State may refuse to use the statutory procedures for random sampling.
On April 18, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 2097. It requires companies that sell vote-counting machines in California to make their software public. All Democrats voting voted for it; all of the Republicans abstained. The Secretary of State and several county elections officials testified against the bill. They warned that if vote-counting manufacturers are forced to make their computer software public, that these companies will refuse to do business in California.
Missouri’s SB 726 has passed all committees in the House, and is on the consent calendar, so it will probably pass within a week. It gives new political parties more flexibility to decide whom to run for president. It is one of the few bills that help minor parties that is making any headway this year, in legislatures around the U.S.
