news of the day 4/25/05

"Hate the Filibuster? You Might Want to Nuke the Entire Senate"

You can download my new Roll Call oped here (without a subscription; thanks to Roll Call for permission to reprint). It begins:

John Fund on the Soaries Resignation and the Future of the EAC

See here. See also this report from New Jersey and this Roll Call report. It is interesting that the resignation has not been picked up in the NY Times or the Washington Post. The LA Times had a short version of the A.P. story a few days ago.

"Redistricting Already Hot, Six Years Early"

Roll Call offers this report (paid subscription required), which begins: "Six years before the next Congressional reapportionment, political officeholders and strategists across the country are already working the redistricting issue with more urgency than ever. A new Republican-drawn Congressional map is likely to become law in Georgia soon, while redistricting reform proposals are being unveiled in several other states, most recently in Ohio. In the meantime, supporters of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) proposal to redraw the state’s Congressional and legislative district boundaries before the 2006 elections are racing the clock to place their measure on the November 2005 ballot. "

"Panel: Pa.'s primary should be moved up"

See this report, which begins: "The state's primary election should be moved from May to early March in presidential years to give Pennsylvania greater weight in national elections, according to a task force convened by the governor to review the state's election law. The task force also is recommending that the state allow voters to file absentee ballots for any reason and be able to do so by fax or electronically. It also suggests state lawmakers look into whether electronic and other voting machines need a paper trail to prevent election fraud or glitches. But the group backed away from any changes to the winner-take-all electoral college system for presidential elections, and it ruled out allowing people to register to vote on Election Day. The task force was almost split down the middle on those two issues."

Legislation Moving Forward to Exempt the Internet from Campaign Finance Regulation

See here. See also Full Employment for Bloggers?

EAC's Soaries Resigns, Citing Federal Government's Lack of Commitment to Election Reform

See this A.P. report.

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org