"Daniel Weintraub: Turning to the people to fix politics"

See this Sacramento Bee column, which begins: "Assemblymen Keith Richman and Joe Canciamilla have long since worn out their welcome in the Legislature. Richman, a doctor from Northridge, and Canciamilla, a funeral director from Pittsburg, have tried and mostly failed to breathe new life into a vital center in Capitol politics. They have won few battles and even fewer friends....The two lawmakers are pushing a constitutional amendment that would create a 'citizens assembly,' chosen at random like a local grand jury, to work for a year on reforms to the way the state elects its legislators and statewide officials. The product of the assembly's work eventually would go on the ballot and, if passed by the voters, could fundamentally change politics in California."

FEC to Vote on Retaining Its Existing "Agency" Definition with a Better Explanation for the Rule

The draft rule and explanation is here. Commentaries from Bob Bauer and Allison Hayward.

"Close the Tribal Loophole in McCain-Feingold"

Roll Call offers this Guest Observer column (paid subscription required). The newspaper's website appears to experiencing technical difficulties; at this point I cannot access this article, even to know its author.

"Wal-Mart foes to resume Rosemead recall effort"

Here is the latest in the post-Padilla v. Lever saga.

"How to Cure Pork: And how big government produced the Abramoff scandal."

John Fund offers this column at OpinionJournal.

"Politics Alleged In Voting Cases; Justice Officials Are Accused of Influence"

This front-page article appears in Monday's Washington Post. In other Voting Rights Act news, the Sacramento Bee offers Voting rights rules irk counties; With a 1965 law coming up for renewal, Merced is leading the charge to escape federal controls.

"As Elections Near, Officials Challenge Ballot Security; In Controlled Test, Results are Manipulated in Florida System"

The Washington Post offers this report.

"As Congress Weighs Lobbying Limits, Fears That Some Perks Will Be Overlooked"

The New York Times offers this report.

Bush v. Gore Meets the NY Transit Authority?

How long until someone asks for a recount in the NY transit worker vote that defeated the new contract offered by the MTA by a seven-vote margin out of more than 22,000 votes cast?

-- 
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