The Kansas House Elections Committee has introduced HB 2108, which would establish a straight-ticket device. Kansas repealed the device in 1923. The device is especially harmful to independent candidates, because they don’t get listed in the straight-ticket area of the ballot. The bill was suggested by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. See this story. …read more
Illinois Representative Scott Drury (D-Highwood) has introduced HB 193. It would move the Illinois primary (including the presidential primary) from March to the 4th Tuesday in June. Illinois and Texas are the only states in the nation in which non-presidential primaries are earlier than April. If the Illinois bill were to pass, there would be(More)… …read more
On January 26, Democratic State Representative Keith English, who represents Missouri’s 68th district, said he is leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent. See this story. At the November 2014 election, English was re-elected as a Democrat with 6,758 votes. His only opponent, Republican Becky Sharma, received 3,435. Thanks to Michael for the link. …read more
New York, NY– In the early morning of October 18th, musician Andrew Kalleen was assaulted and arrested by the NYPD for simply playing a song, even after the officer read the law out loud and verified Kalleen was not breaking any laws.
In the video, which quickly went viral, Kalleen cites the exact law the officer needs to look up to prove he was well within his rights. Kalleen has become well versed with this law, as he informed us that this is at least the 6th time he has been asked to stop. The officer reads the law …read more
The US Justice Department has been covertly gathering and storing hundreds of millions of records about American motorists for a national database, The Wall Street Journal reported. The database can track the movements of vehicles across the country.
RT.com
Government documents, as well as former and current government officials, confirmed to the Journalthat the license plate-tracking program was initially used by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to seize cars, money, and other assets associated with drug trafficking. Use of the database has grown, however, to include hunting for vehicles linked to other possible crimes, including kidnapping, killings, and rape.
Additionally, state and local …read more
George F. Will has this column about U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and the possibility that he will run for president outside the two major parties. Will says Sanders has said he might have trouble getting on ballots, and then chides Sanders, saying George Wallace got on in 1968 in all states even though Wallace had(More)… …read more
Detroit, Michigan – A man named Carnell Alexander from Detroit is facing jail time because he didn’t pay child support for a child that isn’t his.
According to news outlet WXYZ, Alexander has DNA tests which prove that he is not the parent of the child. However, since the mother filled out his name on welfare paperwork, the state says that he is the father of the child in their records and that he owes $30,000 in back child support.
“I’m almost homeless. I’m almost in jail. I am out of work, my money is being threatened to be taken. We can …read more
Eight Republican New Hampshire legislators have introduced HB 185, to restore the straight-ticket device. New Hampshire eliminated it in 2007, after Democrats won control of the legislature in 2006. The general argument in favor of straight-ticket devices is that many voters are too uninterested to finish filling out their ballot, so they leave the offices(More)… …read more
On January 13, 2015, two individuals who had previously run for President filed a petition for cert with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to rule that California election officials have a constitutional duty to investigate the constitutional qualifications of presidential candidates before listing them on the ballot. The two individuals who filed the(More)… …read more
