The Rules Committee of the Democratic Party has unanimously agreed to give Florida Democrats half their delegation, and has also agreed to give Michigan Democrats half as well. All individuals from those two states will be seated, each with a half-vote. The Florida apportionment of delegates matches the results of the Florida presidential primary. The Michigan apportionment does not match the results of the Michigan Democratic primary, since Barack Obama’s name was not on the Michigan Democratic ballot. Instead, Obama get 59 Michigan half-delegates, and Hillary Clinton gets 69 Michigan half-delegates. Some of the Clinton supporters are still unhappy about today’s compromise and may ask for a revision from the national Credentials Committee.

This Newsday story, published May 31, says that U.S. Senator John McCain met briefly with the state chair of the Independence Party of New York, Frank MacKay. The story hints that McCain is seeking the Independence Party’s nomination. The story says that only 7 states allow fusion, but for president this is not true. Approximately half the states allow fusion for president. It is impossible to say an exact number of states, because it depends on whether one is talking about fusion between two qualified parties, or fusion between a qualified party and an unqualified party, or fusion involving a party and an independent candidate.

The New York Independence Party in the past has always supported a minor party or independent presidential candidate. It nominated Ross Perot in 1996, John Hagelin in 2000, and Ralph Nader in 2004.

The May 30 Boston Herald has this article on the chances of the National Popular Vote Plan bill passing this year in Massachusetts. In summary, it seems somewhat likely.

On May 23, the Georgia Democratic Party filed a new lawsuit against that state’s law requiring voters at the polls to show a government photo-ID. The suit depends on the Georgia Constitution, which sets forth the requirements for anyone to vote. The Constitution just sets age, citizenship and residency requirements. The lawsuit charges that an ordinary statute that adds to those qualifications violates the State Constitution. Democratic Party of Georgia v Perdue, Superior Court, Fulton Co., 2008-cv-151081. Thanks to Ed Still’s VoteLaw blog for this news.

The original law had been declared unconstitutional by a federal court several years ago. The legislature had then amended the law so the state ID is free. Then, the federal court had upheld the new law. The new lawsuit, depending on the state constitution, does not include any plaintiffs except the Georgia Democratic Party itself. The Georgia Secretary of State, Karen Handel, a Republican, seemed outraged by the new lawsuit. She said it is “extraordinarily outrageous and frivolous.”

May 31, Saturday, is the last day of the regular session of the Illinois legislature’s spring session. HB 2673, which would restore the “straight-ticket” device to Illinois general election ballots, seems dead. The bill has not passed either House, and the legislature expects to spend all day on May 31 working on the budget.

A “straight-ticket” device was used in Illinois until 1997, when it was repealed. Many Democratic leaders in Illinois support the device. It enables voters to cast a vote for all nominees of one party, without the voter even needing to look at any part of the ballot except for the device itself, which is always at the top of the ballot.

Two major party congressional candidates in Florida have sued the Florida Elections Division over ballot access. The two candidates had both been running active campaigns, for many months. They both submitted incomplete or incorrect paperwork, so both are being kept off primary ballots unless they win their lawsuits.

The Democratic candidate is Professor Larry Byrnes, running in the 14th district. He went to all the trouble of collecting over 5,400 signatures in lieu of the filing fee. Unfortunately he filled out the form for write-in candidates, not the form for candidates seeking a place on a primary ballot. If Byrnes does not get on the ballot, another Democrat is also running, so the Democratic Party will not be left without a nominee.

The Republican candidate is Bob Hering, running in the 8th district. He is a veteran of the Iraq war. Like Byrnes, he has been campaigning for months. He filed timely but omitted one particular form. This district also has another Republican running, so again, if Byrnes loses, the Republican Party will still have a nominee in this district.

Both candidates charge that the Division of Elections had a duty to inform them that their paperwork was incorrect or incomplete. The two lawsuits are being heard together in Leon County Circuit Court on June 11. Byrnes v Division of Elections, 37-2008-cv-1615, and Hering v Division of Elections, 37-2008-cv-1494. Byrnes is represented by Mark Herron, one of Florida’s most experienced election law attorneys. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the news about Byrnes.

Here is an account of a debate held May 28 between Washington’s Secretary of State, and the chair of the Whatcom County Democratic Party, over the “top-two” election system that will be tried for the first time in Washington state this year. Thanks to Steve Rankin.

On May 29, Anthony Pollina, Vermont Progressive Party state chair, held a press conference to reiterate that he is still running for Governor. There had been speculation that he might bow out of the race and run for Lieutenant Governor instead, since the Democrats recently recruited a candidate for Governor.

1. The Ohio Libertarian Party will file its lawsuit, alleging that it is a qualified party, between June 2 and June 6.

2. The Ohio Secretary of State has decided to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to restore Ohio’s law, making it illegal for anyone to pay initiative circulators on a per-signature basis. The brief will be filed in June.

3. The U.S. District Court in Columbus is about to set a hearing date in Brian Moore v Jennifer Brunner, the challenge to Ohio’s law making it illegal for out-of-staters to circulate an independent candidate petition.

4. The 6th circuit will hear Nader v Blackwell on July 22. This is a lawsuit filed against former Secretary of State Ken Blackwell as an individual, not in his capacity as Secretary of State. The lawsuit charges that Blackwell personally injured Ralph Nader in 2004, when he ruled that anyone could circulate an initiative petition (even though the law forbade it), yet at virtually the same time, he removed Nader from the ballot because he believed that some of Nader’s petitioners were not bona fide Ohio residents.

The Massachusetts Republican Party’s preferred candidate for U.S. Senate this year may have failed to gather the needed 10,000 valid signatures to place his name on the Republican primary ballot. See this story. The candidate is Jim Ogonowski. He is 82 signatures short, except that there may be some additional signatures for him still in the mail to the Secretary of State’s office from a few town clerks.

Massachusetts and Virginia are tied in having the highest number of signatures needed for a candidate (with party organization support) to get on a primary ballot for statewide office. Each state requires 10,000 signatures. In Virginia, any registered voter may sign, and signatures generally aren’t even checked. But in Massachusetts, only registered members of that party, as well as independents, may sign to place a candidate on a primary ballot.

A second Republican in Massachusetts (one who is not favored by the party organization), Jeff Beatty, did get enough signatures, so the party will have a US Senate nominee no matter what happens to the Ogonowski petition.