Independents Ted Downing and Janelle Wood Named to Arizona Elections Review Committee

INDEPENDENTS
Independents named to Arizona Elections Procedures Review Committee (Sonoran News - The Conservative Voice of Arizona) Jackie Salit, President of Independentvoting.org, a national association of independents with organization in 40 states, congratulated Janelle Wood and Ted Downing, encouraging independents to roll up their sleeves and seek out appointments to positions that will help them create a level playing field in their State's election processes for independent voters and candidates.

ELECTION REFORM

• Dissenters in GOP rethink Electoral College Popular-vote pact picks up steam (By Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times) Republican leaders attribute the sudden, surprising GOP enthusiasm for NPV to the involvement of Tom Golisano. A billionaire and three-time Independence Party candidate for New York governor, Mr. Golisano joined the movement in February and has dedicated himself to seeing the compact implemented.
• California's not so non-partisan redistricting (by Damon Eris, CAIVN) However, the Commission’s progress to date has demonstrated the difficulty of taking the politics out of an inherently political process.  For instance, in March, when it came time to determine the firm that would be charged with actually drawing the map lines, the Commission was faced with a choice between two organizations with long-standing, though indirect, ties to the Democratic and Republican parties – Q2 Data Research and the Rose Institute, respectively.
• CalChamber, others try to lobby Redistricting Commission (By Malcolm Maclachlan, Capitol Weekly) At issue is the hiring of an outside consulting firm to help the 14 commissioners with the technical process of actually drawing the lines. The Commission’s selection of Berkeley-based Q2 Data and Research has irked many Republicans, including the new chairman of the California Republican Party, Tom Del Beccaro. Del Beccaro has been on a public campaign against the choice, which he said was made in a “no-bid” contract after the Commission “staff significantly lowered the experience qualification standard” in order to hire the firm — as he wrote in an April 19 editorial on the conservative Fox & Hounds political blog.
• Last Ditch Push On Redistricting (Gotham Gazette/The Wonkster) Cuomo promised to veto any district lines drawn up by the legislature. Cuomo has not however made independent redistricting a major part of his state-wide tour.