The Missouri Legislature will consider legislation to cancel the state’s 2012 presidential primary. Here is an Associated Press article that appeared in the Columbia Missourian announcing the possible action: “Missouri to consider abolishing presidential primary.”

According to the article: “Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer says his chamber will convene Monday to consider legislation canceling Missouri’s 2012 presidential primary … repealing that law could save the state from spending millions of dollars on a purely symbolic election.”

TechPresident’s article “How Campaigns’ Use of Facebook Data Might Change the 2012 Election” by Nick Judd explores the role Facebook may play in the 2012 presidential election.

The social media platform not only provides a good civic space for broadcasting political messages, but Judd discusses how services like NGP Van can use Facebook friend lists to find precisely targeted audiences for campaign messages.

Governor Nathan Deal has issued a Writ of Election setting Tuesday, November 8, 2011 as the date for a special election to fill the vacant seat in state senate district 28.

The seat became available upon the resignation of Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who resigned the seat in order to accept his appointment to the position of deputy state treasurer by Governor Deal.

The runoff election, if necessary, will be held December 6, 2011.

Ontario:  According to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website, 39^th Parliament of Ontario has been dissolved. General Elections will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2011. You can find out about the election results here.

Yukon:  According to the Yukon Legislative Assembly website, a general election to elect the 33rd Legislative Assembly will be held on Tuesday, October 11, 2011.

Saskatchewan: According to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan website, a general election will be held on Monday, November 7, 2011.

Recently held elections:

Manitoba: According to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba website, there was a general election on Tuesday, October 4, 2011.

Northwest Territories: According to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories website, there was a general election on Monday, October 3, 2011.

Prince Edward Island: According to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island website, a general election was held on Monday, October 3, 2011.

New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno signed into law a bill moving the state’s presidential primary from February to June.

Assembly Bill 3777 eliminates separate presidential primary elections and provides for delegates and alternates to political party national conventions to be elected at regular June primary elections.

Lt. Governor Guadagno assumed the executive role of Governor Chris Christie while he was out of the state.

GovTech.com has published an interesting read about the relationship between technology and the elections industry.

The article, “Perspective: 5 Tech Trends in the Elections Industry“by Nicole Ciotti, lists trends to expect in the upcoming elections. Mobile phone optimized websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms will be prominent in voter outreach and in educating the public prior to the elections. Those tools will be an advantage in offering news and updates during and after the elections as well.

Photo of the vote sign by Tom Arthur on Wikipedia.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed House Bill 509 into law, changing the date of the state’s presidential primary. The primary moves to March on the first Saturday which follows the first Tuesday. Previously, the presidential primaries were held in February.

The change in law becomes effective immediately.

A special election has been scheduled for August 9, 2011 to fill a seat left vacant in Assembly District 48.

In an executive order, Governor Scott Walker ordered the special election to fill the seat left vacant after the resignation of Joe Parisi, who was elected Dane County Executive in April.

If a primary is necessary in the district, it will be held on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.

Photo of the Wisconsin Capitol by Dori on Wikipedia.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has signed House Bill 2080 into law. This bill requires every treasurer for a political committee to report the name and address of each candidate for whom an in-kind expenditure in the aggregate of $300 or more has been made. The political committee treasurer must also report the services or products provided, as well as the amount, date, and purpose of each expenditure.

A second provision in the bill requires political committee treasurers to report the name and address of each candidate for state and local office who is the subject of an expenditure, made without the cooperation or consent of the candidate or the candidate’s committee, expressly advocating the nomination, election, or defeat of such candidate, in the aggregate amount or fair market value of $300 or more.

Following a report by the Colorado Springs Gazette noting mayoral runoff candidate Steve Bach had failed to include the occupation and employer of his contributors, which is required by state law, Young informed the newspaper Bach would have to file the missing information.

Young reversed her decision the next day, however, by calling the disclosure of the information “optional” due to the fact Colorado Springs election law trumps state election law and there is no specific requirement for reporting the information on the reporting forms.

This is not the first time confusion has entered into the campaign finance requirements concerning the mayoral election. In February, candidates received conflicting information about the legality of direct corporate contributions. The Colorado Springs City Council eventually adopted a resolution permitting the contributions in order to clarify the issue.

Photo of the Colorado Springs City Hall by David Shankbone on Wikipedia.

You may live in a state where the state Legislature has the responsibility of drawing the congressional districts, or you may live in a state where an independent commission does the job. One thing is certain, now that the 2010 U.S. Census has published its findings, there is renewed interest by average citizens in the redistricting process.

Something is different this time around, though. We now have software that allows anyone with a computer to come up with their own redistricting plans. There are enthusiasts out there who would like to see fairer and more competitive races, some who would like to see their political party wipe out their opponents, and some who would just like to get rid of crazy-shaped gerrymander districts. For many hobbyists, this has been just for fun, but others are really trying to make a change. The Commonwealth of Virginia even held a Redistricting Competition.

Here are two interesting articles on the subject:

“Technology allows citizens to be part of redistricting process” by Gregory Korte in USA Today from March 21.

“Hobbyists Take Up Redrawing Congressional Maps” by Danny Yadron in the Wall Street Journal from March 21.

Are you eager give it a try? Fear not, you can use Dave’s Redistricting App. Now, go slay some Gerrymanders!

On March 14, Politico published an  interview of political consultant Joe Trippi.  He speaks about what should be clear to everyone after the 2008 presidential election – social media has changed the rules of engagement in political campaigning.

What will startle many people is his set of predictions: By 2012 or 2016, Trippi sees an end to the two-party domination of presidential elections (thanks to social media) and a level of fund raising that will eclipse what we saw with the Obama campaign. He also sees such funding going to a third-party candidate who is smart enough to use social media in an innovative way. The result could be a great political upset for Democrats and Republicans.

Whatever unfolds in the coming year, the missing piece from the discussion is consideration of the ramifications for campaign finance regulation. In the scenario  Trippi depicts, how will the new issues of advertising on social networks be handled? How will the source of funding be disclosed for a Facebook or Twitter message that is primarily a political advertisement and could social media efforts fall under the category of in-kind contributions?

The developments could complicate state elections, too. We have Maryland’s State Board of Elections and California’s Fair Political Practices Commission as examples of the first efforts at the regulation of political campaigning on the internet. I wonder how many oversight agencies will get out ahead of the issue by the next election?

For the Politico interview, read “Joe Trippi: Social media will kill two-party system” by Mike Zapler.

In January, the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project released the results of a study showing 22% of people who are active on the internet were in some way engaged with political campaigns via social media in the 2010 election cycle. According to the study, people felt that connecting with candidates on Facebook and Twitter allowed them to be more in touch with the campaigns and said it gave them timely information.

The base of people involved in social media activity has grown since the 2008 elections:

“The social networking population as a whole has grown larger and demographically more diverse in recent years, and the same is true when it comes to political activity on social networking sites.” said Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher Specialist and author of the report. “These platforms are now utilized by politically active individuals of all ages and ideologies to get news, connect with others, and offer their thoughts on the issues that are important to them.”

You can find the synopsis of the Pew Center’s study here: “22% of online Americans used social networking or Twitter for politics in 2010 campaign” and the site also allows you to download the entire report.

Picture courtesy of VIA Gallery on Wikipedia.

Here is a campaign finance news item from last Friday. According to an article in the New York Times, the Democratic Party has announced it will not use corporate money for their national convention. The article said there will still be a chance for corporate in-kind contributions, and they can still pay for parties on the periphery of the official event.

For the full story, see “Democrats Promise No Corporate Money for Convention” by Michael Shear in the February 4 issue of the New York Times.

Photo of the 2008 Democratic National Convention by Qqqqqq on Wikipedia.