February 9, 2012 •
Illinois State Board of Elections Moves Springfield Office
Effective February 10, 2012
The Illinois State Board of Elections will be relocating its Springfield office beginning Friday, February 10, 2012.
The new address is 2329 S MacArthur Boulevard, Springfield, Illinois, 62704-4503.
All other contact information remains the same.
January 30, 2012 •
News You Can Use Digest – January 30, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
Study Finds Compliance Officers Are Highly Stressed
Federal:
Ex-Gingrich Adviser Now Trying to Close Lobbying Loopholes
Gabrielle Giffords Bids an Emotional Farewell to Congress
From the States and Municipalities:
California
Campaign Donation Limits Lifted
Georgia
Ethics Bill Gets Cool Reception in Georgia House
Hawaii
Think Hawaii’s Tough on Ethics? Try Iowa
Massachusetts
Scott Brown, Elizabeth Warren Pledge to Curb Outside Campaign Spending
New Mexico
Protesters Scuffle with [Lawmakers]
Ohio
Cleveland Television Station Covering High-Profile Ohio Bribery Trial with On-Air Puppet Help
Ohio
Lobbyists Sponsor Party for Kasich
Oklahoma
Ethics Proposal Would Allow Lobbyists to Skirt Spending Limit, Buy Meals for Oklahoma Lawmakers
Pennsylvania
Limits Raised on Philly Campaign Contributions
Utah
Gym Fees? Utah Politicians Find Loophole in Ethics Law
Washington
Appeals Court: Top 2 Primary OK, but not recall contribution limits
State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.
News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.
January 20, 2012 •
Highlighted Site of the Week – PBS NewsHour 2012 Political Calendar
How can we keep track of the many speaking engagements and campaign events held the by 2012 presidential candidates? It’s easy – PBS NewsHour has done all of the work for us!
Our Highlighted Site of the Week this week is PBS NewsHour’s 2012 Political Calendar. Did you know that today Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addresses the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Charleston, South Carolina? Former Massachusets Gov. Mitt Romney is visiting his campaign headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina, too. Also, Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is holding a town hall in Lexington, South Carlina at 11 AM. And certainly not to be forgotten, Texas Rep. Ron Paul is making a campaign stop at the Charleston International Airportat 11:15.
According to the site: “Our politics calendar tracks the whereabouts of all the 2012 presidential candidates as well as other key events. Check back early and often for updates. All events are listed in Eastern Time. Please credit PBS NewsHour and link to this page if you are using events from this calendar.”
Have fun with this page and have a terrific weekend everyone!
January 16, 2012 •
News You Can Use Digest – January 16, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal:
Democratic National Convention Rules Set off K St. Scramble
GOP Uses Citizens United to Challenge Corporate Donation Ban
What Donors? Super PACs Buy Time to Keep Secret the Names of Donors Ahead of GOP Primaries
From the States and Municipalities:
Arizona
State Sen. Scott Bundgaard Resigns from Legislature
California
Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi’s Shoplifting Incident Raises Medical Questions
Georgia
Idaho
Idaho Leaders Ready to Strengthen Ethics Laws
Illinois
Lobbying Disclosure Rules Spotty
Massachusetts
Ex-Avon Worker’s Revenge Attempt Brings $5,000 Fine
Mississippi
Mississippi Court Halts Quick Release of Some Pardoned
Montana
SCOTUS Expected to Weigh Montana Campaign Finance Appeal
New Jersey
Bill to Prohibit Political Fundraising at Government Facilities Wins Legislature’s Approval
New Mexico
Judge Puts Parts of Contribution-Limits Law on Hold
North Carolina
Oregon
Campaign Finance Regulations Go Before High Court
State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.
News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.
January 12, 2012 •
NCSL Compiles 2012 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses Calendars
According to The Thicket, NCSL has put together two really helpful calendars:
The 2012 Presidential Primary Calendar (ordered by date)
and the 2012 State and Presidential Primary and Caucus Dates (ordered by state).
Here is the announcement posted on their blog.
January 12, 2012 •
Redistricting in the News
Here is a selection of redistricting news items from around the nation.
Florida: “Senate committee finalizes redistricting maps as Democrats split” Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.
“Democrats prepare for partisan redistricting debate” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.
Kentucky: “Panel approves state House redistricting plan over Republican protests” by Jack Brammer in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
North Carolina: “N.C. lawyers want redistricting challenges dismissed“by The Associated Press in the Greensboro News & Record.
Texas:“Republicans say Texas may need to hold two primaries” by Aman Batheja in the Star-Telegram.
“More Confusion in Redistricting Case” by Richard Whittaker in The Austin Chronicle.
West Virginia: “W.Va. redistricting deadline lifted, but election calendar looms” by Lawrence Messina (Associated Press) in the Charleston Gazette.
January 11, 2012 •
Google Emerging as Platform for SuperPAC Political Ads
Search based advertisements find early adopters in the 2012 presidential campaign.
With text ads, graphics ads, and even YouTube videos at their disposal, SuperPACs have a powerful tool with Google’s AdWords’ search-based advertising platform as a way to get their messages out.
This article on techPresident explores how Google is gearing up for big ad sales and what this may mean for the 2012 election cycle. Be sure to read “Google’s Preparing for Super PAC Spending Online in 2012” by Sarah Lai Stirland.
December 30, 2011 •
Automated Robocalls Remain Restricted in Indiana
Requiring a live operator does not violate the right to free speech.
Thursday’s 4-1 decision by the Indiana Supreme Court upholds the Indiana law that restricts automated robocalls.
The court determined that requiring a live operator did not violate the right to free speech.
View the original press release, “State supreme court upholds Indiana robocall law” from the Associated Press.
December 29, 2011 •
Republicans Turn to Social Media as Primaries Approach
Campaigns Utilize Social Media Now More Than Ever
Even something as small as following a candidate on Twitter or liking a candidate’s Facebook page could make someone feel more connected to that candidate and sway them to cast a vote in their direction. While a large portion of voters still claim to be undecided about who they are voting for in the upcoming Republican primaries, this is what Republican candidates are hoping to accomplish by dedicating so many resources to keeping their social media outlets up to date and engaging.
As the Iowa and other early caucuses are coming ever closer, GOP presidential hopefuls are turning more and more to their Twitter, Facebook, and other social media tools to get their messages out to voters and to gather volunteers.
After the success of President Obama’s grassroots social media based campaign back in 2008, social media has been an increasingly important tool that many consider necessary for the success of a political campaign, a fact which nearly all Republican presidential hopefuls have grasped and acted upon.
Read about all the ways the Republican presidential candidates have been utilizing social media in “Republicans Shake More Hands Using Social Media” from the New York Times.
December 27, 2011 •
Georgia Special Elections On The Way
Special elections to fill state House vacancies.
Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia delivered writs of election today setting February 7, 2012 as the date for special elections to fill vacancies in House District 60 and House District 107.
The election for House District 60 will occur in portions of Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton Counties.
The election for House District 107 will occur in portions of Gwinnett and Walton Counties. The runoff election, if needed, will be March 6, 2012.
December 21, 2011 •
Hackers Threaten to Disrupt Presidential Primary
States take steps to protect their primaries from hackers
As the presidential primaries are quickly approaching, alleged threats have surfaced from the “hacktivist” group Anonymous that some worry could jeopardize the caucus results.
Anonymous is a group known for its cyber-attacks on companies and agencies which it deems corrupt. The alleged threat reported by the Associated Press surfaced in a YouTube video and targets the Iowa contest.
“We are calling on you to occupy the campaign offices of presidential headquarters … and peacefully shut down the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3,” the voice in the video says.
These threats which target Iowa are putting other states who are holding early primaries, such as South Carolina who is holding primaries on January 21st, on the alert.
“Everybody in the computer security world is aware of [Anonymous] and its capabilities. Their threats are not taken lightly,” said Chris Whitmire, a public information officer with the South Carolina Election Commission.
In a world that is becoming more and more reliant on web based programs and tools, security on the web seems to be getting worse instead of better, and every program seems to have a loophole that hackers can use to their advantage.
Read this article from The Hill to learn more about the steps South Carolina is taking to protect their primary from hackers.
December 20, 2011 •
‘Tis the Season for Robocalls
As we head into the big election year, those ubiquitous automated political campaign phone calls are making news again:
“Robocall Campaigns Dialing Up As Election Season Draws Near” by Sarah Lai Stirland on TechPresident.
“Republicans accuse Gingrich of illegal robo-calls” by Steve Peoples in The Associated Press.
“Robocalling Hillary 2012” by Emily Schultheis in Politico. Apparently a group of Hillary Clinton supporters are using robocalls to get her on the 2012 presidential ballot.
“Afternoon Fix: Nikki Haley robocalls for Romney” by Aaron Blake in the Washington Post.
Did you know you can return the favor with political candidates by calling them back with your own robocall? This website offers a service to contact politicians: Reverse Robocall: Talk Back. Be Heard
According to the website: “Welcome to the Robocall Revolution. We believe that voters should have access to the same technology political groups use to get their message across; so we built a simple web-based robocall tool to literally give citizens back their voice in the political discourse.
ReverseRobocall.com provides voters an easy way to communicate with one or hundreds of politicians or political groups using the same technology politicians use, the robocall or automated phone call.”
December 19, 2011 •
Texas 2012 Election Dates Change
Primary and Runoff
The dates for the Texas general primary and the runoff elections have been changed.
Judge Orlando Garcia of the United States District Court for The Western District of Texas issued an order altering the dates of the elections. The order was agreed to by all parties in the action.
The 2012 general primary date has been changed from March 6 to April 3. The 2012 general primary runoff election will be held on June 5, instead of the previously scheduled date of May 22.
December 19, 2011 •
Redistricting News across the Country
Here are news items about redistricting appearing in several states:
Arizona
“Redistricting commission up against own deadline” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Capitol Times.
“State redisctricting panel closes in on final maps” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.
Colorado
“Colorado Republicans fear loss of legislative seats held by women from redistricting” by Lynn Bartels in the Denver Post.
Maryland
“Baltimore loses clout in redistricting” by Annie Linskey in the Baltimore Sun.
New Jersey
“Panel to decide which N.J. congressional district to sacrifice” by Matt Friedman in the Star-Ledger
New York
“Common Cause/NY Launches Redistricting Maps on Newsday.com” on readmedia.com
North Carolina
“NC Redistricting Opponents: ‘Lawmakers Can’t Pick Voters’” by Stephanie Carroll Carson of the North Carolina Public News Service.
Ohio
“Ohio redistricting sets up battles of incumbents” by Andrea Billups in the Washington Times.
Pennsylvania
“Congressional redistricting puts Pa. congressmen at a distance” by Charles Thompson in the Patriot-News
Rhode Island
“RI panel to vote on redistricting proposal” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.
Washington
“Draft maps out for Western Washington redistricting” by Brad Shannon in The Olympian.
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