Thursday, February 12, 2009

Registering as a Write-In Candidate?

The Alabama House spent much time morning discussing House Bill 39 introduced by Representative Charles Newton of Greenville. This bill relates to write-in votes; it would require that a write-in candidate be registered with the Secretary of State or the judge of probate as an official candidate and comply with the provisions of the Fair Campaign Practices Act and the State Ethics Law in order for his or her vote to be counted. It was clear that there was some Republican opposition with Representatives J. Williams and P. Demarco both approaching the podium to seek for clarification. After spending nearly half an hour discussing the bill, House Bill 39 passed the full body with a vote of 91-3.

Inside the Alabama House of Representatives

The Alabama House of Representatives convened at 10:00 am CST this morning.

Begining the fourth legislative day the House passed a number of joint resolutions before making way on passing some controversial bills.

The first bill that caused some controversy was House Bill 165 which would establish the Alabama Transportation Commission and provide for the members, the manner of selection or members, terms, qualifications, duties, responsibilities, compensation, and expenses of the commission. After offering 4 amendments on the floor HR 165 passed the full house with a vote of 91-3.

Moving on to House Bill 154 (PAC to PAC) which would prohibit transfers between political action committees. This bill passed the full House last year but later died in the Senate. This bill, HB154 is the exact same bill that passed the House during the 2008 Legislative Session. With a vote of 98-0 HB154 passed the full House.

After passing a bill to ban PAC to PAC transfers HB140 introduced by Representative Hinshaw relating to paid electioneering communications and political advertising, to provide that electioneering communications and paid political advertisements paid for by an organization or entity shall disclose the names of the source of the funding of the organization or entity. Passge of this bill came at 100 yeas and 0 nays.

Currently the House is discussing HB39 pertaining to Write-In candidates introduced by Rep. C. Newton. Stay tuned for more updates.