UPDATE: An attentive Clog reader pointed out that the article I link to wasn't from the Inquirer, but the Daily News. My b. All fixed now.

For anyone following the Michael Meehan/Philly GOP insurgents/Philadelphia Parking Authority/election story — and if you aren't, you really should be — the Clog just got word of a recent development.

As the Daily News reported today, the Republican City Committee recently changed its bylaws to ensure that those who are in power (read: Meehan and co.) stay in power. A group of GOP insurgents trying to take down Meehan, which include the Loyal Opposition, the Philadelphia Tea Party and other assorted Republicans, persuaded dozens of folks around the city to run for committee persons. Committee persons elect ward leaders next Monday, who in turn will elect citywide leadership next Wednesday — therefore, if you elect enough insurgent committee persons, you could potentially unseat Meehan and his allies.

Shortly before the election, though, the Republican City Committee voted to change its bylaws, so that 10 votes were required for a write-in committee person to win, instead of only one. Al Schmidt, an adviser on the Republican State Committee, told the Daily News that only 7 of the 120 write-ins had 10 or more votes — making it highly unlikely that the current GOP, accused of all sorts of nefarious things, will be voted out next Wednesday. (The new rule also may be illegal; GOP opponents point to the Pennsylvania Election Code, which states "candidates "who receive a plurality of the votes of the party electors at a primary, shall be the party officers of their respective parties.") Additionally, the city commissioners announced that they would now give certificates of election to the Republican City Committee, instead of the winners themselves — an interesting decision, given that delivering these certificates is part of the commissioners' very job.

Which brings us to our news: According to the city commissioners' office, the decision to give election certificates to the Republican City Committee has been reversed. They will now, as they've always been, go to the winning candidates. City Paper is waiting for a call back from the commissioners' office about why the the decision has been made, but it may have something to do with the fact that Matthew Wolfe, of the Loyal Opposition, was threatening to sue over it.

As for the new rule stipulating the need for 10 votes, it's still on the books.

"In my mind, [that rule] is a legal nullity and illegal," says Wolfe.

No word yet on if Wolfe — or someone else — plans to sue over the new bylaws.

City commissioners reverse decision to issue election certificates to Philly GOP