Kansas elections officials will hold an administrative hearing on Monday morning, September 15, at 8:30 a.m., on whether to list Chuck Baldwin or Ted Weill on the ballot as the Reform Party nominee.
The only presidential elector candidates submitted by the Reform Party of Kansas are unanimously pledged to Chuck Baldwin, but the Secretary of State still says he will put Ted Weill on the ballot (with no electors pledged to Weill), unless the Administrative Hearing changes his mind.
Kansas precedent says the state parties choose the presidential candidate, not any national convention. That precedent was set in 1980, when the national convention of the American Party, held in Pasadena, California in December 1979, nominated Percy Greaves for president. The Kansas American Party was ballot-qualified. The Kansas American Party did not support Greaves, and nominated Frank Shelton, of Kansas. The Secretary of State in 1980 duly listed Shelton on the November ballot, even though in every other state in which the American Party was on the ballot for president, Greaves was listed.
Kansas election laws relating to national conventions and presidential electors have not changed since 1980.
Perhaps the good folks in Kansas and the Weill campaign can reach a compromise and make Frank MacKay the Kansas Reform Nominee, then the Big Mac can be Fuehrer of all 3rd Parties, he already claims to be Chair of at least 2 different National 3rd Parties, and a Presidential Nominee at the same time.
This would really give him great copy for his bloated My Space Page and his “Love Me” Scrap Book of MacKay articles he takes around to meetings to show good and unsuspecting people how self important he is.
I hear is is looking to hire a brass band to follow him next to play deutchland uber allas or the horst wessel song when he enters a room with Messers Blare and Bambey escorting him in companion brown uniforms.
In Minnesota in 1980, the top of the American Party ticket was left blank rather than put Greaves on the ballot.
AT LEAST HE IS BEING GIVEN A HEARING BETTER THAN ARKANSAS AND MISSISSIPPI.
If worst comes to worst, can’t they just list the Baldwin electors as pledged to Weill, then inform everyone in the party that a vote for Weill is really a vote for Baldwin, and then count Weill votes as if they were Baldwin votes?
One other question – was there a pro-Weill movement in the Reform Party of Kansas? Are there dueling facitons as there were in California?
No, there was no dissention in the Kansas Reform Party this year. The party was united in its choice.
One particularly unfair aspect of the Kansas Secretary of State’s decision is that he put Chuck Baldwin on his website, implying that the matter was settled. Baldwin supporters in Kansas had been circulating an independent candidate petition for Baldwin, but they ceased circulating it when Baldwin’s name appeared on the webpage. Then the Secretary of State changed his mind after the deadline for submitting an independent petition had passed.
They fear that the people of Kansas might wake up and vote to elect Chuck. The duopoly will start to crack.
Great information and usefull too. I need a grant and I need all the help I can get. I will be back soon as I have bookmarked your blog.