Louisiana Representative Wayne Waddell (R-Shreveport) has introduced HB 776. It would deprive qualified parties of their own primary if they have fewer than 40,000 registered members.
Other states, over recent decades, have also changed their laws to eliminate primaries for small qualified parties. However, in those other states, the new law let small qualified parties nominate by convention. Louisiana’s HB 776, by contrast, leaves them no legal means to nominate candidates. If HB 776 were to pass, individual members of ballot-qualified parties would pay their filing fees and go straight to the November ballot, and if two members of the same small qualified party filed for the same position, they both would appear on the November ballot. Such a result would split that party’s vote. Thanks to Randall Hayes for this news.
Yet another chance to blast a MORON Southern State regime (like FL in 2000).
Separate is NOT equal.
Brown v. Bd of Ed 1954
Every election is NEW and has ZERO to do with any prior election.
EQUAL ballot access tests for ALL candidates for the same office in the same area.
SOOOO very difficult for the armies of MORON lawyers and judges to understand.
so would non-qualified parties have to nominate as individual Independents? That is basically what most minor parties have to do in Minnesota.
It should be noted that, from 1978 through 2006, presidential primaries were the only party primaries that Louisiana had. All other elections were nonpartisan. The state restored party primaries for Congress in 2008, but state and local elections have been nonpartisan since 1975.
So the bill noted above would only apply to federal offices.
Louisiana doesn’t have partisan primaries for non-congressional offices. Nonetheless candidates in the general election carry their party designation. Candidates qualify directly for the general election ballot by fee or petition. Parties may endorse and support individual candidates, just as any other citizen or group or citizens may do. But parties aren’t given the opportunity to restrict from among whom voters may choose on election day. This system remains unchanged.
Note that in Louisiana, the general election is not conducted in November, nor in even-numbered years.
In 2008, Louisiana regressed to having partisan primaries for congressional elections. If there had been more than two candidates of a 3rd party filing for congress, the candidates of the party would have faced each other in a primary election.
The new legislation would eliminate the (possibility of a) primary for smaller parties, and candidates of these parties would qualify directly for the congressional election just like independent candidates do. Given the unlikely possibility of two candidates of a 3rd party filing, it really had no practical effect.
#4: “Louisiana doesn’t have partisan primaries for non-congressional offices.”
Louisiana parties sometimes have partisan primaries for president.
ALL candidates in the Bayou State have the options of qualifying by fee or petition. This includes candidates in partisan federal primaries.
“… parties aren’t given the opportunity to restrict from among whom voters may choose on election day.”
When a party has more than one candidate, of course, that party’s vote is split. In the 1991 governor’s race, e. g., the national Republicans and the state GOP endorsed different candidates in the first round, neither of whom made the runoff. The Republicans wound up backing the Democrat in the runoff.
“… the general election is not conducted in November, nor in even-numbered years.”
That’s true of state offices and most local offices.
Yes, Louisiana “regressed” to having party primaries for Congress– just as every state but Washington now does.
Louisiana, in my view, should give the small parties the option of nominating by convention.
#5 Parties don’t cast votes; voters do.
If Louisiana had partisan primaries in 1987, Buddy Roemer might not have been nominated. It may not be the best campaign strategy to say you won’t support the nominee of the party. If there had been partisan primaries in 1991, Buddy Roemer might not have switched parties.
A general election is one in which offices in general are contested. Louisiana doesn’t have general elections in November.
I think Nebraska has congressional primaries for all parties. If Louisiana has congressional primaries for only some parties, won’t they be denying the right to vote to persons who are qualified for voting in elections for the legislature?
Certain people are faithful voters for a particular party.
As it turned out in 1987, there was only one round of voting for governor, with the top two finishers both being Democrats. Gov. Edwards, the second-place finisher, dropped out, and there’s no provision in such a situation for a runoff. So Roemer became governor after getting just 33% of the vote (nobody is “nominated” in such a system).
Gov. Roemer switched parties in March 1991 because he wanted the backing of President Bush I and money from the national Republicans. The state GOP endorsed Congressman Clyde Holloway. Roemer finished third and Holloway fourth.
Louisiana has federal general elections in November of even-numbered years, as prescribed by federal law.
Current Louisiana law says all parties can have primaries for Congress (the bill referred to above has not been enacted). In the 2008 congressional primaries, the Democrats invited independents to vote in their primaries, while the Republicans did not (none of the small parties had contested primaries for Congress).
#7 I mistyped “elected” in 1987. But the key event in 1987 was a debate when the other Democrat candidates were asked if they would support Edwards if he were the lone Democrat in the runoff. This probably peeled off support from Bob Livingston, as well for Jim Brown and Billy Tauzin. I think Jim Brown hemmed and hawed, and Roemer said something to effect that sometimes you have to stand up for what is right.
In the Lt. Governor’s race, the Republican had about 30% of the vote (compared to Livingston’s 18%) and went on to win in the runoff. John Breaux had trailed the Republican Henson Moore in the 1986 senatorial election.
We disagree about the meaning of a “general election”.
Livington hurt himself by losing his train of thought in that ’87 debate. It nevertheless continues to amaze me how anyone could vote for Roemer over Livingston.
Jim Brown, of course, is the father of CNN’s Campbell Brown. He later served as state insurance commissioner and did a prison stretch for perjury. As secretary of state, he was the “Brown” in Dart v. Brown in the early ’80s.
As I recall, Paul Hardy, a former Democrat, was elected lt. governor in ’87.
The “top two” (called the “open primary” in Louisiana) is a general election with a runoff.