SOUTH DAKOTA IMPROVES NEW PARTY DEADLINE
IMPROVEMENT ONLY HELPS FOR CERTAIN OFFICES

On February 26, the South Dakota Attorney General issued a ruling that changes the deadline for new parties to submit a petition for party status. The old deadline was March 29; the new deadline is July 11.

However, parties that qualify using the later deadline may only nominate candidates for President, and for the statewide executive offices other than Governor. They can’t run for Congress, Governor, or state legislature.

This ruling was issued because the Libertarian and Constitution Parties have been suing the state over the March 29 petition deadline for full party status. That petition requires 6,936 signatures. The parties had submitted much evidence showing how difficult that petition is, because either the signatures must be collected in the odd year before the election year, or else they must be collected in winter weather. The lawsuit is Libertarian Party of South Dakota v Krebs, 4:15cv-4111.

To defend itself from that lawsuit, the state re-interpreted its election law. State law says qualified parties nominate by convention for presidential elector, and for all the statewide executive offices except Governor. The ruling reasons that because state party conventions for those offices aren’t held until August, there is no reason to have the petition deadline earlier than mid-July.

On February 5, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, a George W. Bush appointee, issued an order in Libertarian National Committee and Kentucky Libertarian Party v Holiday, e.d., 14-63.

The issue is whether Kentucky Educational TV excluded the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, David Patterson, because of prejudice against him and his view. The debate sponsor had tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but the judge kept it alive and said the party can take depositions from the broadcasters, to see if they deliberately changed the rules for getting into the debate in order to exclude him. The station changed the polling requirement from 5% to 10% after a poll showed Patterson above 5%.

On February 24, the Utah legislature passed SB 25, which repeals the straight-ticket device. The straight-ticket device lets voters vote for all the nominees of one party with a single mark at the top of the ballot. Voters who use it don’t need to look at the rest of the ballot, for partisan offices. But many votes who use the device then fail to vote on ballot measures and non-partisan races.

The vote was unanimous in both houses of the legislature, so it seems extremely likely that Governor Gary Herbert will sign it.

A straight-ticket device is very harmful to independent candidates, and it also hurts minor parties. In 2010, when Wisconsin still had the device, Green Party nominee Ben Manski polled 31.1% of the vote for Assembly, 77^th district, in a race against both major parties. An analysis of the election returns showed Manski won the election among the voters who did not use the device. But when straight-ticket voters weighed in, he lost. Eight other states still have the device.

On February 12, U.S. District Court Judge Andrea Wood, an Obama appointee, struck down the Illinois law that says newly-qualifying parties must run a full slate of candidates. This means if the party circulates a statewide petition, it must have a nominee for every statewide office. If it circulates a petition for county executive office, it must run for each of those offices. The law has no impact on U.S. House or state legislative petitions. Libertarian Party of Illinois v Board of Elections, n.d., 1:12cv-2511.

When the law was passed in 1931, Illinois state house districts elected three members with cumulative voting. That means a party was free to run either one, two, or three candidates. Voters could vote for three candidates, or they could give one candidate two votes and a second candidate one vote, or they could give all three of their votes to just one candidate. This made it easier for parties that weren’t in the majority to elect at least one representative. For example, the Republican Party might just run one candidate in a strongly Democratic district.

That would be a signal to the Republican voters in that district to give all three of their votes to that one Republican, giving him or her a good chance to win.

But the full-slate law spoiled that strategy for newly-qualifying parties; they were forced to run three candidates, thus diluting their votes. The law was passed because of fear that Claude Lightfoot, a very popular Communist Party activist in Chicago, might get elected to the legislature. He only polled 33,337 votes for State House.

On February 16, the Independent Party filed a federal lawsuit against the California Secretary of State, over his refusal to let the Independent Party qualify as a political body. Independent Party v Padilla, e.d., 2:16cv-316. A “political body” is a group that desires to qualify as a party, and groups file for political body status to obtain a tally of how many registered voters they have. The Secretary refuses their request because he says the name “Independent Party” is too similar to the name of the already qualified American Independent Party. In 1896 the State Supreme Court approved putting the National Democratic Party on the ballot even though the Democratic Party was already on.

On January 27, the Constitution Party won its lawsuit, Constitution Party of Missouri v St. Louis County, e.d., 4:15cv-207. The issue was a county rule that only the two largest parties (as measured by the last gubernatorial vote) could run nominees for County Council. The county agreed that its law is unconstitutional and signed a consent decree.

On February 25, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Willie Wilson should be put on Democratic presidential primary ballots. The primary is March 8 and many ballots had already been printed, and must now be reprinted. Wilson v Hosemann, 2016-IA-148. Wilson needed 500 signatures and submitted 1,050, but the officials erroneously thought he needed at least 100 signatures from each U.S. House district. The law does not require that, but when Wilson pointed out the error, he wa told it was too late. But, the Court said Wilson was blameless and must not be penalized for a mistake made by others.

On February 25, U.S. District Court Judge James Moody refused to enjoin a 2015 Arkansas law that new parties must choose all their nominees (except President) at least one year before the election. Libertarian Party v Martin, e.d., 4:15cv-635.

Old parties nominate by primary in March. The judge says the state has any interest in “preventing voter confusion by limiting ballot access to serious candidates.” He also said that since the Libertarian Party nominated 17 candidates in October, the party is not harmed. He said that the law is fair because Democrats and Republicans must file to run in the March primary by November of the year before the election. However, four times, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down similar laws, and has said that deadlines for new parties and independent candidates can’t be earlier than the date of primaries. Those cases are from Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas. Also in 1996 a U.S. District Court in Arkansas struck down the January petition deadline for new parties. The Moody decision does not mention those cases. The party nominated some more candidates on February 27 and will return to court.

Maryland: on February 24, Delegate Jill Carter introduced HB 1301, which eases the definition of “party” from a group that has registration of approximately 38,000, to a group that has exactly 10,000 members.

New York: on February 4, the Assembly passed SB 9108, which moves the independent petition deadline from August to June 7, which would be the second-earliest presidential deadline in the nation.

Oklahoma: on February 17, the State Senate Rules Committee passed SB 896, which eases the definition of “party” from a group that polled 10% of the vote for the office at the top of the ballot, to 2.5%.

South Dakota: on February 8, the State Senate defeated SB 95. It would have let candidates on a primary ballot with a fee. Currently primary candidates need petitions.

Virginia: on February 9, the House Elections Subcommittee defeated HB 82, which would have eased the definition of “party” from a group that had polled 10% for any statewide race at either of the last two elections, to 5%.

West Virginia: four Delegates have introduced HB 4477, which eases the definition of “Party”. Current law defines it as a group that got 1% for Governor. The bill says a party is also recognized if it has registration of one-tenth of 1%, which would be 1,218 registrants.

The chart below shows the number of registered voters in each party, in each state that has registration by party. In almost every case, the data is from February 2016, but in a few states such data is not available and the data is from the end of 2015.

Parties in the “other” column are: Alaska, 16,499 Alaskan Independence; 1,124 Veterans. California, American Independent 472,019; Peace & Freedom 75,579. Colorado, Unity. Connecticut, Independent Party. Delaware, 4,033 Independent Party; 134 Socialist Workers. Florida, Independent Party 258,914; Independence Party 45,042; America’s Party 681; Ecology 264; Socialism & Liberation 155. Kentucky, Socialist Workers. Louisiana, Conservative 825; Americans Elect 528; Socialist 69; Modern Whig 10; Prohibition 1. Massachusetts, United Independedent; New Jersey, Conservative 703, Natural Law 38, Socialist 25. New Mexico, Independent American 2,168. New York, Independence 431,787; Conservative 147,833; Women’s Equality 602. Oregon, Independent Party 110,358; Progressive 1,906; Americans Elect 454. Rhode Island, Moderate. Utah, Independent American.

~	Dem.	Rep.	Indp, misc	Lib’t.	Green	Consti.	Wk Fam	Reform	other
Alaska	70,596	136,229	280,246	7,486	1,716	266	?	?	17,623
Arizona	933,883	1,113,991	1,167,083	26,706	5,051	?	?	?	461
Calif.	7,438,655	4,767,259	4,267,297	120,578	102,688	338	?	est 15,000	547,598
Colorado	904,913	941,108	1,002,653	24,201	6,943	6,850	?	?	185
Conn.	714,519	406,082	795,409	1,710	1,466	146	314	167	16,847
Delaware	309,007	182,983	155,480	1,191	631	332	454	77	4,167
Dt. Col.	332,561	27,472	73,903	897	3,540	?	?	?	– –
Florida	4,569,788	4,276,104	2,878,468	23,513	5,193	1,084	?	1,542	305,056
Idaho	70,549	298,211	364,355	4,661	?	2,265	?	?	– –
Iowa	586,835	615,763	727,112	5,896	1,690	0	0	0	– –
Kansas	410,881	763,153	535,879	13,444	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	1,678,947	1,277,605	251,668	4,987	947	276	?	80	77
Louis’na	1,331,510	828,206	739,367	11,835	2,007	124	0	1,402	1,433
Maine	308,987	262,571	363,245	4,513	40,005	?	?	?	– –
Maryland	2,042,296	974,602	726,581	16,866	8,324	?	?	?	– –
Mass.	1,490,335	468,295	2,282,845	8,352	5,285	98	16	133	16,476
Nebraska	349,613	555,709	235,703	6,984	?	?	?	?	– –
Nevada	471,342	423,308	241,392	9,758	2,100	56,005	?	?	– –
N. Hamp.	229,202	260,896	383,834	?	?	?	?	?	– –
N. Jersey	1,745,680	1,058,583	2,628,726	2,599	1,248	173	?	62	766
N. Mex.	555,443	373,603	261,899	3,160	3,661	209	?	?	2,168
N. York	5,281,140	2,541,267	2,260,515	5,856	23,653	?	43,490	78	580,222
No. Car.	2,630,534	1,964,806	1,825,151	27,903	?	?	?	?	– –
Okla.	882,686	886,153	261,429	?	?	?	?	?	9
Oregon	825,282	642,552	547,228	17,242	9,270	3,550	11,416	?	112,718
Pennsyl.	3,982,559	3,005,080	1,063,110	48,075	13,830	1,497	?	?	– –
Rhode Is.	294,146	77,556	379,049	?	?	?	?	?	2,583
So. Dak.	167,064	238,222	107,493	1,415	?	529	?	?	– –
Utah	114,010	581,186	506,271	7,616	1,103	3,712	?	?	9,684
W. Va.	580,294	359,642	272,434	2,802	1,672	185	?	?	– –
Wyo.	38,708	139,020	21,150	1,004	?	277	?	?	– –
TOTAL	41,341,965	30,447,217	27,606,975	411,250	242,023	77,916	55,690	18,541	1,618,073
Percent	40.60%	29.90%	27.11%	.40%	.24%	.08%	.05%	.02%	1.59%

Totals October 2014 were: Dem. 42,755,625 (41.17%); Rep. 30,938,676 (29.79%); indp. & misc. 27,688,850 (26.67%); Libt. 399,302 (.38%); Green 253,267 (.24%); Consti. 78,434 (.08%); Wk. Fam. 58,757 (.06%); Americans Elect 5,294 (.005%); other parties 1,661,179 (1.60%).

Totals October 2012 were: Dem. 43,512,746 (41.85%), Rep. 31,298,863 (30.10%), indp. & misc. 26,808,810 (25.79%), Libt. 330,811 (.32%), Green 250,682 (.24%), Constitution 77,918 (.07%), Reform 22,880 (.02%), Americans Elect 6,408 (.01%), other parties 1,659,537 (1.60%).

Totals October 2008 were: Dem. 43,933,901 (43.62%), Rep. 30,944,590 (30.72%), indp. & misc. 24,157,259 (23.98%), AIP/Constitution 438,222 (.44%), Green 255,019 (.25%), Libt. 240,328 (.24%), Reform 32,961 (.03%), other parties 675,980 (.67%).

Totals October 2004 were: Dem. 37,301,951 (42.19%), Rep. 28,988,593 (32.79%), Indp. & misc. 20,471,250 (23.15%), Constitution 320,019 (.36%), Green 298,701 (.34%), Libt. 235,521 (.27%), Reform 63,729 (.07%), Natural Law 39,670 (.04%), other parties 695,639 (.79%).

Totals October 1992 were: Dem. 35,616,630 (47.76%), Rep. 24,590,383 (32.97%), indp. & misc. 13,617,167 (18.26%), Green 102,557 (.14%), Libertarian 100,394 (.13%), other parties 554,668 (.74%).

STATE	REQUIREMENTS		SIGNATURES COLLECTED			THREE TYPES OF DEADLINES
	FULL PARTY	CAND	LIB’T	GREEN	CONSTI	Full Party	Pres Party	Pres. Indp.
Ala.	35,413	5,000	0	0	0	Mar. 1	Mar. 1	Aug. 18
Alaska	(reg) 8,399	#3,005	already on	*1,030	already on	May 2	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
Ariz.	20,119	(est) #36,000	already on	already on	0	March 3	Sep. 9	Sep. 9
Ark.	10,000	#1,000	already on	already on	already on	Sep 2 ‘15	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Calif.	(es) (reg) 61,000	178,039	already on	already on	355	Jan. 4	July 11	Aug. 12
Colo.	(reg) 1,000	#pay $1,000	already on	already on	already on	Jan. 8	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
Conn.	no procedure	#7,500	*0	*200	0	– –	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
Del.	(reg) *653	*6,526	already on	*631	*332	Aug. 20	Aug. 20	July 15
D.C.	no procedure	(est.) #4,600	can’t start	already on	can’t start	– –	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
Florida	be organized	119,316	already on	already on	already on	April 15	Sep. 1	July 15
Georgia	51,912	#49,336	already on	in court	in court	July 12	July 12	July 12
Hawaii	707	#4,347	already on	already on	*already on	*Feb. 25	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
Idaho	13,047	1,000	already on	0	already on	Aug. 30	Aug. 30	Aug. 24
Illinois	no procedure	#25,000	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	– –	June 27	June 27
Indiana	no procedure	#26,700	already on	0	0	– –	June 30	June 30
Iowa	no procedure	#1,500	*100	1,200	0	– –	Aug. 19	Aug. 19
Kansas	16,960	5,000	already on	0	0	June 1	June 1	Aug. 1
Ky.	no procedure	#5,000	*in court	0	*in court	– –	Sep. 9	Sep. 9
La.	(reg) 1,000	#pay $500	already on	already on	*124	May 21	Aug. 19	Aug. 19
Maine	(reg) 5,000	#4,000	in court	already on	0	Dec 1 2015	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Md.	10,000	(est.) 38,000	already on	already on	0	Aug. 1	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Mass.	(est) (reg) 45,000	#10,000	*0	already on	*0	Feb. 2	Aug. 2	Aug. 2
Mich.	31,519	30,000	already on	already on	already on	July 21	July 21	July 21
Minn.	98,770	#2,000	0	0	0	May 2	Aug. 23	Aug. 23
Miss.	be organized	1,000	already on	already on	already on	Feb. 1	Sep. 9	Sep. 9
Mo.	10,000	10,000	already on	800	already on	July 25	July 25	July 25
Mont.	5,000	#5,000	already on	0	0	Mar. 17	Aug. 17	Aug. 17
Nebr.	5,395	2,500	already on	*475	0	Aug. 1	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Nev.	5,431	5,431	already on	*600	already on	June 3	June 3	July 8
N. Hamp.	*14,866	#3,000	0	*260	0	Aug. 10	Aug. 10	Aug. 10
N.J.	no procedure	#800	0	0	0	– –	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
N. M.	2,565	15,388	already on	already on	already on	June 30	June 30	June 30
N.Y.	no procedure	#15,000	can’t start	already on	can’t start	– –	Aug. 23	Aug. 23
No. Car.	89,366	89,366	already on	*10,000	0	May 17	May 17	June 9
No. Dak.	7,000	#4,000	already on	0	*1,000	Apr. 16	Sep. 5	Sep. 5
Ohio	30,560	5,000	in court	already on	0	July 6	July 6	Aug. 10
Okla.	24,745	40,047	*finished	*0	0	March 1	July 15	July 15
Oregon	22,046	17,893	already on	already on	already on	Aug. 30	Aug. 30	Aug. 30
Penn.	no procedure	*21,775	*0	*100	*0	– –	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
R.I.	16,203	#1,000	0	0	0	Aug. 1	Sep. 9	Sep. 9
So. Car.	10,000	10,000	already on	already on	already on	May 8	May 8	July 15
So. Dak.	6,936	2,775	*4,000	0	*7,000	Mar. 29	*July 11	Aug. 4
Tenn.	33,816	275	0	in court	in court	Aug. 10	Aug. 10	Aug. 18
Texas	47,086	79,939	already on	already on	*0	May 16	May 16	May 9
Utah	2,000	#1,000	already on	*0	already on	Feb. 15	Aug. 15	Aug. 15
Vermont	be organized	#1,000	already on	0	0	Dec 31 ‘15	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Virginia	no procedure	#5,000	0	0	0	– –	Aug. 26	Aug. 26
Wash.	no procedure	#1,000	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	– –	July 23	July 23
West Va.	no procedure	#6,705	already on	already on	9,650	– –	Aug. 1	Aug. 1
Wisc.	10,000	#2,000	already on	already on	already on	April 1	Aug. 2	Aug. 2
Wyo.	3,302	3,302	already on	can’t start	already on	June 1	June 1	Aug. 30
TOTAL STATES ON			31	21*	16*	“	“	“

#partisan label is permitted on the ballot (other than “independent”).
“CONSTI” = Constitution Party.
The number of signatures for new parties is in court in Georgia and Tennessee; for independents, in New Mexico.
The definition of “political party” is in court in Kentucky.
* = change since January 1, 2016 issue.

DEMOCRATS	CA.	CT.	DEL.	MD.	NEB.	N.M.	N.Y.	PA.	R.I.	W. VA.
Hillary Clinton, NY	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Rocky De La Fuente, California	X	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	X	X	X
Paul T. Farrell, WV	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	X
Henry Hewes, NY	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Keith Judd, Texas	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	X
Bernie Sanders, VT	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Michael Steinberg, FL	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Mark Stewart, NH	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	X	– –
Willie Wilson, Illinois	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
~
REPUBLICANS
Jeb Bush, Florida	X	X	X	X	– –	X	X	X	X	X
Ben Carson, Florida	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Chris Christie, NJ	X	– –	– –	X	– –	X	– –	– –	X	X
Ted Cruz, Texas	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Carly Fiorina, Virginia	X	– –	– –	X	– –	X	– –	– –	X	X
Jim Gilmore, Virginia	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	X	– –
David E. Hall, Florida	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	X
Mike Huckabee, Florida	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	X	X
John Kasich, Ohio	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Rand Paul, Kentucky	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	X	X
Marco Rubio, Florida	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Rick Santorum, Virginia	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	X	– –
Donald Trump, NY	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
~
GREENS
Darryl Cherney, CA	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
William Kreml, SC	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Kent Mesplay, Texas	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Sedinam Moyowasifa-Curry, CA	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Jill Stein, MA	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
~
LIBERTARIANS
Marc Allen Feldman, OH	X	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
John David Hale, KY	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Cecil Ince, Missouri	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Gary Johnson, NM	X	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Steve Kerbel, Colorado	X	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
John McAfee, Alabama	X	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Darryl Perry, NH	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Austin Petersen, MO	X	– –	– –	– –	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Derrick Reid, California	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Jack Robinson, SC	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Rhett Smith, Texas	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Joy Waymire, California	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
~
PEACE AND FREEDOM
Lynn Sandra Kahn, MD	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Gloria LaRiva, California	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Monica Moorehead, NY	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
~
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT
Wiley Drake, California	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Arthur Harris, Maryland	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
James Hedges, PA	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Tom Hoefling, Michigan	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
J. R. Myers, Alaska	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Robert Ornelas, CA	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Alan Spears, California	X	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –

On January 26, Politico revealed that a group of large donors to the Republican Party had commissioned a study of how independent presidential candidates can get on the ballot. The study was done by a Florida group called Data Targeting. These donors do not support Donald Trump for the Republican nomination and want to know if they could get behind a potential independent candidate.

On February 12, the Socialist Workers Party announced that its national ticket this year is Alyson Kennedy for President, and Osborne Hart for Vice-President. The party has run a ticket in every presidential election starting in 1948. The only other minor parties in U.S. history that have such an unbroken string are the Prohibition Party and the Socialist Labor Party. The SLP stopped after 1976.

A new party called the “American Shopping Party” has qualified for the Hawaii ballot. It opposes consumerism and takes some of its beliefs from eastern religions. It is not known if it intends to be involved in the presidential race.

The Illinois Green Party is not ballot-qualified, but it holds its own presidential primary, at party expense, for dues-paying party members. The results, announced February 19, are: Jill Stein 119; William P. Kreml 5; Kent Mesplay 2; Sedinam Christin Kinamo Moyowasifza-Curry 1; Darrly Cherney 0; uncommitted 10.

On February 8, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced which presidential candidates would appear on the six presidential primary ballots. See the chart on page five to know which candidates he accepted. He refused to list Jill Stein on the Peace & Freedom Party presidential primary ballot, even though PFP had asked him to do that. He did not explain why he left Stein off, and his office refused to release any internal memos on the subject. California has no law preventing a presidential candidate from running in the primary of two parties. In 2008, both Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader were on both the California Green Party primary, and the Peace & Freedom primary. Nader won both of those primaries, and he became the nominee of the Peace & Freedom Party.

On February 18, Bernie Sanders criticized U.S. election laws that bolster the two major parties and discourage all other parties: “I think we should welcome competition.” The occasion was a forum in Las Vegas sponsored by MSNBC and Telemundo.

On February 11, former U.S. Senator Jim Webb said that he will not run for President as an independent candidate.

The Federal Election Commission has published its 2014 election returns book. It covers all U.S. Senate and House races, including primaries, and can be obtained free by calling 800-424-9530. The title is “Federal Elections 2014.”