MINOR PARTIES GAIN REGISTRATIONS DURING 2017, BUT DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, AND INDEPENDENTS DECLINE

During 2017, the number of voters registered as Democrats declined; the number of Republicans declined; the number of independents declined. But the number of voters registered into minor parties increased. See page four for a state-by-state breakdown. The data includes the 31 states in which the voter registration form asks the applicant to choose a party (or to choose independent status). The data also includes the District of Columbia. Obviously there can be no registration data from the other 19 states, because in those other 19 states, there is no such thing as a registered member of a political party.

It is normal for the number of registered voters to decline in odd years, because states cull their voter registration lists after election years. When this article discusses changes, it is comparing current data to the November 2016 data. All of the 2017 data is as of June or July, with these exceptions: the California data is from February 2017; the Pennsylvania data is from April 2017; the Florida minor party data is from November 2016; the Connecticut data is from November 2016; and the Massachusetts data for the unqualified parties is from November 2016. The Secretaries of State of Connecticut and Florida say they are hoping to be able to furnish complete registration data for all parties, on demand, in the future, but currently they cannot do that. Current Connecticut data can only be obtained by contacting each town clerk, and I didn’t do that work.

Libertarian registration is now higher than it has ever been. Although Green Party and Constitution Party registration increased between November 2016 and mid-2017, in the past those parties had higher registration totals than they do now.

On July 10, U.S. District Court Judge David G. Campbell, a Bush Jr. appointee, upheld a 2015 Arizona law that had the effect in 2016 of keeping almost all Libertarian Party nominees off the ballot, but did not injure the Republican, Democratic, or Green Parties. Arizona Libertarian Party v Reagan, 2:16cv-1019.

The 2015 law increased the number of signatures needed for a member of the Libertarian Party to get on the primary ballot approximately twenty-fold. It also increased the number of write-ins needed in the primary for a candidate to be considered nominated by twenty times. But it allows Greens to win a write-in nomination with only one write-in in the Green primary, assuming no opponent receives any votes.

Judge Campbell wrote that the new law is not discriminatory because the legislature had no intent to discriminate. There is strong evidence that showed the legislature consciously intended to injure the Libertarian Party, but the judge excluded this evidence for various procedural reasons. On July 21, the Libertarian Party filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

The decision rests on U.S. Supreme Court precedents Jenness v Fortson and Munro v Socialist Workers Party. However, in those decisions, the Supreme Court was considering difficult requirements to get on the general election ballot, whereas this Arizona case concerns access to a primary ballot. Also in both those U.S. Supreme Court opinions, the Supreme Court noted that various candidates had been able to comply with the challenged requirements.

In Jenness the Supreme Court noted that petitions had succeeded in 1966 and 1968, and the case had been filed in 1970. In Munro, the Supreme Court noted that 41 minor party and independent candidates had successfully qualified for the November ballot.

Judge Campbell disguised the fact that in the Munro decision, so many minor party and independent candidates got on the November ballot. He only quoted from the part of the Munro decision that concerned statewide candidates. He ignored footnote eleven, which had the data for the non-statewide offices.

In 2016, only one Arizona Libertarian complied with the new law, so even though the party remains a qualified party in Arizona (because it has registration greater than the legal requirement) it has virtually been removed from the ballot. The new law had no effect on presidential candidates, however.

On July 26, HB 4177 became law. It removes party logos from the ballot. A logo is a cartoon, representing a party’s identity. The Michigan Republican logo is a drawing of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.

The motive for removing the logos is to help the state win the lawsuit on whether the straight-ticket device should exist. In early 2016 the legislature repealed the straight-ticket device, but then some voters filed a lawsuit, saying removing the device will cause some voters to think that if they draw a circle around a logo, then they are casting a straight-ticket vote for all the nominees of the party. But with the logos removed, that argument vanishes.

During 2017, no new state passed the National Popular Vote Plan bill. The Oregon legislature killed the bills, SB 825 and HB 2927, on July 7. The House had passed it, but the Senate did not. Both houses of the Oregon legislature have Democratic majorities, and Oregon has a Democratic Governor. However, the leader of the Senate said he would only support the bill if it called for the voters to decide whether to pass the plan, and supporters of the plan were not interested in that compromise. The other state in which supporters of the plan had hoped to gain during 2017, Connecticut, also has Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature and a Democratic Governor, and the Connecticut bill, HB HB 5434, had made some headway, but the legislature went home without passing it.

Primary date bill: SB 568, the bill to move the primary for all office, in all election years, from June to March, continued to advance during July. It passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 19. It had already passed the Senate and the Assembly Elections Committee, although assuming it passes the Assembly, it must return to the State Senate for consideration of the amendment the Assembly added, making the change effective in midterm years as well as presidential years. The legislature went on summer vacation in late July but returns on August 21.

Bill informing independents of their choices: AB 837, the bill to guarantee that election officials fully inform independent voters that they can choose the presidential primary ballot of the Democratic, Libertarian and American Independent Parties, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 10.

Presidential Candidate Tax Returns: SB 149, the bill to require presidential primary candidates to reveal their income tax returns, passed the Assembly Elections Committee on July 13. The bill has no effect on independent presidential candidates, but does apply to write-in candidates.

Illinois: the legislature sent SB 1933 to Governor Bruce Rauner on June 29. It says that all adult citizens known to exist will automatically be registered, unless the individual declines. As of the date this newsletter is being printed, he has not acted on the bill. He earlier said he would sign it on a particular day, but then he didn’t act on that day. He must decide by July 29. He is a Republican.

Rhode Island: Governor Gina Raimondo signed HB 5702 on July 19. This is a bill to automatically register every adult citizen, similar to the Illinois bill.

Alabama: the Eleventh Circuit will hear Hall v Merrill, 16-16766, the week of October 23-27. This is the case over it is constitutional to require independent candidates, and newly-qualifying parties, to submit a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in special U.S. House elections. The U.S. District Court had ruled that because there is so little time to petition in special elections, the state must reduce the number of signatures. Generally the requirement is about 7,000 signatures.

Arkansas: on July 25, the state asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Eighth Circuit decision Moore v Martin. The Eighth Circuit had ruled that the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates is unconstitutional, unless the state can show that it needs the deadline to be that early so as to have enough time to check the petitions.

The last time any state asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a ballot access case that had been won by a minor party or independent in the court below was in 2013. In 2013, Virginia had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Fourth Circuit ruling in Libertarian Party of Virginia v Judd. In that decision, the Fourth Circuit struck down the ban on out-of-state circulators. The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t accept the case, and hasn’t accepted a ballot access case involving minor parties or independent candidates since 1991.

California: a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles will hear De La Fuente v Padilla on August 21. This is the case that challenges the law forcing independent presidential candidates to submit almost 200,000 signatures.

California (2): on July 20, proponenets of a recall against a State Senator filed a lawsuit against the new law that changes the rules for recalls, and makes them more difficult. The lawsuit says it violates due process to change the rules in a restrictive way, in the middle of a petition drive. Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v Padilla, in the State Appeals Court, 3^rd district.

Indiana: on May 31, Andrew Straw, who is the Disability Party nominee for Secretary of State in 2018, filed a federal lawsuit against the law that requires him to submit 26,700 signatures to get on the ballot. He is unable to stand, and argues that the federal law protecting disabled persons from state government discrimination, means that the petition requirement violates federal law. Straw v State, s.d., 1:17cv-1797.

Montana: on July 25, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris issued a permanent injunction, limiting the number of signatures that can be required for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties in special congressional elections to 80 per day. Thus, if the petitioning period is only 10 days, the state can require only 800 signatures. Breck v Stapleton, 9:17cv-36. The state will not appeal.

California: on July 19, the Santa Clara city council asked the city attorney to draft a ballot question, which would ask voters if they want to use proportional representation for future city council elections. There would be two districts, and each district would elect three city councilmembers, using Single Transferable Vote. A candidate could be elected with support from 25% of the voters. The same system was used in New York city 1937-1945, and is used in several foreign countries.

New Mexico: on July 26, the city council voted 6-3 not to use Ranked Choice voting for the March 2018 city elections. The voters approved the idea in 2008, but the vote-counting machines won’t be certified until September 2017, so the system can’t be used until 2020.

Tennessee: on July 27, election officials in Memphis said the 2019 election for city council will use Ranked Choice Voting. The decision to use RCV had been made ten years ago, but it took all that time for the city to obtain vote-counting machines that can handle RCV.

A Magnificent Catastrophe, The Tumulttuous Election of 1800, by Edward J. Larson, 2007, Free Press, 335 pages.

Most readers probably already know that in the 1800 presidential election, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received an equal number of electoral votes. Because no one had a majority, the U.S. House had to choose the president. Back in 1800, each presidential elector had two votes. Electors didn’t vote for president on one ballot and then vice-president on another ballot. Instead each elector was expected to vote for the person he desired for president and also for the person he desired for vice-president.

The process by which the House chose Jefferson over Burr, after weeks of deadlock, is a riveting story, but one that is fairly well known.

But A Magnificent Catastrophe also reveals the much more obscure story that before the electors voted, a conspiracy to elect Charles Coatesworth Pinckney was underway, supported by Alexander Hamilton. Pinckney, from South Carolina, was the Federalist choice for vice-president. Hamilton worked to persuade some Federalist electors to vote for Pinckney, but not Adams, hoping that if Federalists won a majority of the electors, Pinckney would become president. Hamilton did not like Adams.

The Republicans, who were supporting Jefferson for president and Burr for vice-president, expected that the South Carolina legislators would choose electors who would vote for both Jefferson and Pinckney. Therefore, they were confident that because of South Carolina, Jefferson would receive more electoral votes than Burr. However, Pinckney himself asked all the South Carolina legislators not to choose such electors. He was loyal to Adams and felt honor-bound not to encourage the plot.

The book details this fascinating story, and also describes how in each state’s legislature, the majority party chose a method for electing presidential electors that would benefit their own party. Sixteen states were in the union, and in eleven, legislators chose the electors. The only way for the voters in these states to have any influence over the presidential election was their vote for state legislator. Early in 1800, Burr exerted all his political skills to win a Republican majority in the New York legislature, thus insuring that New York’s electors would be Republicans. The Republican Party felt so indebted to Burr that all its electors kept their word to him, and voted for Burr. If even one Republican elector had voted for Jefferson but not Burr, the party would have been far better off.

The House was controlled by Federalists, and so Jefferson was at their mercy during the House vote for President. Only after Hamilton worked to elect Jefferson over Burr was Jefferson elected.

The book is also fascinating because it shows that each state chose presidential electors on a different day, and that had a big impact on the process. In 1845 Congress passed a bill requiring all states to choose electors in November.

David Hadley, a former Republican legislator, and a moderate, declared his candidacy for Governor of California on July 4. However, on July 19, he said he will not run after all. He said that if he remained in the race, the chances are that no Republican would be on the ballot in November 2018, because of the top-two system that has been in effect in California starting in 2011. In 2016, with several California Republicans running in the primary for U.S. Senate, the top-two system put two Democrats, and no Republicans, on the November ballot. With such limited choices, 16.1% of all the voters who cast a ballot in November 2016 left their ballot blank for U.S. Senate.

On July 27, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced S.1588, a bill to require states to let ex-felons register to vote. The bill would only apply to elections for federal office.

~	Dem.	Rep.	Ind, misc	Lib’t.	Green	Consti.	Wk Fam	Reform	other
Alaska	76,213	140,923	275,531	7,346	1,688	389	?	?	16,864
Arizona	1,104,927	1,264,154	1,242,532	31,951	7,109	?	?	?	– –
Arkansas	79,031	83,448	1,559,211	330	39	?	?	?	– –
Calif.	8,700,440	5,027,714	4,881,441	141,461	94,720	326	?	?	586,507
Colorado	1,049,451	1,041,619	1,179,810	39,308	11,466	10,610	?	?	886
Conn.**	790,188	452,243	831,652	2,561	1,827	?	323	11	– –
Delaware	322,014	190,677	158,720	1,580	804	288	381	58	6,424
Dt. Col.	363,554	29,753	79,528	959	3,616	?	?	?	– –
Florida*	4,845,863	4,566,956	3,089,929	28,287	6,605	1,265	?	1,511	308,116
Idaho	87,897	398,110	304,119	6,347	?	2,923	?	?	– –
Iowa	610,471	656,174	707,608	9,258	2,913	0	0	0	– –
Kansas	428,381	786,719	529,702	15,473	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	1,680,761	1,362,094	270,256	8,004	1,766	471	?	90	112
Louis’na	1,311,976	896,549	691,153	14,414	2,570	172	0	1,326	58,610
Maine	333,817	281,815	381,398	5,495	44,285	?	?	?	– –
Maryland	2,150,688	1,017,773	724,015	20,450	9,338	?	?	?	– –
Mass.*	1,526,870	479,237	2,434,600	8,587	6,367	169	39	133	30,847
Nebraska	359,423	575,139	245,434	12,322	?	?	?	?	– –
Nevada	578,630	487,691	323,080	13,913	3,909	65,036	?	?	– –
N. Hamp.	276,817	303,328	404,717	58	?	?	?	?	– –
N. Jersey	2,090,725	1,229,116	2,343,739	7,170	4,496	4,694	?	602	9,286
N. M.	558,470	370,653	263,225	6,602	3,803	427	?	?	4,858
N. York	5,757,022	2,683,161	2,404,570	6,463	26,138	?	41,706	1,473	590,936
No. Car.	2,640,128	2,053,920	2,039,067	32,979	?	?	?	?	– –
Okla.	770,581	937,698	288,807	4,305	?	?	?	?	– –
Oregon	964,208	703,100	768,814	18,779	10,142	3,607	10,299	?	121,119
Penn.	4,051,103	3,235,781	1,105,108	46,295	12,382	1,419	?	?	– –
Rhode Is.	288,733	86,823	341,934	?	?	?	?	?	2,833
So. Dak.	168,831	254,572	125,332	1,706	?	488	?	?	– –
Utah	155,214	645,071	495,635	11,309	805	4,641	?	?	22,940
W. Va.	536,797	389,070	291,558	5,176	1,895	171	?	?	– –
Wyo.	47,125	176,336	36,109	2,389	?	797	?	?	– –
TOTAL	44,706,349	32,807,417	30,818,334	511,277	258,683	97,893	52,748	5,204	1,760,338
Percent	40.27%	29.55%	27.76%	.46%	.23%	.09%	.05%	.00+%	1.59%

The "other" column includes: Alaska is Alaskan Independence; California is 510,486 American Independent and 76,021 Peace & Freedom; Colorado is Unity; Connecticut is Independent Party; Delaware is 772 American Delta and 5,652 Independent Party; Kentucky is Socialist Workers; Louisiana is 57,771 Independent Party and 839 Conservative ; New Jersey is 5,268 Conservative, 2,137 Socialist, and 1,881 Natural Law; New Mexico is 4,163 Independent American and 695 Better for America; New York is 441,472 Independence, 146,278 Conservative, and 3,186 Women’s Equality; Oregon is 119,252 Independent Party and 1,867 Progressive; Rhode Island is Moderate; Utah is 22,900 Independent American and 40 United Utah.

Totals October 2016 were: Democratic 45,690,825 (40.60%), Republican 33,052,332 (29.37%), independent & miscellaneous 31,200,104 (27.72%), Libertarian 497,535 (.44%), Green 256,560 (.23%), Constitution 92,483 (.08%), Reform 5,294 (.00+%), Working Families 61,517 (.05%), other parties 1,662,329 (1.50%).

Totals October 2014 were: Democratic 42,755,625 (41.17%), Republican 30,938,676 (29.79%), independent & miscellaneous 27,688,850 (26.67%), Libertarian 399,302 (.38%), Green 253,267 (.24%), Constitution 78,434 (.08%), Reform 22,880 (.02%), Working Families 58,757 (.06%), other parties 1,666,473 (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%), Libertarian 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%), Libertarian 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%), Libertarian 235,521 (.27%), Reform 63,729 (.07%), Natural Law 39,670 (.04%), other parties 695,639 (.79%). See page one for more about this chart. This is the first chart that BAN has ever prepared, showing registration data in an odd year. Even-year registration charts have been in BAN starting in 1992.

~	Demo.	Rep.	Lib’t.	Constitn	Green	Wk Fam	Ind. Party	other
Alabama	6,725	8,553	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Arizona	15,199	10,056	382	– –	326	– –	– –	– –
Iowa	40,262	28,234	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Kentucky	64,554	89,006	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Minn.	29,158	12,973	830	– –	1,272	– –	1,590	1,024
N. Mex.	5,592	2,454	504	20	328	– –	– –	200
Ohio	31,639	31,639	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
Oregon	6,111	1,056	294	123	576	531	564	252
Rhode I.	9,160	3,166	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	440
Utah	42,102	45,068	5,416	2,190	– –	– –	– –	4,180
Virginia	10,900	3,473	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –	– –
TOTAL	261,402	235,678	7,426	2,333	2,502	531	2,154	6,096

Entries in "Other" column are: Minn., Grassroots $351 & Legalize Marijuana Now $673; New Mexico, Better for America; Oregon, Progressive; Rhode Island, Moderate; Utah, Independent American.

YEAR	Democrat	Republican	Green	Lib’t.	Ref/AE	Constit.	Other
2000	941,463	822,671	31,864	13,024	5,054	19,209	71,824
2001	680,608	611,065	12,184	8,173	755	2,295	46,232
2002	928,716	892,438	84,120	7,289	749	2,886	97,559
2003	1,181,312	1,126,585	20,665	7,859	46	51	9,975
2004	828,136	786,190	16,309	8,446	324	1,409	8,822
2005	750,461	714,238	18,100	5,546	34	2,442	25,887
2006	915,945	806,193	50,434	7,282	– –	5,847	45,355
2007	1,050,593	850,580	15,716	5,839	– –	3,503	15,627
2008	1,520,746	1,127,478	8,324	5,034	– –	5,938	5,219
2009	978,325	718,165	7,642	45,889	– –	4,520	4,970
2010	830,562	616,027	5,257	11,115	– –	3,617	5,630
2011	850,490	603,022	6,560	53,133	– –	4,367	11,766
2012	1,883,507	1,245,403	7,862	101,253	– –	2,458	8,733
2013	740,897	545,527	4,041	22,438	11,516	2,816	21,430
2014	369,153	324,042	1,836	7,418	817	3,041	3,175
2015	280,223	246,396	1,777	7,263	174	2,455	12,078
2016	275,908	231,102	3,517	6,636	561	2,428	6,229
2017	261,402	235,678	2,502	7,426	– –	2,333	8,781

On July 20, Nebraska State Senator Bob Krist said he plans to create a new political party in his own state, and then to seek that party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2018. He said the name of the party will probably be "Unity", or "Unification", or "Centrist." He has been a Republican but is dissatisfied with the Republican legislators and the Republican Governor.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Donald Trump, Jr., and Paul Manafort, President Trump’s original campaign manager, to disclose any communications they have had with 40 individuals. One of those individuals is Jill Stein, the 2016 Green presidential nominee.

Louisiana holds a special election for Treasurer on October 7, 2017. There are four Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian, and one independent on the ballot. If no one gets a majority there will be a run-off in November.

On June 6, a member of the Libertarian Party, Steve McCluskey, was elected Mayor of McLain, Mississippi. The town has partisan elections for city office, but generally candidates run as independents so as to spare the expense of party primaries. McCluskey defeated the incumbent as well as a third candidate.

On July 2, Mike Becallo, an elected town councilor in Cicero, New York, said that he had changed his registration from Republican to Libertarian. The town has partisan elections.

On July 7, the Arkansas Secretary of State said the Libertarian Party petition for party status has enough valid signatures. The requirement is 10,000. The party is now a qualified party in 39 states plus D.C. However, in Georgia the party is only on for statewide office, not district or county office; and in Connecticut it is only on for some offices, but not others. The eleven states in which the party is not qualified are Alabama, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

On July 7, Elliot Traiman, a long-time board member for the Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE), died unexpectedly. He was 61 and lived in Long Beach, New York. He had been co-treasurer of COFOE, serving with his companion Alice Kelsey. Elliot and Alice had been with COFOE since it was founded in 1985. As recently as March, 2017, Elliot had been to this year’s Board meeting. All members of the board are saddened by his death.

Virginia elects its Governor, and also 100 members of the lower house of the legislature, on November 7, 2017. There are 13 districts with no Democratic nominee; there are 28 districts with no Republican nominee. It is unusual for Virginia Democrats to have more legislative nominees than Republicans. There are also Green Party nominees in five districts, and Libertarians in four districts. There are no Independent Green nominees. The Independent Green Party exists only in Virginia and in recent years has had more candidates than any other minor party. In the gubernatorial race, there are only three candidates: a Republican, a Democrat, and a Libertarian.