On March 2, the Montana State Senate passed SB 350. It curtails the means used in 2020 to keep the Green Party off the ballot. Specifically, it says that if voters wish to withdraw their names from a petition to qualify a new party, they must do so no later than the petition deadline.
In 2020, months after the Green Party petition had been certified, Democratic Party activists knocked on the doors of people who had signed the petition, and persuaded them to withdraw their signatures. Thus the Green Party was removed from the ballot in August, even though it had already held its own primary in June and had already nominated candidates.
On March 17, the House Administration Committee passed the bill. Here is the text.
I do not think voters should be able to remove their names from a petition, unless maybe they can prove via recording with audio and video that they got tricked into signing, and even with this I would set the standard that they were blatantly told a lie.
Sometimes people sign a petition just so asshole petitoners will stop harassing them.
If that is their reason for signing they do not deserve to cross their name off later.
ONE VOTER FORMS – NOMS AND ISSUES —
MAIL THEM IN — MORE UN-EMPLOYED OBNOXIOUS CIRCULATORS – ESP THOSE AP TYPES.
Abolish petitions and all provisions of ballot access censorship.
But then Andy Gonzalez will be out of a job
With filing fees instead of petitions, only candidates are the ones who can make the decision to withdraw their candidacy.
I do not know who Andy Gonzalez is, but if you are referring to me, there are plenty of petitions for ballot initiatives, referendums, recalls, and plebiscites, as well as voter registration drives and Get Out The Vote campaigns. Candidate or party petition are actually a small portion of the petition business.
The bill appears to recodify all the bad parts of the existing party qualification rules, and the truly stupid rules for when a primary is held.
Montana should switch to the Louisiana election system.
If Andy Not Gonzalez is really not Andy Gonzalez, who is he? Why is his last name a secret?
It has been posted here multiple times, and several people who have posted here over the years have met me in person.
If I look under “Too” in the phone book or some other database of people will I find you?
I don’t know. I’m generally a pretty private person and try to stay unlisted, but I have no idea where people who compile those things get their information, so maybe you would. I’ve never seen you post your last name. I’ve only seen you deny that it’s Gonzalez. What is your last name, if it’s not a secret? And why not just post it, especially if you posted it before? It’s awkward to keep calling you Andy Not Gonzalez but I don’t know what your last name is or why you don’t post it.
His name is Andy Juan Gonzalez. We should call them Andy Juan and Andy Two, maybe?
I like Andy Thing Juan and Andy Thing Two better.
Two long. I hereby dub them, Thing Juan and Thing Too.
Thang Juan and Thang Too. Yes.
Thang Juan seems suspiciously shy about his last name for someone who always demands information about other people. I wonder if he’s another fake character plaid by Nathan Norman aka William Saturn. He says other people here met him but nobody has confirmed that they have. If they did, how would we know their not him also? He says he’s posted his real last name before, has anyone seen that?
Unlike Andy Whatever, I provide a full name. It looks more and more like he is the troll that he accuses others of being. I’ve never misrepresented my views, posted under any false names or as anyone else here. Perhaps he has. Maybe that’s why he is always accusing other people of doing that. The “thing one and thing two” reference is childish, as well. Other than having the same first name, if Andy is even his real first name, I don’t see what I have in common with Andy Whatever.