U.S. Supreme Court Puts New Hampshire Libertarian Case on October 7 Conference

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The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, 11-119, at its October 7 conference. This is the case on whether a party has a right to prevent its name from being on the ballot next to the name of a candidate that the party didn’t nominate.

The October 7 conference is not the next Supreme Court conference date. The next conference is on September 26. The September 26 conference is the conference at which the Court will wade through the hundreds of cert petitions that have been filed all summer long, while the Court has been out of session.

Chuck Todd of NBC News Predicts a Perry Nomination Will Enhance Chances for a Third Major Ticket

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Chuck Todd, chief White House correspondent for NBC News, predicted on September 14 that if the Republican Party nominates Rick Perry for President, a strong third ticket will emerge in the 2012 election. Todd seems to be describing Americans Elect without actually naming Americans Elect. See this story. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.

El Paso Recall Election Can Proceed, Even Though a Church Helped with Petition Effort

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El Paso, Texas, will proceed with a recall of the Mayor and two members of the City Council, according to this story. Supporters of the Mayor had asked a court to rule that the recall petitions are invalid because they were gathered in a church, or that a church helped distribute the petitions. But the court permitted the petition to be submitted anyway. The signatures have not been checked yet.

Michigan Senate Passes Bill Converting Presidential Primary from a Secret Open Primary to a Public-Choice Open Primary

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On September 15, the Michigan Senate passed SB 584. It deals with the presidential primary. It retains the February 28, 2012 primary date. But it provides that voters who wish to vote in a presidential primary must fill out a form, indicating which party’s presidential primary ballot they wish. For absentee voters, the absentee voter application would include this same form, asking the absentee voter which primary the voters wishes. Michigan doesn’t have registration by party, and the bill does not change that aspect of Michigan elections.

The bill also provides that the list of which voters chose which party’s primary ballot will be made public no later than 71 days after the presidential primary, but the public record will be withdrawn from public scrutiny, and destroyed, two years later.

Existing law prints all Michigan presidential primary ballots on a single sheet of paper, and in the privacy of the voting booth, the voter chooses one party’s primary. Only large qualified parties in Michigan have their own presidential primary. The smaller qualified parties do not participate in the presidential primaries. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for this news.

Ralph Nader Asks Maine Supreme Court to let his Tort Lawsuit Against Democrats Go to Trial

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On September 14, an attorney for Ralph Nader argued before the Maine Supreme Court that Nader’s lawsuit against the Democratic Party (for its behavior toward him in 2004), should be permitted to go to trial. See this story. The story erroneously says Nader got .3% for President in 2004; actually he got .4%.

The Maine Supreme Court only permitted Nader’s attorney to speak for 15 minutes. But it let the Defendants speak for a total of 30 minutes. There are two Defendants, the Ballot Project and the Democratic National Committee, and each had 15 minutes. The Ballot Project was a group of Democrats who organized the nationwide effort to block Nader from the ballot.

Missouri May be Another State to Choose Republican Delegates in February, in Violation of National Republican Party Rules

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Current Missouri law says the presidential primary should be in early February, but national Republican and Democratic Party rules say states (except for four particular states) must not be earlier than March. According to this story in Frontloading HQ, Missouri legislators may not pass the bill moving the state’s presidential primary to March.