The Socialist Party will holds its presidential nominating convention in Los Angeles, October 14-16, 2011. The location is the Holiday Inn at the Los Angeles Airport. The hotel is at the corner of Century and La Cienega Boulevards. Thanks to Stewart Alexander for this news.
On May 27, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed SB 189, which moves the primary from August to June. It also moves the qualifying deadline for an indepedendent presidential candidate, or the presidential nominee of an unqualified party, from late June to early June. And, it moves the petition deadline for a group to submit a petition to become a qualified party from March to January.
The petition deadline change for groups to become qualified parties is somewhat ameliorated by the fact that an unqualified party can still place nominees on the November ballot, with the party label, via candidate petitions that are due in June. However, the new earlier deadline for presidential independent candidates would likely be unconstitutional under Anderson v Celebrezze. Lower courts have invalidated petition deadlines for presidential candidates, in June, in five states, and there are no decisions since Anderson v Celebrezze upholding an independent presidential deadline in June.
Ironically, the current Secretary of State, Scott Gessler, represented the Socialist Party’s presidential candidate, Walt Brown, in a 2004 lawsuit filed by Brown against the July 4 deadline, and he won that case on statutory grounds. Yet now that Gessler is Secretary of State, instead of an attorney in private practice, he supported moving the deadline to early June. Thanks to Josh Putnam of Frontloading HQ for the news that the Governor signed the bill.
Gatewood Galbraith’s campaign says it now has 5,000 signatures on its petition to be on the Kentucky ballot as an independent candidate for Governor on November 8, 2011. See this story. The signatures aren’t due until August, and the drive will continue until it has 10,000. He had been the Reform Party nominee for Governor in 1999 and had polled 15.4%. He will be the only person on the ballot this year (assuming he has enough signatures) for Governor, other than the Democratic and Republican nominees. We know this is true because Kentucky requires a declaration of candidacy in April for petitioning candidates for state (but not federal) office. Galbraith is the only candidate for Governor who filed such a declaration.
In 2010, Kentucky had been one of only five states with only major party nominees on the statewide ballot. The 5,000 signature requirement is not terribly difficult but Kentucky is a state in which the minor parties traditionally don’t get on the ballot in the odd-year gubernatorial election years. There has never been a Constitution Party, or Libertarian Party, or Green Party, nominee on the ballot for Governor of Kentucky. Currently the Libertarian Party is circulating a petition for State Treasurer.
On May 26, the Louisiana House passed HB 533 unanimously. This is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill. Among other things, it says independent candidates will have “independent” on the ballot next to their names. Current law requires that “no party” be on the ballot next to their names (although current law permits “independent” for presidential independent candidates).
The bill also removes the names of presidential elector candidates from the general election ballot. Currently, Louisiana is one of only six states that still prints the names of presidential elector candidates on the ballot.
On May 26, the Constitution Party of Kansas filed a notice of appeal in its lawsuit which seeks the ability to have voters in Kansas register as members of the Constitution Party (currently Kansas won’t let voters register as members of unqualified parties). The case is now in the 10th circuit.
On May 24, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party obtained an extension of time in which to file with the US Supreme Court, in its lawsuit over whether a party in New Hampshire has the ability to protect its name from being placed on the November ballot by candidates who were not nominated by that party. The case also involves the ability of an unqualified party to use a stand-in presidential candidate on its ballot access petition.
On May 27, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case over whether an unqualified party may use a stand-in presidential candidate on its ballot access petition. UPDATE: here is the cert petition. Even if you don’t normally read legal briefs in election law cases, this one is worth reading. The text starts on the ninth page and is 28 pages long. The entire document is much longer than that, but that is because the lower court opinions are attached. The Libertarian Party had won the case in U.S. District Court but had lost it in the First Circuit.
Finally, in the 9th circuit case over Washington state’s top-two election system, the political parties’ briefs had been due May 23, but the parties have obtained an extension until June 6.
On May 27, the Texas Senate rejected the House’s version of SB 100, the bill that adjusts various primary dates, and petition deadlines for independent candidates. The House had passed a version that keeps the first primary in March but moves the runoff primary from April to May. The latter change had the indirect result that the independent candidate petition deadline (for office other than President) moved from May to June.
Texas needs to make some change, in order to be in compliance with the federal government’s law requiring states to mail overseas absentee ballots at least 45 days before the election. Another proposal might be to eliminate the runoff primary. Still another proposal might be to move the primary from March to April. Existing law has too little time between the primary and the runoff primary.