Second Independent Candidate Declares for Massachusetts Governor in 2014

Posted on by November 21, 2013
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Venture capitalist Jeffrey S. McCormick announced last month that he will run for Governor of Massachusetts in 2014 as an independent. See this story. He is backed by Joe Malone, a former Republican who was elected Treasurer of Massachusetts in 1990 and re-elected in 1994. Malone recently left the Republican Party and became an independent.

Evan Falchuk is also running for Governor of Massachusetts outside the two major parties. He has been campaigning since July and he expects to be on the November 2014 ballot as the nominee of his United Independent Party.

Lawsuit On Whether American Samoa Residents are Entitled to Citizenship Now Pending in U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit

Posted on by November 20, 2013
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Briefs are being filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, in Tuaua v United States, 13-5272. The government’s brief was filed on October 25 and the brief of the Samoans is due November 22. The issue is whether the U.S. Constitution provides for citizenship to people born in American Samoa. American Samoa is the only populated jurisdiction in the United States in which persons born there are not automatically citizens.

One of the plaintiffs now lives in Hawaii and another now lives in Washington state, but they are not able to register to vote in those states, because they are considered U.S. “nationals”, not citizens. Persons born in American Samoa can not be naturalized unless they leave Samoa. The U.S. District Court, in accordance with precedents going back to 1901, ruled that unorganized territories are not part of the United States, so the language in the 14th amendment conferring citizenship to persons born in the United States does not apply to Samoans. Congress has provided that persons born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, are citizens, but Congress has never granted citizenship to Samoans.

See here for more information about the plaintiffs. American Samoa, since 1978, has elected a Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

New Los Angeles County Registration Data

Posted on by November 20, 2013
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Between October 13 and November 20, minor party registration has increased in Los Angeles County, but the number of registered voters in each of the two major parties has declined. There is no state tally for California as a whole, but Los Angeles County keeps a running tally on its web page, and since Los Angeles County includes 26% of the California registration, the Los Angeles County tally gives a clue to the state figures.

The November 20 totals from Los Angeles County are: Democratic 2,461,885; Republican 1,029,639; American Independent 109,192; Peace & Freedom 34,376; Libertarian 26,283; Green 24,596; Americans Elect 2,468; declines to state 849,576; blank and miscellaneous 312,950.

The October 13 totals are: Democratic 2,463,594; Republican 1,032,655; American Independent 109,018; Peace & Freedom 33,169; Libertarian 26,166; Green 24,587; Americans Elect 2,478; declines to state 853,384; blank and miscellaneous 306,594.

Americans Elect is the only ballot-qualified party, besides the two major parties, that lost registrations during the period October 13-November 20. It will be removed from the ballot in January 2014 if its registration does not increase to one-fifteenth of 1% of the state total, which probably means it needs 12,000 and it probably only has 5,000. Here is a link to the Los Angeles County web page with the registration data, which changes daily.