D.C. Circuit Won’t Grant a Rehearing in Postal Sidewalks Petitioning Case

Posted on by September 10, 2012
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On September 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, refused to grant a rehearing in Initiative & Referendum Institute v U.S. Postal Service. This is the case over whether individuals may sign petitions on interior postal sidewalks. Postal regulations allow circulators to stand on such sidewalks, but if the potential signer wishes to sign, the circulator and potential signer must then leave the sidewalk and go somewhere else. It is possible the case will be put before the U.S. Supreme Court.

South Carolina Will Have Five Presidential Candidates on the Ballot

Posted on by September 10, 2012
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Here is a link to the South Carolina Election Commission’s web page, showing candidates for President who are on the ballot. There will be five presidential nominees on the ballot, those nominated by the Democratic, Republican, Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties.

South Carolina has three ballot-qualified parties that only exist in that state, and which didn’t nominate anyone for President. They are the United Citizens Party, the Independence Party, and the Labor Party. In the past the United Citizens Party has nominated presidential candidates. In 2008 it nominated Barack Obama for President. Even though South Carolina permits fusion, though, something went wrong and Obama was only listed on the ballot as the Democratic nominee. In 2000 it nominated Ralph Nader. In 2004 it nominated Walt Brown, the Socialist Party nominee.

Also in the past, the Independence Party nominated Ross Perot for President in 1996, and Ralph Nader for President in 2004. Back in 1996 its name was the Patriot Party.

Maryland Democratic Nominee Withdraws from U.S. House Race, First District

Posted on by September 10, 2012
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According to this news story, Wendy Rosen, the Democratic nominee for U.S. House, Maryland First District, is withdrawing from the race. However, the deadline has passed for her to remove her name from the November ballot. The First District is a swing district. The district elected a Democrat in 2008 but a Republican in 2010. The boundaries of the district are somewhat different this year than they were in 2012. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

UPDATE for September 11: the Democratic Party will choose a write-in candidate, because the party feels it can’t ask voters in the district to vote for Rosen. The last time a major party got behind a write-in candidate for U.S. House was in Texas in 2006, in the 22nd district. Shelley Sekula Gibbs was the endorsed Republican choice. She polled 61,938 write-ins, a very good total for a write-in candidate, but she lost to the Democrat, Nick Lampson, who received 76,775 votes. Tom Delay had been permitted to withdraw so there was no Republican candidate listed on the ballot. In the current Maryland race, Wendy Rosen remains on the ballot, so the Democratic vote will be split.

Mississippi Secretary of State Recognizes the Shawn O’Hara Faction of the Reform Party

Posted on by September 10, 2012
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Mississippi ballots will print Barbara Dale Washer on the ballot as the Reform Party presidential nominee. She is the choice of the faction of the Mississippi Reform Party that is headed by Shawn O’Hara. The choice of the Reform Party’s national convention for President, Andre Barnett, will thus not appear on the Mississippi ballot. Barnett will appear in one state, Florida.

Here is a link to the Secretary of State’s list of candidates. However, it does not yet show which independent presidential candidates will appear. The deadline for the independent presidential petition was September 7, yet the web page has not been updated since before that date.

The Democratic Party has U.S. House nominees in two of the state’s four districts, but the Reform Party has nominees for U.S. House in all four districts. There are also two Libertarians running for U.S. House, and one Constitution Party nominee for U.S. House.

Connecticut Supreme Court Hearing Will be Televised Live; Issue is Which Party to List First on Ballot

Posted on by September 10, 2012
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Connecticut Television Network will broadcast the State Supreme Court hearing live, in the lawsuit Republican Party of Connecticut v Merrill. The hearing will be at 10 a.m. eastern time, Wednesday, September 12. The issue is whether the Democratic Party or the Republican Party should be listed first on the 2012 and 2014 ballots. State law says the party that got the most votes for its gubernatorial candidate in 2010 will be listed first. That is ambiguous, because the Democratic vote for Governor was a smaller number of votes than the Republican vote for Governor. But the Working Families Party cross-endorsed the Democrat, and if one adds the votes of the Democratic Party and the votes of the Working Families Party, then that total is larger than the Republican vote.