Sudden Withdrawal of Senator Evan Bayh Probably Means No Indiana Democratic Primary to Choose Senate Nominee

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On Monday, February 15, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh surprised his home state of Indiana by announcing he will not run for re-election this year. The Indiana primaries are on May 4. Indiana requires petitions for primary candidates for a few offices, and requires 4,500 for U.S. Senate candidates. They are due at noon (in the various counties) on Tuesday, February 16.

Senator Bayh had collected his 4,500 signatures, but he won’t be submitting them to the state because of his sudden decision not to run for re-election. It is likely that no other Democrat will have had time to collect the signatures by the deadline, which will leave no Democrats on the U.S. Senate primary ballot. Indiana does not permit write-ins in primaries. If no one is on the primary ballot, the Democratic Party’s state central committee would choose a Senate nominee after the May primary.

There had been one other Democrat who had been circulating petitions, but most observers believe she won’t have 4,500 valid signatures by the deadline. She is Tamyra D’Ippolito. See this story about her. Thanks to Ross Levin for this news. Also thanks to Brad King for some of the details.

South Carolina Republican Party Chair Says Party Will Soon File Lawsuit to Get Itself a Closed Primary

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According to this news story, the state chair of the South Carolina Republican Party said the party will soon file a lawsuit to win a closed primary for itself.

The party might lose such a lawsuit, however. The Virginia Republican Party already had a similar lawsuit, and the 4th circuit said the party only has a right to insist on a closed primary for itself in instances at which the party has no choice but to nominate by primary. Both Virginia and South Carolina are in the 4th circuit, so the Virginia precedent will control. The Virginia case is Miller v Brown, 462 F 3d 312 (2006). South Carolina law says any qualified party is free to nominate by convention or primary. The party decides. Major parties in South Carolina always choose a primary, instead of a convention, but because the party is legally free to choose a convention, it will have difficulty winning the lawsuit.

One of the ironies is that the South Carolina state Republican chair made this promise to a Tea Party meeting. Yet in Texas, which also has open primaries, polls have shown that the 2010 gubernatorial candidate favored by Tea Party activists, Debra Medina, receives more popular support from self-described independent voters than she does from self-described Republican voters.

North Carolina Newspaper Story on North Carolina Ballot Access Law

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The February 15 issue of the Lincoln Tribune, a newspaper in Lincolnton, North Carolina, has this thorough story on North Carolina’s ballot access laws for minor parties.

The story contains many facts, all of which are correct, except toward the end it says South Carolina has never had more than four political parties on the ballot. South Carolina currently has eight qualified parties. South Carolina’s petition requirement for new parties, 10,000 signatures, is rather difficult. However, South Carolina makes it extremely easy for parties to remain ballot-qualified. All they need to do is run at least one candidate at least once every four years.

Californian Signs an Initiative Petition Electronically; Hopes to Establish a Precedent

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The Los Angeles Times of February 15 has this story, saying Michael Ni, a California voter, recently signed a statewide initiative petition electronically. He hopes the San Mateo County Elections Department will give him an opinion as to whether his signature is valid or not. However, because he signed a statewide initiative petition (concerning marijuana policy) that has enough valid signatures statewide in any event, it seems possible that no definitive ruling concerning his individual signature will be made.

California is now in the season during which candidates running in the June 2010 primary are circulating signatures to get themselves on a primary ballot. Candidates who are members of parties that have registration membership under 5% of the state total need 150 signatures in lieu of a filing fee. Those signatures are due February 25. Ni would be more likely to get a ruling on the validity of an electronic signature if he changed his registration to membership in one of California’s four qualified minor parties (unless possibly he already is a member of such a party), and then if he signed for a candidate circulating such a petition. All of the signatures of such petitions are checked for validity. By contrast, generally the validity of statewide initiatives is determined with a random sample of signatures. Thanks to Michael Warnken for the link.

At Least 5,501 Illinois Voters Chose a Green Party Primary Ballot This Month

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Illinois held its 2010 primary on February 2. Although the State Board of Elections hasn’t released the official election returns yet, Green Party activists have collected data from the various counties and have calculated that over 5,501 voters chose a Green Party primary ballot. See the county-by-county breakdown here.

In 2008, the only other year the Green Party had a statewide primary, 3,014 Illinois voters chose a Green Party primary ballot. Before that, no party other than the two major parties had held a statewide primary since 1990 and 1988, when the Illinois Solidarity Party held one. In 1990, only 418 voters had chosen an Illinois Solidarity Party primary ballot, and in 1988, only 525 voters had chosen one.

Before that, there hadn’t been a statewide primary for a party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties since 1926, when the Progressive Party had one.

Tea Party Expects to Appear on Nevada Ballot in 2010

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The Tea Party is in the process of qualifying a U.S. Senate candidate for the Nevada ballot in 2010. See this story from the Las Vegas Sun. The candidate will be Jon Ashjian, a businessman whose company is TNT Energy Projects. There are two methods for a new party to place candidates on the Nevada ballot. The Tea Party will use the easier method. First it filed a list of its officers and a copy of its bylaws with the Secretary of State. Second, it soon will file a petition signed by 250 registered voters to place Ashjian on the November ballot. If Ashjian polls at least 1%, the Tea Party will then be a qualified party for 2012.