On February 19, the Nebraska Senate (the only house in the Nebraska legislature) overrode last week’s gubernatorial veto of LB 39. As a result, it will soon be illegal for anyone to circulate a petition in Nebraska, unless they are Nebraska residents. Also it will be illegal to pay people to circulate a petition if they are paid per signature.
This is BAD NEWS for ballot access in Nebraska. ALL restrictions on petitioners do is lead to less choice on the ballot for the people and more power for the establishment politicians.
We need to find a way to get elections out of the hands of the government.
To the unicameral legislature:
In that vein of thought why don’t you make it illegal for Nebraska candidates to accept campaign contributions from anyone outside of Nebraska. Its the outside influence you are concerned about…right?
The challenge of Oklahoma’s ban on out-of-state circulators– Yes on Term Limits v. Savage– is now in the 10th Circuit. Other states with similar bans are watching that case.
Hey Brad: Thanks for not taking me up on that wager about Insane McCain. You saved me $20!
Steve, Yes I did save you $20, but please recall you do eat crow for the ‘Romney will be the GOP nominee boast’. If needed here is a good recipe to make it more palatable.
http://www.cajuncookingrecipes.com/wildgamerecipes/black_bird_pie.htm
What is your opinion on what happens to conservatives in the GOP now that The Maverick is going to be their nominee? Will they show up in Nov? Or is that dependent on the Dem nominee?
To get an idea of how much of an obstacle this is, they increased the number of signatures and there is requirement for equal amount of signatures from each congressional district.
The third Nebraska Congressional District seat encompasses the western three-fourths of the state; it is one of the largest non-at-large Congressional districts in the country, covering 65,000 square miles, two time zones and 68.5 counties. It includes Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Columbus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska's_3rd_congressional_district
If the third district was a separate state, it would be the 24th largest state in the union!
I agree, this is pretty scary. It’s hard to believe these kinds of restrictions would be acceptable to the average person if you simply pointed them out.
Brad raises an interesting point about out of state contributions. That’s pretty funny…..a powerless minor party with few in-state volunteers can’t bring in even one UNPAID person from out of state — and can’t pay anybody at all per signature who’s in-state — to help put its NATIONWIDE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE on the ballot, but any old major party candidate for town council or city clerk (who’s automatically on the ballot anyway) can have $$$ pour in from all over the country if he or she wants.
WTF??
Does the increased signature requirement only effect referendums or does it also increase the amount required for political parties and candidates too?
Just initiatives.
70%-plus of Mississippi voters approved the initiative process in a 1992 referendum. In a 1998 referendum, a majority also approved the ban on out-of-state petition circulators, obviously not realizing that they were effectively killing the initiative process.
Brad, I’ll be eating something besides crow, as I won a steak dinner on Giuliani’s failure to get the nomination. I’m surprised that you’re familiar with crow recipes, since the chicken is obviously your favorite bird– you being chicken to bet with me. BUCK, BUCK, BUCK– CAW!
It’s too early to know what conservatives will do in November, although the ones who vote for Crazy John will not do so enthusiastically. I guarantee you that he won’t be calling himself a “conservative” or a “former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution” this fall. Personally, I’ll be voting third party, but I haven’t voted for a major-party presidential candidate since Reagan anyway.
Another point vis-a-vis out-of-state circulators: If these circulators are banned, there should also be bans on (1) non-residents lobbying the legislature, and (2) out-of-state consultants working in political campaigns.
Steve,
Make sure that steak dinner is quality dry-aged beef. Otherwise it is a hollow win for you.
Mac is back! Just a couple hundred delegates to go. He’ll probably get over the magic number on March 4 with Texas and Ohio.
Down here in Texas I’ll be voting in the primary for Obama and then caucusing for him in the evening to maximize delegates for his campaign. Just to take the wind out of the right-wing nuts’ (Limbaugh, Ingram, Hannity, etc) sails in the general election. I am sure they desperately want Clinton. That is if Obama doesn’t fall short in the super-delegate race. The Democrats are such idoits for the hole they’ve dug themselves. At least the GOP didn’t screw that up with their nominatino process.
Are there any “left-wing nuts,” Brad– or are all of you “moderates,” “centrists,” and “progressives”? (No “liberals,” either.)
My girlfriend Laura’s last name is Ingraham.
We mark the retirement of that great “progressive” (and mass murderer), Fidel Castro.