Maine requires a ballot-qualified party to hold at least one municipal caucus in each of the 16 counties of the state, in the spring of each even-numbered year. Independent Maine representative Ben Chipman, who is closely associated with the Green Party, earlier this year introduced LD 142, to change the requirement so that parties are only obliged to hold caucuses within any 12 counties, instead of all 16. The bill passed the Joint Committee on State and Local Government last month, but it has been stalled ever since. This Portland Daily Sun story describes the bill and the trouble that it is having.
Maine is the only state that requires a political party to have organizations within every county. In 1989 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Eu v San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee that states cannot tell parties how to be organized. Specifically, the co-plaintiff Libertarian Party of California in that case was granted the freedom to organize itself on a regional basis (the party created its own regions), and to be free of a state election law that required organization on a county basis.
Maine election law assume the existence of County Organizations and gives them sepecific rolls in Election Law.
For example the members of a county committee in a State Senate District select the candidate for special elections, or to replace a candidate who won a primary but who is no longer running.
Also they play a roll in the replacement of certain County Government positions if a a office becomes vacant.
Given that it is not unreasonable to require a party to have at least a skeletal county committee
Having said that the section of the law being discussed does nto require county organization that is in another section of the law. It requires municipal caucuses, at least one in each county.
Ive asked the question before, but what is the minimal level of organzation that should be required of a political party? Or perhaps some people here feel that election law shouldnt deal with parties at all?
How many State MORONS are there ???
PUBLIC nomination stuff versus internal clubby stuff by each *political party* — i.e. 1 or more Elector folks in a State.
The Sun will continue to rise even if there was NO party hack robot stuff in ANY regime on Mother Earth.
Legislative – Executive – Judicial powers in the People of each nation-state.
SOOOOOO difficult to understand in this New Age of more and more MORONS in governments and especially in the brain dead politically correct media.
Courts in ten states have struck down state ballot access laws that required a political party, or a candidate, to show support from some specified number of counties. These states are Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. It was the U.S. Supreme Court itself that struck down the Illinois requirement, in 1969 in Moore v Ogilvie.
The Moore case was noted by the SCOTUS folks in the infamous Bush v. Gore 2000.
What is the party hack robot EVIL fixation with subareas in a regime ???
Dear Mr. Winger
Again i would like to point out that the law being discussed does not require county organization. It requires Municipal caucuses spread out among the 16 counties. This is a different, although perhaps related, requirement.
An expectation of county committees does exist, because of the role they play in candidate nomination for special elections, etc, but the exact nature of such committees is entirely within the hands of the party.
I understand what your saying, im just saying im not sure i applies to this law. And again what is the minimum organizational requirements, if any, that should be applied to political parties in state law?
Yours
Carl
PS Has any one written a Model Election Law?
#5, thank you. I amended the post. You are right, it is a municipal caucus within each county, not a county caucus in each county. Maine has very stringent requirements already for a party to be recognized. There is no need for the state to have any law on the subject of how parties should be organized. The state law already requires ballot-qualified parties to nominate by primary.
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