Connecticut Secretary of State Thinks Only Four Republican Presidential Candidates are Mentioned in Media

On February 10, the Connecticut Secretary of State announced that Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum are on the ballot automatically for the April 24 Republican presidential primary. The Connecticut law says the Secretary of State is supposed to list candidates if “the candidacy of such person for such party’s nomination for president is generally and seriously advocated or recognized according to reports in the national or state news media.”

California and many other states have similar laws, but in California, the Secretary of State recognized Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger as Republican presidential candidates who meet the media test. The difference between the Connecticut list, and the California list, shows how arbitrary these “media” laws are.

This Connecticut news story says that Buddy Roemer asked to be included on the Connecticut ballot, and that his communication was 40 minutes too late. However, nothing in the Connecticut law says or implies that a candidate needs to communicate with the Secretary of State. Also, the reporter seemed to have accepted the Secretary of State’s claim that anyone not included should have no trouble completing the alternate petition procedure, which requires the signatures of 1% of a party’s registrants. In reality that alternative procedure is so difficult, no one in Connecticut has ever completed it. Unlike the Virginia and Indiana presidential primary petitions, the Connecticut petitions can only be signed by registered members of the party, and the time to obtain the signatures is very short. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.


Comments

Connecticut Secretary of State Thinks Only Four Republican Presidential Candidates are Mentioned in Media — No Comments

  1. Sad.
    Roemer’s appeared on FoxNews and MSNBC numerous times.
    I guess they don’t have those channels in CT?

  2. How is it that the FEC recognizes his candidacy as evidenced by the fact that Buddy Roemer’s campaign is receiveing federal matching funds but the CT Secretary of State excludes him.

  3. Fec recognition but not connecticut? This is the same state that confiscates property from it’s poorer citizens for “economic development” trashing personal property rights and has a former governor in prison for thievery. Should we expect less?

  4. #3 Good question…This needs to be pointed out to ppl all over the net. Can a CT court intervene?

  5. Richard Winger

    Thank you for posting this information. I spooned feed
    California Secretary of State Debra Bowen with a list of
    14 candidates for POTUS. She only execepted 3 out of 14, with no reason for keeping people off the ballot, like Wiley S. Drake and former Congressman Virgil Goode.

    I also noted that only 22,905 California Electors were the total attempting to qualify political bodies as parties in California till the SOS of California deemed
    that effort abandoned. Yet there were an additional
    92,287 California Electors that were in minor parties that their respective parties did not attempt to qualify. I believe Natural Law regitration is a good
    part of that 92.287. What was the other thrid parties
    by voter count that did not try to be a qualifed party?

    Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Chairman, American Independent Party

  6. Why won’t they let former Louisiana Governor and four-time Congressman Buddy Roemer speak at CPAC or to participate in any of the debates? He’s more experienced than Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann or Rick Perry, and they got to play with the other kids!

    Hey, CNN and Arizona GOP – let Buddy talk in the upcoming debates! He qualified for matching federal funds for his campaign, so he must be legit, and if we’re paying for his campaign, I wanna hear him debate.

    http://www.signon.org/sign/cnn-gop-let-buddy-roemer.fb1?source=c.fb&r_by=2443755

  7. #6, I think lots of those voters wrote in “Independent” on their voter registration cards. So since that is different than the traditional California “Declines to state” category, those people got classified as members of a non-qualified miscellaneous party.

  8. Richard Winger,

    I know that writing “independent” for Party on HAVA generated registration sheets in Imperial County are
    counted as “American Independent Party” in that County.

    Debra Bowen told me that practice was correct at a meet
    I had with her in February, 2008 at Los Angeles, CA.

    So I need to do an audit of those 92,287 electors in all counties except Imperial County. Is that a good idea? What do you base your conjecture on, if its is not more than a conjecture?

    Today, the paperwork will start for people that want to
    run for the Alpine County AIP central committee. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen informed Alpine County Clerk Barbara Howard that the AIP County
    Central Committee will be expanded from 25 to 32 without
    any authority in law. This is in violatiion of California Election Code section 7650. On February 6,
    2012 Debra Bowen removes 11 persons from the AIP primary
    race for POTUS. Now she is trying to pack the AIP Alpine County Central Committee with seven additional members under CC/ROV # 12048 and no authority in law.
    Debra Bowen is out of control.

    Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Chairman, American Independent Party of California

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