On September 22, supporters of Evan McMullin protested his exclusion from the Florida ballot by dropping off 300 muffins at Governor Rick Scott’s office. Unexplained is why the McMullin campaign has not sued Florida over its unconstitutional ballot access laws for president. Florida won’t print the presidential nominee of a qualified party on the ballot unless it is recognized by the Federal Election Commission as a national committee, or unless it submits 119,316 signatures by July 15. UPDATE: also see this story, which says that Governor Scott’s office refused to accept the muffins.
The problem with using FEC recognition to determine ballot status is that there is no correlation whatsoever between whether the FEC recognizes a party as a national committee, and how much voter support it has. The FEC will not recognize a new party until after it has gone through a presidential election, so the Florida law discriminates against new parties. Also, even after a party has participated in its first election, the FEC rules for recognition have no objective standards. The FEC rejected the Green Party for national committee status in 1997, even though the Green Party had polled 685,040 votes for President in 1996. The FEC rejected John Anderson’s National Unity Party request for national committee status in 1981, even though it had polled 5,720,060 votes in 1980. But the FEC recognized the Socialist Party in 1980, even though it only polled 6,898 votes for President that year. The FEC recognizes the Reform Party as a national committee, even though it polled 820 votes in 2012 in the entire nation, and 481 votes in the entire nation in 2008.
The existing Secretary of State in 2011 acknowledged the flaws in Florida’s law, but last month he reversed the 2011 ruling. The Party for Socialism & Liberation, and America’s Party, so far have not been able to find an attorney who will file a lawsuit. But Evan McMullin’s campaign has two attorneys in Florida, and inexplicably they refuse to sue Florida on behalf of McMullin.
He should have began his campaign last year and on an party ticket .
He is no Ross Perot or congressman John Anderson .
He, or any other Indy GOP candidate, should have begun in May or June.
Party for Socialism and Libertarian? I think that’s a typo and you mean Liberation.
Thanks, Gregory, you’re right. I just now fixed it.
How about give the hacks some balloons ??? — i.e. for being CORRUPT and EVIL AIR HEAD HACKS.
I still don’t quite understand why the Socialist Party USA was not given ballot access in Florida. Could someone explain it? Richard?
What was the process by which the Independent Party nominated Evan McMullin as its presidential candidate?
The Socialist Party let its party status lapse after the 2012 election. To regain it, in August 2016 it submitted its list of officers and its bylaws, the same bylaws it had used in 2012. The state found tiny little faults with the bylaws. Most of the state’s objections were based on misunderstandings.
Faults and misunderstandings. It’s what election boards live for.
I think the fact that McMullin ended up being the “Never Trump” candidate and his campaign got started so late and is so lame, imo, speaks volumes abt the lameness of the Trump campaign. If anyone actually thought Trump could win there would have been a major candidate (if not Romney, at least a US Senator or governor), and there would have been money raising and ballot access efforts starting las Spring. As it is, I think this indicates Trump is going to lose in November.
I prefer Gary Johnson
I like still miss the 1980s politics .More interesting .This Election is worthless.
The good old days of George Wallace is over .That is sad .Its bad that Ronald Reagan didn’t have active third party challengers in 1984 and a better Democratic Challenger.The Republican party of Ronald Reagan is long gone .Evan Mcmullin is no Ronald Reagan.I hope this Election will be thrown to the House of Representatives and have them decide .
Unfortunately, Richard, your assertion that “the Party for Socialism & Liberation, and America’s Party, so far have not been able to find an attorney who will file a lawsuit,” isn’t entirely true.
In keeping with his running mate’s sincere and deeply-held commitment to create a more open political process in this country, Tampa attorney Michael Steinberg, Rocky De La Fuente’s vice-presidential running mate, generously offered more than a week ago to represent at least four of the minor parties — the America’s Party of Florida, the PSL, the Socialist Party USA and the nascent American Solidarity Party — currently being excluded from the Florida ballot, but apparently none of those parties took him up on his offer.
I know that for a fact because I’m the one who asked him.
To the best of my knowledge, the American Solidarity Party was the only party that expressed any kind of serious interest in Steinberg’s kind offer to represent the parties harmed by the recent actions of the Florida Secretary of State and his current general counsel.
“I hope this Election will be thrown to the House of Representatives and have them decide.” — William Sollenberger
I can’t think of a worse scenario than allowing the U.S. House of Representatives, one of the most unpopular, disdained and contemptible institutions in the United States — and rightfully so — determining the outcome of this year’s presidential election.
If voters can’t stomach Hillary or Trump and have serious doubts, as they should, about Libertarian Gary Johnson — a completely clueless guy who apparently never even reads a daily newspaper — they can certainly find a better alternative among the many other third-party and independent presidential candidates.
Andre Marry remember him back in 1992 Elections .He was the Libertarian Presidential nominee on the ballot in all 50 States and DC .He was overshadowed by Ross Perot.He wasn’t clueless .Ed Clark wasn’t clueless either .Why they didn’t get over a million votes .
Bo Gritz wasn’t clueless either .He was a Candidate in 1992 Presidential election on the populist party /American first ticket .
Andre Marrou.I meant .
My dream scenario is that somehow, Trump prevents Hillary from getting to 270, and McMullin wins Utah.
The election gets thrown to the H. of R., which is majority Republican, but most of them are Republicans who can’t stand Trump. They decide – as a protest vote of both Hillary and Trump – to elect McMullin as President.