MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT REMOVES LEGAL MARIJUANA NOW PARTY FROM THE BALLOT

On May 10, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion in Martin v Simon, A24-0216.  It immediately removes the Legal Marijuana Now Party from the ballot, even though the party has already had a government-administered presidential primary this year and was about to have a primary for Congress and partisan state offices on August 13.  The deadline for candidates to file in that primary is June 4.

The Legal Marijuana Now Party was the only ballot-qualified party in Minnesota, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.  It was on the ballot because it had polled over 5% for U.S. Senate in 2020.  The law says when a party passes the vote test, it is on the ballot for the next two elections.  Last year the legislature increased the vote test from 5% to 8%, but made that effective after November 2024, so the party was on the ballot until the Minnesota Supreme Court removed it.  Now Minnesota becomes one of only twelve states with no ballot-qualified third parties.

The lawsuit had been filed by officers of the Minnesota Democratic Party.  The basis for the decision is that the Legal Marijuana Now Party’s internal structure does not meet the requirements of state law.

However, in 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that political parties have a freedom of association right to decide for themselves what their structure should be.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision said that if the California Libertarian Party didn’t want to structure itself with a state central committee composed of county central committees, that was a decision for the party, not the state.

The Libertarian Party did not want to base its structure on counties.  Instead it wanted to use regions of its own choosing.  That case was Eu v San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee, 489 U.S. 214.  The Libertarian Party was the only state party in that case.  The other plaintiffs were various Democratic and Republican county parties.

Unfortunately, ten years before the Eu decision, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in a Washington state case that if the state wanted parties to have a state central committee with two members from each county, the state could require that.  That case was Marchioro v Cheney, 442 U.S. 191.  That decision is only eight pages.  It says the law could survive because it didn’t do any harm to the Democratic Party.  That is because the party was free to have bylaws stripping the State Central Committee of any power.

The Minnesota Supreme Court seized on the Marchioro decision to uphold the Minnesota law that dictates party structure to parties, even though the Marchioro decisions is considered obsolete, and implicitly reversed by the later Eu decision.  In fact, Marchioro is the only decision even mentioned in the Minnesota Supreme Court’s summary of its own decision.  Later in the text the Minnesota Supreme Court mentioned the Eu decision, but did not explaian why it didn’t follow Eu.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has seven members.  Six of them were appointed by Democratic Governors.   The vote was unanimous, although two judges did not participate.

The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the argument that it violates due process to make ballot access more difficult in the middle of the election season.  However, it did not mention any of the precedents that say that:  Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted (2014); Blomquist v Thomson (1984); Fulani v Austin (1988); and especially Hudler v Austin (1976), which was summarily affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Minnesota Supreme Court did mention Purcell v Gonzalez (2006), in which the U.S. Supreme Court said courts should not make last minute changes to election rules.  But the Minnesota Supreme Court said that doesn’t apply to state courts.

The party may ask the U.S. Supreme Court to put it back on the ballot.

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GEORGIA GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL EASING PRESIDENTIAL ACCESS

On May 7, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 189, which says that a party that is on the ballot for President in twenty other states is automatically on in Georgia for president.  This will help the Green Party and the Constitution Party this year.

The new law means that Georgia no longer requires a minor party to have any support inside Georgia and yet it can still be on for President.  Yet the Georgia law requires minor parties to complete massive petitions for all other offices.  No other state has ever had a system with that characteristic.  On May 21, the Libertarian Party pointed this out to the U.S. District Court that is considering a challenge to the petition requirements for U.S. House (Cowen v Raffensperge).

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ALABAMA IMPROVES FILING DEADLINE

On May 2, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed SB 324, which moves the deadline for a qualified party to certify its presidential nominee from August 15 to August 23.  It also moves the petition deadline for independent presidential candidates from August 15 to August 23.

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PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

On May 15, CNN announced that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had agreed to debate each other on June 27, in Atlanta.  The sponsor will be CNN, which is keeping the same rules on how minor party and independent candidates can qualify that the old Commission on Presidential Debates had used.  Those rules are: (1) be on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win; and (2) be at 15% in at least four polls.  CNN listed thirteen eligible polls:  ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, Marquette University Law School, Monmouth University, NBC News, NY Times-Siena College, NPR-PBS-News-Hour, Marist College, Quinnipiac University, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

The rules for being on the ballot in enough states to win are not thoughtful, because neither Biden nor Trump will be on the ballot in any state as of June 20, the deadline for qualifying.  They won’t be on any November ballot until their parties nominate them, and that doesn’t happen until July and August.

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ILLINOIS BALLOT ACCESS WIN

On May 22, an Illinois state trial court granted an injunction in Collazo v Illinois State Board of Elections, 2024CH000032.  The injunction preserves the ability of qualified parties to nominate someone after the primary is over.  The Illinois legislature had abolished the procedure, and made the change effective immediately.  The Illinois Republican Party had been expecting to use it this year, and argued that due process does not permit states to make ballot access more restrictive, and make the change effective immediately, if the change is made in the middle of the election season.  The lawsuit is not over, but for the time being, the Republican Party can use the post-primary procedure.

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OTHER LAWSUIT NEWS

Louisiana:  on May 15, the U.S. Supreme Court settled the lawsuit (for the 2024 election) over U.S. House district boundaries.  Robinson v Callais, 23A994.   It did that by staying a decision of a lower court that had set aside the legislature’s latest plan.  The U.S. Supreme Court said the lower court should not have tried to upset the latest plan so close to the 2024 election.

Michigan:  on May 22, a state trial court ordered an officer of one faction of the Libertarian Party to send a revised list of delegates to the party’s national convention to the national party’s credentials committee.  Buzuma v Chadderdon, Cheyboygan County Circuit Court, 24-9042-cz.  The national convention is May 24-26.

Missouri:  on May 17, a state trial court ruled against the Republican Party, on the issue of whether the party could exclude Darrell McClanahan from its primary ballot.  He wants to run for Governor, but the party argued it had a freedom of association right to exclude him, because he is an honorary member of the Ku Klux Klan.  Missouri Republican Party v Secretary of State, Cole County Circuit Court, 24AC-CC02151.

New Mexico:  on March 29, U.S. District Court Judge James O. Browning, a Bush Jr. appointee, ruled that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires New Mexico to release the list of registered voters to the public.  Voter Reference Foundation v Torrez, 1:22cv-0222.

New York:  on May 14, the Second Circuit heard Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 23-1054.  This is the challenge to the May petition deadline.  If the judges invalidate the deadline, that might come in time to help various petitioning minor party presidential candidates get on the ballot this year.

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PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RESULTS, PRIMARIES IN APRIL AND MAY

Although Delaware was scheduled to have a presidential primary on April 2, it was cancelled because there was only one name on each party’s ballot.  The only remaining presidential primaries are on June 4 in D.C., Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota.  In the chart below, PR means Puerto Rico.  The turnout there is very small because the government can’t afford to have more than 100 polling locations.  The Oregon results will be in the next B.A.N.  “NONE” means uncommitted.

DEM.	CT	IN	KY	MD	NE	NY	PR	PA	RI	WV	WI
Biden	55,697	178,074	131,439	460,914	79,891	276,825	3,296	945,712	21,336	67,761	512,379
Lyons										7,342
Palmer										11,008
Phillips	578		8,741	6,744	8,862	10,918	165	69,307	660	7,176	17,730
Uygur	317
Williamson	1,497		11,188	10,317		14,866	230
NONE	7,489		32,905	53,393					3,834		48,373
Write-ins								60,445	593		4,045
REP.
Binkley	194		900
Christie			2,458			6,438			154		9,771
DeSantis	1,282		7,798						178		20,124
Haley	6,230	128,170	16,227	54,692	37,116	20,733		158,178	1,371	21,123	76,841
Johnson					3,808
Ramaswam			1,640			1,628			40		5,200
Trump	34,726	461,673	214,932	203,125	165,323	131.710	992	792,692	10.898	198,436	477,103
NONE	2,164		8,979				39		257		13,057
Write-ins								6,677	118		2,081
LIBT.
Ballay					237
Hornberg.					192
Mapstead					172
Oliver					294
Rectenwald					119
ter Maat					64

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VOTER REGISTRATION TOTALS

Parties in the “other” column, and their registration, are:  Alaska:  Alaskan Independence 18,729; Moderate 388; Progressive 256; Patriots 219; Owl 97; Alliance 66; Aurora 4.  California:  American Independent 834,730; Peace & Freedom 138,238; Common Sense 22,029.  Colorado:  Approval Voting 4,721; Unity 3,134; Center 1,558; Forward 87.  Connecticut:  Independent Party 29,136; We the People 19.  Delaware:  Independent Party 10,722; Non-Partisan Party 1,165; Conservative 790; American 520;  American Delta 462; Socialist Workers 135; Mandalorian 92; Natural Law 79; Reform 47.  Florida:  Independent Party 242,330; Conservative 19,903; Boricua 5,974; Coalition with a Purpose 3,283; Ecology 2,919; Socialism & Liberation 1,894; People’s 1,321.  Kentucky:  Socialist Workers 592; Reform 209.  Louisiana:  Independent Party 136,125; Reform 823; Conservative 794; American Solidarity 103; Socialist 85; Forward 31; Socialism & Liberation 5.  Massachusetts:  United Independent 14,469; Socialist 1,615; We the People 481; Workers 183; Reform 113; Natural Law 54; Prohibition 19.  Nebraska:  Legal Marijuana Now 6,684.  New Jersey:  Conservative 14,649; Socialist 7,845; Natural Law 5,652; Reform 1,577.  New York:  Conservative 154,128; Independence 322,070; SAM 428.  Oregon:  Independent Party 143,868; Progressive 3,768.  Utah:  Independent American 69,603; United Utah 2,414; Forward 63.

	Dem.	Rep.	Indp, misc	Lib’t.	Green	Consti.	Wk Fam	NoLabe	other
Alaska	73,694	143,165	347,037	6,659	1,515	779	?	?	19,121
Arizona	1,192,205	1,434,982	1,369,644	31,164	2,796	?	?	27,529	– –
Arkansas	86,231	131,647	1,543,863	700	104	?	?	?	– –
Calif.	10,285,108	5,388,469	5,022,697	240,618	102,659	271	?	42,039	995,462
Colorado	1,006,438	903,079	1,850,286	37,315	8,280	11,245	?	7,969	9,500
Conn.	798,205	466,908	919,524	2,996	1,350	?	298	?	29,155
Delaware	350,955	205,909	197,756	2,028	718	238	314	1,768	14,012
Dt. Col.	348,104	22,955	76,566	?	3,874	?	?	?	– –
Florida	4,346,491	5,239,600	3,530,804	35,357	7,841	16,434	?	8,355	278,120
Idaho	125,635	585,977	274,301	11,319	?	4,194	?	?	– –
Iowa	461,184	567,110	382,820	7,543	1,544	0	0	0	– –
Kansas	503,972	874,132	563,482	24,151	0	0	0	39	0
Kentucky	1,511,342	1,615,451	343,341	16,391	2,403	1,376	?	?	801
Louis’na	1,133,813	1,021,571	665,154	15,839	2,583	154	0	2,296	137,966
Maine	341,925	281,904	275,560	5,236	36,724	?	?	9,677	– –
Md.	2,208,095	994,529	958,276	18,836	5,203	?	?	234	– –
Mass.	1,336,825	415,438	3,167,286	16,307	3,599	292	722	?	16,934
Nebraska	330,657	605,466	271,568	18,036	?	?	?	?	6,684
Nevada	602,917	570,283	706,893	16,465	?	86,677	?	?	– –
N. Hamp.	260,281	304,375	325,920	?	?	?	?	?	– –
N. Jersey	2,494,013	1,559,327	2,416,960	25,118	11,460	13,041	?	?	29,649
N. M.	578,384	415,318	318,810	15,056	7,606	544	1,829	?	– –
N. York	5,778,841	2,695,185	2,887,960	17,330	18,153	?	49,586	?	476,626
No. Car.	2,403,828	2,233,774	2,742,932	50,102	2,056	?	?	7,799	– –
Okla.	649,432	1,214,774	449,488	22,365	?	?	?	?	– –
Oregon	994,493	722,216	1,125,207	20,409	7,906	3,896	8,387	2,183	147,636
Penn.	3,895,223	3,499,524	1,273,199	42,919	10,326	?	?	?	– –
Rhode Is.	281,725	103,268	338,629	?	?	?	?	?	– –
So. Dak.	144,462	302,585	150,263	2,917	?	259	?	19	–          –
Utah	231,109	898,953	472,582	20,903	42	6,942	?	2,095	72,080
W. Va.	358,056	477,549	332,375	10,800	2,543	106	?	?	– –
Wyo.	23,787	178,387	15,875	1,057	0	343	?	14	– –
TOTAL	45,137,430	36,073,810	35,317,058	735,936	241,285	146,791	61,136	112,016	2,233,746
Percent	37.60%	30.05%	29.42%	.61%	.20%	.12%	.05%	.09%	1.86%

Totals October 2020:  Democratic 47,106,084 (39.67%), Republican 35,041,482 (29.51%), independent & miscellaneous 33,696,700 (28.38%), Libertarian 652,261 (.55%), Green 240,222 (.20%), Constitution 129,556 (.11%), Working Families 49,758 (.04%), Reform 9,004 (.01%), other parties 1,814,973 (1.53%).

Totals October 2016:  Democratic 45,690,825 (40.60%), Republican 33,052,332 (29.37%), independent & miscellaneous 31,200,104 (27.72%), Libertarian 497,535 (.44%), Green 256,560 (.23%), Constitution 92,483 (.08%), Reform 5,294 (.00+%), Working Families 61,517 (.05%), other parties 1,662,329 (1.50%).

Totals October 2012:  Dem. 43,512,746 (41.85%), Rep. 31,298,863 (30.10%), indp. & misc. 26,808,810 (25.79%), Libertarian 330,811 (.32%), Green 250,682 (.24%), Constitution 77,918 (.07%), Reform 22,880 (.02%), Americans Elect 6,408 (.01%), other parties 1,659,537 (1.60%).

Totals October 2008:  Dem. 43,933,901 (43.62%), Rep. 30,944,590 (30.72%), indp. & misc. 24,157,259 (23.98%), AIP/Constitution 438,222 (.44%), Green 255,019 (.25%), Lib’t. 240,328 (.24%), Reform 32,961 (.03%), other parties 675,980 (.67%).

Totals October 2004:  Dem. 37,301,951 (42.19%), Rep. 28,988,593 (32.79%), indp. & misc. 20,471,250 (23.15%), Constitution 320,019 (.36%), Green 298,701 (.34%), Lib’t. 235,521 (.27%), Reform 63,729 (.07%), other  695,639 (.83%).

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2024 PRESIDENTIAL PETITIONING

State	Requirements		Signatures or Registrations Obtained					Deadline
	Full Party	Candidate	Libertarian	Green	Constitut.	RFK Jr.	West
Ala.	42,458	5,000	0	*500	0	700	*500	*Aug. 23
Alaska	(reg)   5,000	3,614	already on	*finished	already on	*6,000	already on	Aug. 7
Ariz.	34,116	(es) #43,000	already on	already on	0	*8,000	*1,000	Aug. 17
Ark.	10,000	5,000	already on	already on	0	*3,000	*200	Aug. 1
Calif.	(reg) (es) 75,000	219,403	already on	already on	271	*already on	0	Aug. 9
Colo.	10,000	12,000	already on	already on	already on	0	already on	Aug. 7
Conn.	no procedure	#7,500	already on	*2,000	0	*5,000	0	Aug. 7
Del.	*(reg) 769	*7,690	already on	*718	*finished	*already on	*100	Aug. 20
D.C.	no procedure	(est.) #5,200	can’t start	already on	can’t start	can’t start	can’t start	Aug. 7
Florida	0	145,040	already on	already on	already on	*3,000	0	Sept. 1
Georgia	69,884	#7,500	already on	*already on	0	*8,000	0	July 9
Hawaii	862	*5,798	already on	already on	0	already on	*50	Aug. 7
Idaho	17,359	1,000	already on	already on	already on	*finished	0	Aug. 30
Illinois	no procedure	#25,000	*2,500	*200	0	*67,000	0	June 24
Indiana	no procedure	#36,944	already on	*1,500	0	*14,000	*2,000	July 1
Iowa	no procedure	#3,500	already on	160	0	finished	0	Aug. 16
Kansas	20,180	5,000	already on	450	0	*4,000	0	Aug. 5
Ky.	no procedure	#5,000	*900	100	0	0	0	Sept. 6
La.	(reg) 1,000	#pay fee	already on	already on	161	0	0	Aug. 23
Maine	(reg) 5,000	#4,000	already on	already on	0	*4,000	0	Aug. 1
Md.	10,000	10,000	already on	3,600	0	*13,000	*500	Aug. 5
Mass.	*(reg) 47,816	#10,000	already on	*3,000	(reg) 330	*8,000	*1,000	July 30
Mich.	44,478	*12,000	already on	already on	already on	*already on	*2,000	July 18
Minn.	*125,534	#2,000	0	0	0	0	0	Aug. 20
Miss.	be organized	1,000	already on	already on	already on	organizing	0	Sept. 6
Mo.	10,000	10,000	already on	*9,700	*2,000	*13,000	*800	July 29
Mont.	5,000	#5,000	already on	already on	0	2,000	0	Aug. 14
Nebr.	6,605	2,500	already on	0	0	finished	*200	Aug. 1
Nev.	10,096	10,096	already on	finished	already on	disputed	*300	July 5
N. Hamp.	18,575	#3,000	0	50	0	*finished	*60	Aug. 7
N.J.	no procedure	#800	0	*300	*200	*finished	200	July 29
N. M.	3,562	3,562	already on	already on	0	*2,500	*100	June 27
N.Y.	no procedure	#45,000	*2,700	*60,000	*too late	*finished	*2,500	*in court
No. Car.	13,757	82,542	already on	already on	finished	*finished	*finished	May 18
No. Dak.	7,000	4,000	*already on	0	0	1,000	0	Sept. 3
Ohio	40,345	5,000	finished	*9,000	0	finished	0	Aug. 7
Okla.	35,592	pay fee	already on	0	0	*already on	0	July 15
Oregon	29,294	23,737	already on	already on	already on	0	already on	Aug. 27
Penn.	no procedure	#5,000	*3,000	*2,000	0	0	*1,500	Aug. 1
R.I.	17,884	#1,000	0	0	0	0	0	Sept. 6
So. Car.	10,000	10,000	already on	already on	already on	*4,000	already on	July 15
So. Dak.	3,502	3,502	already on	0	0	*3,000	0	Aug. 6
Tenn.	43,498	275	in court	0	*50	0		Aug. 20
Texas	81,030	113,151	already on	already on	*too late	finished	*too late	*May 28
Utah	2,000	#1,000	already on	already on	already on	already on	already on	*June 1
Vermont	be organized	#1,000	already on	*500	0	*1,000	already on	Aug. 1
Virginia	no procedure	#5,000	*5,000	*2,500	*400	*5,000	*400	Aug. 23
Wash.	no procedure	#1,000	*0	*0	*0	*500	*0	July 27
West Va.	no procedure	#7,948	already on	already on	*1,000	*2,000	*50	Aug. 1
Wisc.	10,000	#2,000	already on	already on	already on	0	0	Aug. 6
Wyo.	3,879	3,879	already on	0	already on	*1,000	*20	Aug. 27
Total States On			37	*22	12	*6	6

#partisan label permitted. “Organizing” refers to qualifying a party in the states that don’t require a petition for that. “Deadline” column shows the deadline for the latest way to get on.   * means entry changed since the May 1 issue.

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QUALIFIED PARTIES IN CALIFORNIA AND DELAWARE NOMINATE KENNEDY

On April 29, the American Independent Party nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for President.  And on May 7, the Independent Party of Delaware nominated him.  Both parties are on the ballot in their respective states.

These nominations are immensely helpful to the Kennedy campaign, because now it doesn’t need to qualify its own proposed party, the We the People Party, in either state.  In California, it would have needed approximately 75,000 registered members; in Delaware, 769 members.

The American Independent Party has been on the ballot in California since 1968.  It is the longest continuously ballot-qualified party in any state, except for the Republican and Democratic Parties of each state, and the Conservative Party of New York, which qualified in 1962.  The AIP has always run a presidential candidate.  In 2020, it ran Rocky De La Fuente, who was the Alliance Party nominee nationally.

The Independent Party of Delaware has been on the ballot since 2000.  The only presidential candidate it had previously nominated had been Ralph Nader, in both 2004 and 2008, when Nader was running as an independent.

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LIBERTARIAN CONVENTION TO BE ATTENDED BY TRUMP AND KENNEDY

The Libertarian presidential convention will be in Washington, D.C., May 24-26.   This issue of B.A.N. is being written before the convention.  On May 1, former President Donald Trump said he would attend and would answer questions.  On May 7, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said he would also be at the convention.

No former president has attended the presidential convention of a minor or new party since 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt attended the national convention of the Progressive Party, a party he himself had helped create.

The next B.A.N. will carry a state-by-state chart showing the convention vote for president.

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QUALIFIED PARTY IN VERMONT NOMINATES CORNEL WEST

On April 28, the Green Mountain Peace & Justice Party, which is on the ballot in Vermont, nominated Cornel West for President.  It has always run a presidential candidate since it was formed in 1972.  U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, was once a leader of the party, which back then was called Liberty Union.

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BETTER PARTY GAINS QUALIFIED STATUS IN MISSOURI

The Better Party is now ballot-qualified in Missouri.  It exists only in that state.  It is the first qualified one-state party in Missouri since 1924, when there was a Liberal Party on the Missouri ballot.  The Best Party probably won’t run anyone for President, but it will enter the gubernatorial race.

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NATURAL LAW PARTY NOW QUALIFIED IN FLORIDA

The Natural Law Party has regained its qualified status in Florida, which it had held from 1999 until 2004.  It is not known if it will nominate anyone for President.

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NO LABELS ASKS WISCONSIN TO REMOVE IT FROM BALLOT

On May 8, the No Labels Party asked the Wisconsin Election Board to remove it from the ballot.  The Board hasn’t decided yet whether to honor this request.  If it denies the request, any Wisconsin adult citizen is free to file to run for Congress, state office, or local partisan office, in the party’s primary.  Filing for the primary closes June 1.

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SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY ALTERS ITS VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

On April 29, the Socialist Workers Party announced that its vice presidential nominee, Margaret Trowe, had resigned from the ticket for health reasons.  The replacement VP is Dennis Richter, of Texas.