According to this news story, no Texas Democrat filed by the January 4 deadline to run for Comptroller, a partisan elected statewide office in Texas. Therefore, it is certain that the Libertarian Party nominee for that office will poll more than 5% of the vote cast for that office, and the party’s ballot status will carry through into 2012. The Libertarian Party is the only ballot-qualified party in Texas now, other than the Democrats and Republicans. But it must poll 5% for any statewide partisan race in 2010, or else 2% for Governor in 2010, to keep that status.
It is conceivable that either or both the Green Party and the Constitution Party will be on the Texas ballot in 2010. Someone filed for Comptroller for each of those parties. However, the Constitution Party and the Green Party won’t be on the ballot unless they can obtain 43,991 valid signatures between March and May, 2010, from the ranks of registered voters who didn’t vote in a major party primary in March 2010. The person who filed for Comptroller for the Libertarians is Mary Ruwart; for the Greens, Ed Lindsay; for the Constitution Party, Alan Marsh. The conventions of these parties are free to choose anyone to run for Comptroller, not necessarily the person who filed the declaration of intent. But if no one from those parties had filed a declaration of intent, those parties could not run anyone for that office.
No one filed with either the Reform Party or the Socialist Party for Comptroller, so even if those parties were able to petition in 2010, they couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity to poll a big vote for that office.
In Texas, and in most states, when only one major party runs for a statewide office, any minor party candidate in that race polls a big vote. For example, in 2008, a Libertarian running for a statewide partisan judicial race in which there was no Democrat polled 1,043,642 votes, or 18.10% of the total.
The key phrase used in this story was “from the ranks of registered voters who didn’t vote in a major party primary in March 2010”. This aspect of the law should be rescinded since voters may be a Democrat or Republican but still believe that citizens from other parties should also be able to appear on the ballot
Richard:
How often has it occurred in Texas (or another state for that mater)that 2 or 3 minor parties have been on the ballot of a State-wide office with a single major party candidate and they all won at least 5% of the vote in that election?
In 2000 in Texas, it happened for both Libertarian and Green candidates for several statewide offices. In 2002, the Democrats ran candidates for all offices, probably to push the Greens off the ballot.
Since then, the Democrats have left an office or two open, probably to ensure a place for Libertarians on the ballot.
“The conventions of these parties are free to choose anyone to run for Comptroller, not necessarily the person who filed the declaration of intent. But if no one from those parties had filed a declaration of intent, those parties could not run anyone for that office.”
The only thing that I could see how this would apply would be if a person who filed a declaration of intent would withdraw, which would permit the party to provide for an extended filing period. Or is there something else?
#2 There is nothing that would prevent those 44,000 citizens from attending the parties conventions of the Green or Constitution parties. The supplementary petition is for those who were unable to attend the convention and actively participate in the nomination process.
Your scheme would permit a Green partisan to interfere in the nomination process of the Libertarians or Democrats and also promote the nominees of the Green party.
Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who served as comptroller as a Republican and ran for governor in 2006 as an independent, made noises about running for comptroller this year as a Democrat.
That obviously didn’t work out.
I take pride in voting and never miss an opportunity to participate in the election process. However, I am a green party member now living in Texas wanting my party to secure ballot access in 2010.
As a result, I will not be voting on March 2nd. I wonder if those who crafted the primary screen out provision in Texas are aware that it is leading to folks having to make choices not to vote?
#7 Surely you will be attending the Green Party conventions where your party’s nominations are made.
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