The Los Angeles Times has this article about the Common Sense Party. The article says the party submitted about 66,000 registration cards. The article also says the party only needs about 55,000 registered members in order to qualify. The conclusion is not necessarily true; there is an ambiguity in the law about whether independent voters are included in the calculation. The law says a new party needs registration of .33% of the state total, not counting “unknown” voters. The article says that means the independent voters are also not counted when the percentage is calculated, but “unknown” voters are a separate category.
The article also says that except for Green Party candidate Audie Bock in 1999, no minor party has won a partisan election in California since the 1910’s decade. But the author did not seem to know that in 1936, the Progressive Party of California elected Franck Havenner to the U.S. House from a San Francisco district. The Progressive Party of California of the 1930’s was not associated with any nationally-organized party. It had been formed in 1934 by U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson.
The story says the Secretary of State won’t reveal whether the Common Sense Party has qualified until February 22, even though state law says she should have made that determination by January 23. It may be the announcement is being delayed to give the Secretary of State more time to decide what the requirement is. Thanks to Michael Feinstein for the link.
