Counterpunch has this article by Howie Hawkins, Green Party presidential nominee in 2020. The article attacks HR 1 for making it five times more difficult for presidential candidates to qualify for primary season matching funds. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.
The Washington Times has become the first general news source to publicize a flaw in HR 1, the Democratic Party-backed election law bill in Congress. The bill makes it five times more difficult for presidential candidates to qualify for primary season matching funds. Primary season matching funds has helped many minor party and independent presidential candidates during the last 36 years: Sonia Johnson, Lenora Fulani, John Hagelin, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein.
Although HR 1 gets lots of attention from general news sources, until now none of those stories focused on that part of the bill. Here is the story.
Wyoming Representative Marshall Burt (Libertarian-Green River) has introduced HB 160. It changes the law on the order of candidates on the general election ballot. Current law puts the nominees of the party that got the most votes in that county for U.S. House on the top line, followed by the nominees of the party whose nominee for U.S. House came in second, and so on. Independent candidates are always listed last.
The bill changes this, so that every candidate has an equal chance to be listed first. Order would be alphabetical, but there would be a random rotation of the letters of the alphabet for that purpose. Thanks to Andy Craig for this news.
On March 1, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear two cases filed by Republican candidates for presidential elector over the November 2020 election returns. Bowyer v Ducey, 20-858, is from Arizona; Feehan v Wisconsin Elections Commission, 20-859, is from Wisconsin.
There are still two more November 2020 election returns cases pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. They are on conference for March 5, and are from Georgia and Wisconsin.
The Alaska state superior court at Anchorage has tentatively set a trial date of March 29, 2022, for the lawsuit Kohlhaas v State of Alaska, 3AN-20-9532. This is the lawsuit filed by the Alaskan Independence Party, and some individuals, against the aspects of the top-four initiative that arguably disregard the freedom of association of political parties. It is possible the date will be revised later to an earlier date.
