Orlando Sentinel Article on Top-Two Initiative in Florida

Posted on by September 16, 2020
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The Orlando Sentinel has this balanced, lengthy story about the Florida top-two initiative.

It quotes a consultant for the initiative, Steve Vancore, as saying that top-two has existed in “Oregon, California, Washington, and Nebraska.” But neither Oregon nor Nebraska has ever had a top-two system. Vancore also says top-two discourages extreme politicians, yet Washington state, which does have a top-two system, has had two of the most extrene state legislators in the nation, in recent years. See this story about Washington Representative Jenny Graham, who believes in Q-Anon and who threatened a reporter who wrote about her. See this wikipedia article about Washington Representative Matt Shea, who has called for the violent overthrow of the government.

UPDATE: here is a lengthy report on Matt Shea prepared by the Rampart Group for the Washington state legislature, for those readers who feel a wikipedia article isn’t trustworthy.

Texas Supreme Court Puts Three Green Party Candidates on the Ballot

Posted on by September 15, 2020
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On September 15, the Texas Supreme Court issued an order putting three Green Party nominees back on the ballot. They had not paid the filing fee and a State Court of Appeals had removed them on August 19. In re the Green Party of Texas, 20-0708. Here is the order. It says a full opinion will be issued later.

The Texas Supreme Court had put the Libertarians back on the ballot last week, but on the basis that the Republican Party challenge to them had been filed too late. The fact that the Court has now put the Greens back on the ballot, even though the challenge to them was not too late, suggests that the Texas Supreme Court likely thinks the filing fee is unconstitutional.

The Hill TV Show “Rising” Lambasts Democrats for Removing Green Candidates in Four States

Posted on by September 15, 2020
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The Hill TV has a regular show called “The Hill’s Rising with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti.” This ten-minute segment discusses Democratic Party efforts to remove Green Party candidates in Texas, Montana, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Generally Ball represents progressive views and Enjeti presents conservative views, but they agree with each other in this piece.

Bill Redpath Wins Ballot Access Lawsuit for Himself as a Libertarian Nominee for U.S. House in Illinois

Posted on by September 15, 2020
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On September 11, Bill Redpath, Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. House, Illinois Sixth District, won his ballot access lawsuit in state trial court. Bixler v Illinois State Board of Elections, Sangamon Co., 20 MR 775.

The Illinois Board of Elections had determined that Redpath had enough valid signatures. Persons associated with the Republican Party then sued the State Board, arguing that he should be removed from the ballot. The basis for the challenge was that the some of his signers had already voted in the March 2020 primary. The challengers showed that if the primary voters were excluded, then Redpath didn’t have enough valid signatures.

There is no Illinois law saying that primary voters can’t sign for an independent candidate, or the nominee of an unqualified party. There was once a law barring primary voters from signing for an independent candidate, but it had been repealed in 1975. Nevertheless, the objectors claimed that it is intrinsically true that a primary voter can’t sign a general election petition, because that is equivalent to “voting twice.”

Here is the 3-page court order. It does not discuss the theory set forth by the objectors. It just says the decision to put Redpath on the ballot is in accord with the law.

Alaska Elections Director Will No Longer Print Party Labels for Candidates of Unqualified Parties

Posted on by September 15, 2020
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On August 23, Gail Fenumiai, Director of the Alaska Elections Division, sent a letter to Scott Kohlhaas, Libertarian Party nominee for state house, district 16. It says she won’t print “Libertarian” next to his name on the ballot, even though Alaska Statute 15.25.180 says independent petitions may contain the name of the “political group, if any”, and even though 15.25.190 says, “The director shall place the names and the political group affiliation of persons who have been properly nominated by petition on the general election ballot.”

The letter does not make reference to any Alaska election law.

The Kohlhaas petition identified him as the Libertarian Party candidate, and Kohlhaas is a registered Libertarian.

The director also says she will no longer print the party affiliation of persons nominated by qualified parties on the ballot. Instead she will only print the name of the party that nominated them. In 2018, the ballot contained both pieces of information. This year the Democratic nominees for U.S. Senate and U.S. House are both registered independents, and the candidates desire that the ballot reflect their independent affiliation. Here is a news story about removing the affiliation of the two Democratic nominees.