Free & Equal Presidential Debate

Posted on by March 5, 2020
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Free & Equal sponsored a presidential debate for 18 presidential candidates on March 4. There were two separate events. The first, from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., included: Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry (Green); Mark Stewart (Democrat); Ben Zion (Transhumanist); Brian Carroll (American Solidarity); Dan Behrman (Libertarian); Arvin Vohra (Libertarian); John Richard Myers (Life & Liberty); Eric Gerhardt (Libertarian); and Charles Kraut (Constitution).

The second event, from 6:30 pm to 10 pm, included: Mark Charles (independent); Howie Hawkins (Green); Zoltan Istvan (Republican); Mosie Boyd (Democrat); Vermin Supreme (Libertarian); Adam Kokesh (Libertarian); Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian); Ken Armstrong (Libertarian); and Gloria La Riva (Part for Socialism & Liberation).

Independent Political Report has these links to each event. The first you tube is silent until the six-minute mark, so anyone might want to advance the time to six-minutes. For those who want a quick impression, all eighteen candidates gave a one-minute introduction to themselves, and that can be seen at the beginning of the second you tube.

The event was held at the Chicago Hilton.

West Virginia Ballot Access Bill Dies

Posted on by March 5, 2020
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West Virginia SB 733, which had passed the State Senate, will not pass this year’s session, because the House Judiciary Committee chairman did not bring it up for a vote, and now it is too late. It would have expanded the definition of qualified party from a group that got 1% for Governor, to one that got either 1% for President or 1% for Governor. Thanks to Jeff Becker for this news.

District of Columbia Primary Filing Closes

Posted on by March 4, 2020
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The District of Columbia presidential primary, and primary for other partisan office, is June 2. Here is the list of candidates. The list first has Democrats, then Republicans, then the Green Party, then the Libertarian Party.

No Republican filed for Delegate to the U.S. House. Assuming the Republican Party doesn’t fill that vacancy later, it will be easier for the two minor parties to poll the needed 7,500 votes so as to retain party qualification.

In the Republican presidential primary, only President Donald Trump and Rocky De La Fuente filed. They each needed 285 signatures of registered Republicans.

Democratic presidential primary candidates will be Donna Jean Alston, Joe Biden, William Feegbeh, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Mark Stewart, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang.

No one filed in either the Green presidential primary, nor the Libertarian presidential primary. The Libertarian Party national convention is in May, so it would have made little sense for any Libertarian to file for a June D.C. primary.

Sixth Circuit Rules Against Imprisoned Persons and Access to Absentee Ballots

Posted on by May 3, 2020
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On March 3, the Sixth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that had said persons arrested shortly before election day must be given an absentee ballot. The U.S. District Court had said that since persons unexpectedly hospitalized were given an absentee ballot, equal protection required that arrested persons be treated the same. The Sixth Circuit disagreed, and said Ohio lets people vote early, and persons arrested should have voted earlier.

The case is Mays v LaRose, 19-4112. The opinion is here. It is written by John B. Nalbandian (a Trump appointee), and signed by Judges Amul Thapar (another Trump appointee) and Gilbert Merritt (a Carter appointee).

This case has nothing to do with felon or ex-felon voting rights. It concerns persons who have been arrested but not convicted.