Filing Closes for Louisiana Presidential Primary

Posted on by January 11, 2020
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On January 10, filing closed for Louisiana presidential primaries. Candidates get on the ballot with a filing fee of $750.

The Independent Party is the first party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, to have its own presidential primary in Louisiana. Qualified parties with at least 40,000 registered members qualify. However, no one filed in the Independent Party presidential primary.

Five Republicans filed: Rocky De La Fuente, Bob Ely, Matthew John Matern, Donald Trump, and Bill Weld.

Fourteen Democrats filed: Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Robby Wells, and Andrew Yang. Thanks to J. Bradley Jansen for this news.

Mike Feinstein Op-Ed Shows How Top-Two System Weakens California Moderates

Posted on by January 11, 2020
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Mike Feinstein has this op-ed in the Riverside, California newspaper, the Press Enterprise. The ad mentions that the “Common Sense” Party is trying to qualify for the ballot, and that the party’s leaders, former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell and former independent State Senator Quentin Kopp, believe that it can be a voice for centrists. The op-ed points out, though, that in the top-two primary, having Common Sense Party candidates for Congress and partisan state office on the primary ballot will probably make it even more likely that two Democrats will emerge from the primary, and then that race will have only two Democrats on the November ballot.

Campbell and Kopp have this op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, boosting the Common Sense Party. They seem to feel the top-two system will help the Common Sense Party, if it gets on the ballot. They ignore the fact that in the entire history of top-two in California, there is not one instance of a minor party candidate placing first or second, if both a Democrat and a Republican had also filed for that office.

FEC Posts Updated Deadlines for Federal Candidate Ballot Access

Posted on by January 10, 2020
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On January 10, the Federal Election Commission published this useful chart, showing deadlines for presidential candidates to get on a presidential primary ballot, and also deadlines for independent presidential petitions.

It also has deadlines for congressional candidates. Footnote six correctly says, “In Louisiana, a congressional primary is not held.” Louisiana only has a congressional general election, and sometimes a run-off afterwards. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

U.S. District Court Invalidates Law Requiring Initiative Petitioners to Register with State Before Initiative Begins to Circulate

Posted on by January 10, 2020
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On January 9, U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann, a Clinton appointee, struck down a South Dakota 2019 law that requires initiative circulators to register with the Secretary of State. The register must include the circulator’s address, all phone numbers, and all email addresses. The circulator must also reveal where he or she is registered to vote, and whether the circulator is a registered sex offender.

All of this material would be publicly available. The law also required circulators to wear a badge with their circulator ID number.

Here is the 15-page decision in SD Voice v Noem, 1:19cv-1017.

The first part of the opinion explains that the law is worded not only to apply to circulators, but to any person who urges any other person to sign an initiative petition. That probably is not what the legislature intended, but the law says it applies to “anyone who solicits petition signatures”. The opinion says that could even include a newpaper editorial writer.