This New York Post editorial blasts the New York Commission on Public Funding for considering a plan to toughen the definition of “political party”.  The Post doesn’t like the Working Families Party, but still condemns the plan as a ploy to eliminate it.  The Post also says it is a conflict of interest for the state chair of the Democratic Party to be a member of the commisison.

The editorial would be better if it mentioned that the proposal would eliminate the Green Party and the Libertarian Party, which are the two leading nationally-organized third parties in the United States.

An initiative is circulating in Alaska for a top-four system.  Parties would no longer be able to nominate candidates for any partisan office except President.  Instead all candidates would run in the August primary, and only the top four could then appear on the November ballot.  The same initiative also makes campaign finance rules more restrictive.

The initiative has already received over $500,000 from Kathryn Murdoch, daughter-in-law of Rupert Murdoch, according to this story.

The system would not use ranked choice voting in the primary, but it would use ranked choice voting in the general election.  However, in races with no incumbent for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor, that would be no help to minor parties.  When there is no incumbent for these important offices, there are invariably at least four major party candidates with name recognition.  With no ranked choice voting in the primary, it is very unlikely that any minor party candidate would place in the top four.

The measure is fundamentally illogical.  If parties are no longer permitted to have nominees, then there is no reason for a primary at all.  There should simply be a general election with ranked choice voting, so that no candidate, party, or point-of-view would be excluded from the general election campaign season.

It is unfortunate that Fairvote, would traditionally has been a friend to minor parties, is backing this initiative.