Matt Ford has this tongue-in-cheek “defense” of the electoral college in The New Republic. It is called “The Case Against the Popular Vote.”
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On September 24, COFOE (the Coalition for Free & Open Elections) and Fairvote filed a joint amicus curiae in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, in Level the Playing Field v FEC, 19-5117. This is the case on whether the FEC is failing to enforce federal campaign finance law by letting for-profit corporations make tax-exempt donations to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The case argues that these corporation contributions are illegal campaign donations to the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns.
The amicus focuses on the point that polling is very imprecise, and the 15% poll requirement is therefore highly arbitrary. It also discusses debates in other democratic countries and documents that their national election debates include more than just two parties or candidates. And it mentions that U.S. debates for other office frequently have more than two parties or candidates.
Political scientist Larry Sabato has this chart showing the recent history of major party decisions to reduce the number of presidential primaries and caucuses. Democrats canceled some in 2012, and Republicans did in 2004. However, in those years, no one who had ever held public office was running against the party’s incumbent president, and in many primaries, only one person (the incumbent president) had qualified for the ballot.
By contrast, in 2020, two former Republican Governors would like to run against President Trump in Republican primaries, so in that sense, the effort by some Republican Parties to eliminate primaries and caucuses is unprecedented. Thanks to David Sturrock for the link.
Two Libertarian Party nominees for city office in Meriden, Connecticut, are off the ballot for the November 2019 election, because the Secretary of State didn’t like their paperwork. Both candidates had enough valid signatures. See this story.
The San Diego Union-Tribune has this story about the Common Sense Party, which is trying to qualify in California with a registration drive.