On November 1, a U.S. District Court in Kansas refused to order the county clerk of Ford County, Kansas, to alter the location of Dodge City’s polling location. Here is the 10-page order in Rangel-Lopez v Cox, 2:18cv-2572.
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The Florida Fair & Open Primaries organization is sponsoring a statewide initiative that would eliminate funding for the election administration of primaries, if that primary was closed to independent voters. See the text here.
The initiative would have been more feasible if it permitted parties to nominate by convention. If the initiative passed, parties would still be compelled to nominate by primary, yet they would be forced to pay for the primary. Under an Eighth Circuit opinion from Arkansas won by the Republican Party, it is unconstitutional to force a party to nominate by primary, if the government isn’t paying for it.
On October 31, the four Delaware U.S. Senate candidates debated each other. The debate was televised. The debaters were the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green Party nominees. See this story.
Four of the five New York gubernatorial candidates will debate each other in Albany on November 1. The debate will be livestreamed, but not televised. The participants will be the Republican, Green, Libertarian, and SAM Party nominees. See this story. Incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo won’t participate.
This Associated Press story explains that the Minnesota Green, Libertarian, and Independence Parties coordinated with each other, so that they would not run against each other for any statewide office. This was done to enhance the chances that any of them might receive 5% for a statewide race. Getting 5% in any statewide race would make them qualified. Minnesota is one of only 8 states with no qualified parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.
The story does not mention that the Legal Marijuana Now Party, and the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party, did not participate in dividing up the statewide races. The Legal Marijuana Now Party is on for U.S. Senate and Auditor, and the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party is on for Governor and Attorney General.