| Page 2154

Arizona State Income Tax Gifts to Minor Parties Increase Substantially

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Richard WingerAugust 7, 2018

Arizona is one of eleven states that lets state income taxpayers send a small monetary contribution to the party of the taxpayer’s choice. Ballot Access News has been tracking contributions to each party, for these states, starting in 2000.

Arizona taxpayers who used the political party checkoff during the first six months of 2018 seem unusually supportive of the Libertarian and Green Parties, relative to the recent past. These small money amounts increase the amount of state income tax payment from the taxpayer; they do not subtract any money from the state treasury.

The 2018 amount so far for the Libertarian Party is $1,008. This is not a massive amount, but it is the highest for the party since 2010. The 2017 Libertarian amount was only $382.

The 2018 amount so far for the Green Party is $796. This is the highest for the Green Party since 2002. The Green total for 2017 was only $326.

By contrast, the 2018 amount for the Republican Party is $7,562, down from the Republican Party’s 2017 total of $10,056.

The 2018 amount for the Democratic Party is $12,816, down from that party’s 2017 total of $15,199.

The September 1 2018 print issue of BAN will have the data for all the states.

Rocky De La Fuente Submits Brief in Ninth Circuit in California Ballot Access Case

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Richard WingerAugust 7, 2018

On August 6, Rocky De La Fuente submitted his reply brief to the Ninth Circuit in De La Fuente v Padilla, 17-56668. This is the lawsuit that challenges the California law that required him to submit 178,039 valid signatures in 2016, to be on the ballot. Here is brief.

Independent Candidate Greg Orman Submits Petition to Run for Kansas Governor

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Richard WingerAugust 6, 2018

On August 6, the deadline, independent gubernatorial candidate Greg Orman submitted over 10,000 signatures to run for Governor of Kansas. The legal requirement is 5,000 signatures. See this story, which says that Orman relied partly on paid circulators. Thanks to Gene Berkman and Shawn Griffiths for the news.

South Carolina Election Commission Informally Says Democratic Nominee is in No Danger of Being Removed from November Ballot

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Richard WingerAugust 6, 2018

This article says that the South Carolina Election Commission’s spokesperson Chris Whitmire believes there is no likelihood that the Election Commission will remove James Smith, the Democratic nominee for Governor, from the November ballot.

First, the Libertarian Party state convention didn’t reject him; only the party state committee rejected him. Second, the Libertarian Party doesn’t have its own nominee for Governor.

So, although South Carolina law continues to say that someone who seeks the nomination of two parties, yet fails to capture both nominations, can’t be any party’s nominee, a little bit of wiggle room has now been introduced into the system. Thanks to Dave Gillespie for the link.

McClatchy Newspaper Chain Carries Story About Big and Obvious Problems with Georgia Vote-Counting

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Richard WingerAugust 6, 2018

Georgia is one of the few states that votes entirely using machines that have no paper trail. This McClatchy newspaper story illustrates some obvious and serious problems with the Georgia system exposed in this year’s primaries.