South Carolina Republican Primary Voters Overwhelmingly Support Ending Open Primary

Posted on by June 12, 2018
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South Carolina has always been an open primary state, since primaries were begun. There is no voter registration by party, and any voter is free to choose any party’s primary ballot.

The South Carolina Republican Party’s ballot for June 12 asks voters who choose the Republican primary ballot, “Do you believe that voters should have the option to choose to affiliate with a political party when they register to vote or change their voter registration in South Carolina?”

The measure is passing with 82%. Here is a link to the election returns. Scroll down to the very end. The voter registration question is Republican Question One. The other Republican question, question two, concerns taxes.

Eighth Circuit Agrees with U.S. District Court that Missouri Cannot Require Campaign Committees to Form At Least 30 Days Before an Election

Posted on by June 12, 2018
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On June 12, the Eighth Circuit agreed with a U.S. District Court, and ruled that Missouri cannot force campaign committees to form at least thirty days before an election. A campaign committee is a group that wants to spend money either in support of, or opposed, to a candidate for state or local office, or a ballot measure. Missourians for Fiscal Accountability v Klahr, 17-1314. Here is the 13-page opinion.

The plaintiffs had formed a committee 13 days before the November 2014 election, in order to support a statewide ballot measure. They were threatened with a fine, so they sued to overturn the restriction. The opinion quotes Citizens United, a U.S. Supreme Court opinion, which said, “The public begins to concentrate on elections only in the weeks immediately before they are held. There are short timeframes in which speech can have influence. The need or relevance of the speech will often first be apparent at this stage in the campaign. The decision to speak is made in the heat of political campaigns, when speakers react to messages conveyed by others.”

The decision is by Judge William Benton, a Bush Jr. appointee. It is co-signed by Judge James Loken, a Bush Sr. appointee, and Ralph Erickson, a Trump appointee. Thanks to Steve Hoersting for this news.

U.S. District Court Declares that New York State’s Ban on Out-of-State Petitioners is Unconstitutional

Posted on by June 12, 2018
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On June 12, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Steven M. Gold declared that New York state’s ban on out-of-state circulators is unconstitutional. This is not surprising, because on May 18 he had enjoined the restriction. Free Libertarian Party v Spano, e.d., 1:16cv-3054.

However, in his order of June 12, he said New York will be allowed to continue to enforce the ban until November 7, 2018, because it would be too difficult for the state to come up with new procedures in a matter of weeks. The petitioning period for general election petitions starts June 19 (for federal office).

Massachusetts Libertarian Party Completes a Statewide Primary Petition for First Time Since 2002

Posted on by June 11, 2018
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Massachusetts, Maine, and Arizona are the three states in which it is extremely difficult for a member of a small qualified party to get on his or her party’s primary ballot. In all three states, qualified parties must nominate by primary.

Last month, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party successfully placed Daniel Fishman on the Libertarian primary ballot for State Auditor. This is the first time the party has been able to complete a statewide primary petition since 2002. The number of signatures for the more important statewide offices is 10,000; for the lesser statewide offices, including Auditor, 5,000. Only members of the party and independent voters may sign primary petitions.

It is extremely likely that Fishman will poll at least 3% of the November 2018 vote, and if he does, that will retain the party’s qualified status during 2020, and the party will have its own 2020 presidential primary. Unlike other office, it is easy for presidential candidates to get on a presidential primary ballot in Massachusetts. The last Libertarian presidential primary in Massachusetts was in 2004. It was won by Gary Nolan.

Veteran Sacramento Correspondent George Skelton Writes, “Give California’s Top-Two Primary Some More Time, and if it Doesn’t get Better, Junk It

Posted on by June 11, 2018
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George Skelton, the veteran Sacramento news correspondent covering California state government, here writes, “Give California’s top-two primary some more time, and if it doesn’t get better, junk it.” This is significant, because since 2004, Skelton has been a strong supporter of the system.

The last part of his column mentions alternatives, but he seems not to know that his idea to declare a winner in June, for a candidate who gets at least 50%, is not legally permitted, at least for Congressional elections. Federal law, since 1872, has told the states to hold congressional elections in all districts in November of even-numbered years. That is why Louisiana stopped using top-two. The U.S.Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s law in 1997 in Foster v Love, because Louisiana was letting candidates win in September. Now Louisiana doesn’t have primaries (except presidential primaries). It just has a general election in November and if no one gets 50%, a runoff in December. For state office, the same principle applies, except that the election is in October of the odd years just before presidential election years.