Arkansas Ballot Access Bill Introduced, Passes First Committee

Posted on by February 15, 2017
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On February 14, Arkansas Representative Justin Boyd (R-Fort Smith) introduced HB 1532, which moves the deadline for a ballot-qualified convention party to choose its non-presidential nominees. Current law says such a party must choose all its nominees by date on which primary candidates file for their primaries. The bill eases the convention deadline to primary day. In 2018 and following years, the Arkansas primary is scheduled to be held in late May.

There are no ballot-qualified parties in Arkansas except for the Republican and Democratic Parties. The Arkansas Libertarian Party expects to qualify for 2018 by submitting the needed 10,000 signatures. Assuming the bill passes, the Libertarian Party, and any other party that petitions in time for the 2018 election, will have the freedom to choose its nominees during the spring of 2018.

The bill passed the State Agencies and Government Affairs Committee on February 15. Thanks to Michael Pakko and Jim Linger for this news.

U.S. District Court Gives Federal Election Commission Until April 3 to Re-Evaluate Commission on Presidential Debates

Posted on by February 15, 2017
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On February 1, as already noted, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled against the Federal Election Commission in one of the debates cases, Level the Playing Field v FEC, 1:15cv-1397. Her February 1 order told the FEC to re-evaluate all the evidence submitted in 2015 and 2016 that the Commission on Presidential Debates is breaking federal campaign finance laws.

On February 6, the FEC asked for reconsideration and more time. On February 10, Judge Chutkan issued a 3-page order, giving the FEC until April 3 to re-evaluate the evidence. The FEC wanted an even later deadline, saying there are 700 pages of exhibits from the plaintiffs. But the order says, “The Court is perplexed by the FEC’s assertion that it needs additional time to review the Plaintiffs’ evidence given its earlier representation to the court that it had already carefully analyzed this evidence.” Thanks to the Center for Competitive Politics for this news.

Eighteen Candidates Qualify for Georgia Special U.S. House Election

Posted on by February 15, 2017
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February 15 at 1 p.m. is the deadline for qualifying for the April 11 Georgia special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat (sixth district). Eighteen candidates qualified: eleven Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 2 independents. Candidates in special elections need no petition and just pay a filing fee. See this story. Thanks to Don Webb for the link.

Florida Removes Independent Party Because its 2014 Audit was not Handled by a Certified Public Accountant

Posted on by February 14, 2017
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This Orlando Sentinel article of February 14 says that the Secretary of State has disqualified the Independent Party from its qualified status, and has converted all its registered members to independent voters. The reason was that the party did not use a Certified Public Accountant for its 2014 audit.

Courts in New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Oklahoma have ruled that election officials must let voters register into unqualified parties that are active in elections. The issue has never been litigated in Florida. Thanks to Bill Lussenheide for the link.

Twenty-Three Candidates File for California Special U.S. House Election

Posted on by February 15, 2017
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California holds a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 34th district, on April 4. Twenty-three candidates filed to be on the ballot. Here is the list. The Secretary of State has not yet determined which candidates will be on the ballot, because each candidate needs 40 signatures, but the list will be final on February 15.

The candidates who filed are 19 Democrats, one Republican, one Green, one Libertarian, and one independent. If no one gets 50% on April 4, there will be a run-off in June.

In November 2016, only two candidates filed to be on the ballot. They were both Democrats. The seat is empty because the incumbent resigned to become Attorney General of California. UPDATE: all 23 candidates are on the ballot; they all had valid petitions.