According to Arizona Politics blog, the Arizona Republican Party itself has sent out campaign literature boosting the Green Party nominee for U.S. House, in the First District. Earlier a PAC linked to the Republican Party was also boosting the Green. This is a prime example of why the U.S. would be better off if it used instant runoff voting.
Wyoming is so safely Republican, it is rare for anyone to spend money polling there. But the University of Wyoming’s Survey and Analysis Center did a poll October 5-11, and only on October 27 released the results, which were: Donald Trump 58%; Hillary Clinton 20%; Gary Johnson 9%; Jill Stein 2%; another candidate (which had to be volunteered by the respondent) 2%; won’t vote 1%; undecided 7%; refused to answer 1%. Also on the ballot are Darrell Castle and Rocky De La Fuente, but they were not mentioned by the pollsters.
The Survey also asked about the U.S. House race, but only mentioned the Republican and Democratic nominees. There are also Libertarian and Constitution Party nominees on the ballot.
California voters will see a November ballot with only two Democrats on the ballot, and no write-in space. On October 27, PPIC released a poll for the Senate race. The poll includes president and some of the statewide ballot measures as well. For the U.S. Senate race, the results are: Kamala Harris 42%; Loretta Sanchez 20%; won’t vote 18%; don’t know yet 20%.
By contrast, in the Presidential race, where five candidates are on the ballot and write-ins are permitted, only 1% of respondents say they won’t vote. The presidential results are: Hillary Clinton 54%; Donald Trump 28%; Gary Johnson 5%; Jill Stein 5%; someone else 2% (volunteered); 1% won’t vote; 4% undecided. It is unfortunate that the poll didn’t include Gloria La Riva, because her name is also on the ballot. See the results here. Thanks to Carla Marinucci for the link.
Common Cause has published this report, explaining that in many states, there are very few choices on general election ballots for state legislature. The report especially singles out eight states in which most state legislative races only have one candidate on the November ballot for state legislature. Those states are Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Illinois, Texas, and New Mexico.
This report is very important, because this problem gets virtually no attention from voting rights organizations. Unfortunately, the Common Cause report implies that the problem is caused entirely by gerrymandering. The truth is that the main reason for the lack of candidates are restrictive ballot access laws. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link to the report.
Ballot Access News
October 1, 2016 – Volume 32, Number 5
| This issue was printed on cream-colored paper. |
Table of Contents
