Washington Newspaper Explains Consequences if Either Gary Johnson or Jill Stein Gets 5% for President in Washington

This newspaper story from Everett, Washington, explains the election consequences if either Jill Stein or Gary Johnson get 5% of the vote inside Washington state. That is the threshold for qualified party status. The story does not mention it, but a qualified party need not petition for President, so if either party achieves 5%, that would make petitioning easier in 2020.

The last time a party, other than the Republican and Democratic Parties, was ballot-qualified in Washington state was the period November 2000 through November 2004. The Libertarian Party had that status because it polled over 5% in 2000 for Lieutenant Governor, as well as Auditor and Land Commissioner. But after the top-two system began in Washington in 2008, the definition of qualified party was made much more restrictive. Back then a party that polled 5% for any statewide office qualified, but now only the presidential vote counts.

If either the Libertarian or Green Parties become qualified in Washington state for the period November 2016-November 2020, they would still suffer under the top-two system. There is not a single instance of a member of any party (other than Democratic or Republican) coming in first or second in any partisan race in a top-two state, if there are at least two members from the ranks of the Democrats and Republicans also running. The October 1 2016 printed Ballot Access News documents this.

Rare Virginia Presidential Poll Includes All Five Candidates on Virginia Ballot

Very few pollsters ask respondents about every presidential candidate on the ballot in any state. This Wason Center for Public Policy poll for the presidential race in Virginia asks about all five ballot-listed candidates: Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, Evan McMullin, Jill Stein, and Donald Trump. Also it has interesting demographic breakdowns.

Arizona Libertarian Party Files Amended Complaint Against 2015 Law on How Libertarians For Congress, State and Local Partisan Office May Run

On September 30, the Arizona Libertarian Party filed this amended complaint in Arizona Libertarian Party v Reagan, 2:16cv-1019. Unlike the first Complaint in this case, this Complaint was written after the August 30 primary. It shows that without question, the new law on how Libertarians may run for office other than President has been devastating to the party. Only one Libertarian has been able to qualify for the ballot in Arizona this year (excluding the presidential election).

When this case was last in court, the judge expressed some hesitation to make up his mind until he and everyone else saw what happened in the primary. In theory, the Libertarians might have been able to obtain massive numbers of write-ins in the Libertarian primary, but that did not happen, even though the Libertarian turnout in its primary was fairly substantial.

Connecticut Court Puts Legislative Candidate on Ballot, Even Though he Didn’t Sign his Declaration of Candidacy

On September 28, a Connecticut state trial court put David Yaccarino on the November ballot as the Republican nominee for State House, 87th district. He had been ruled off the ballot earlier because he hadn’t signed his declaration of candidacy. See this story. It appears that after he sued, the Secretary of State and Attorney General consented to this outcome. Yaccarino is the incumbent state representative.