The ballot-qualified Independence Party of South Carolina has nominated Evan McMullin for President. This is the first instance at which a party that was already on the ballot before Evan McMullin announced, has nominated him. His campaign had said he hoped that several of these one-state parties might nominate him.
Florida has several ballot-qualified parties that have not nominated anyone for President. It had been thought plausible that either the Independent Party, or the Independence Party, might nominate him for President. But the Florida Secretary of State’s office said neither of those parties nominated anyone for President.
This Politico story says that in the states in which McMullin is on the ballot, it is now too late for him to replace his stand-in vice-presidential nominee with his actual vice-presidential nominee. The stand-in, Nathan Johnson, never wanted to actually run for vice-president. The reporter, Daniel Strauss, was unaware that there is case law from Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, South Dakota, and Alaska which says independent presidential candidates (or independent candidates for Governor) have a right to replace their stand-in vice-presidential or lieutenant governor running mates with an actual candidate later. In 1980, John Anderson was permitted to replace his stand-in for vice-president, Milton Eisenhower, with former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey, even though Lucey wasn’t chosen until August 27, 1980. Lucey’s name was on all ballots except South Dakota’s.
The Ninth Circuit has three California cases filed by minor parties or independent candidates. Soltysik v Padilla, 16-55758, challenges state law that won’t let members of unqualified parties have their party label on ballots, if they are running for Congress or partisan state office. That case is moving slowly and no briefs have been filed. The plaintiff is a registered Socialist.
De La Fuente v Padilla, 16-56261, is an appeal of the denial of a preliminary injunction. It challenges the law that requires an independent presidential candidate to collect 178,039 valid signatures in 105 days. The court has already determined that the case is not suitable for mediation, and briefs will probably be filed soon, although no matter what happens, it is unlikely that the 2016 ballot will be affected.
Independent Party v Padilla, 16-15895, challenges a decision by the Secretary of State that the Independent Party cannot become a political body because its name is so similar to the American Independent Party, which is already on the ballot. The Independent Party’s opening brief was filed on August 25, 2016.
According to this story, the Alaska Libertarian Party has nominated Joe Miller for U.S. Senate. In 2010 he was the Republican nominee for the same seat.
The new voter registration data for Colorado shows that Libertarian registration is now at 1.02% of the state total. This is the first time Libertarian registration has exceeded 1% of any state’s total, except that the Alaska Libertarian registration has been above that level for approximately a decade.
Alaska law permits a party to remain ballot-qualified if it has registration equal to 3% of the last vote cast, so the Alaska Libertarian Party constantly goes on registration drives to remain on the ballot. By contrast, the Colorado Libertarian registration just happened naturally, without a concerted party effort to increase its registration.
The new data means that the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, Lily Tang Williams, will be allowed into one particular debate. See this story. The story makes it seem as though it is rare for Colorado minor party and independent candidates to be invited into debates, but on October 14, 2014, all six gubernatorial candidates who were on the ballot debated each other. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.
