Near the end of this story, one can read that Larry Sanders, older brother of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, is running as a Green Party nominee for Britain’s House of Commons. That election is May 7.
UPDATE: Also see this story.
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New Hampshire election law says anyone can be on a presidential primary ballot who pays a fee of $1,000 and fills out a Declaration of Candidacy. However, the Declaration of Candidacy since 1983 has said, “I am a registered member of the (fill in the blank) party.”
The literal language of the New Hampshire requirement that the candidate be a registered member of the party has never been applied, because 20 states don’t have registration by party. Walter Mondale, the Democratic nominee in 1984, was not a registered Democrat because Minnesota has never had registration by party (and, if it did, Mondale would have been a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party). Bill Clinton was not a registered Democrat for the same reasons; neither was Al Gore. Among Republicans, neither George H. W. Bush nor George W. Bush was a registered Republican because Texas doesn’t have registration by party.
So, in practice, the affidavit doesn’t mean what it says; what it does mean is that the candidate must hold himself out as a member of the party. See this story. It will be interesting to see how Senator Bernie Sanders handles this situation. Even though he has announced that he intends to run in Democratic presidential primaries, he has not said that he a Democrat, and he lists himself in the Congressional Directory as an independent. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
On Monday, May 4, between 5 pm and 7 pm, a free lecture and dramatization will be presented at a New York city public library, on the history of the American Labor Party 1936-1955. See this web page for more information about the event, which is at 10 Jersey Street, Manhattan, between Mulberry Street and Lafayette Street. Thanks to Gerald Meyer for this news.
On April 29, the Florida legislature passed SB 228 Committee Substitute, which lets individuals register to vote on-line. Here is the text of the bill. The process is entirely electronic for applicants who already have a Florida drivers license or state I.D. card. If the individual does not, then the system prompts the applicant to print out a form, sign it, and mail it in.
The Secretary of State, Ken Detzler, is opposed to the bill. Detzler is appointed by the Governor, Rick Scott. It is not known if the Governor will sign the bill. The bill passed overwhelmingly in both houses of the legislature.
The regular session of the Washington legislature ended earlier, with no legislation passing that would revive the 2016 presidential primary. But a special session opened on April 29, and on that first day of the session, the Senate again passed SB 5978, which would create a March primary. It is not very likely that the House will pass the bill, but it is possible. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.