Montana Republican Party State Chair Loses Bid to Remove Libertarian from Ballot

Posted on by September 14, 2016
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On September 13, the Montana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that Roger Roots should remain on the ballot as the Libertarian Party nominee for Secretary of State. Essmann v State, 16-0522. The state chair of the Republican Party had sued the Secretary of State to force her to remove Roots. Jeff Essmann charged that Roots had not filed one particular campaign finance report and had been late with another report.

The Court found that Roots had filed all needed documents, and one had got lost after he filed it with the state, although it was found again. The court agreed that Roots had been late with another document, but ruled the punishment for being late is a fine, not removal from the ballot. Thanks to Mike Fellows for this news.

Arizona Finishes Counting Write-ins in August 30 Primary; Greens Are Allowed to Nominate for U.S. Senate with 238 Write-ins, but Libertarians Are Not Allowed Despite Receiving 1,286 Write-Ins

Posted on by September 13, 2016
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On September 13, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office issued official election returns for the August 30 primary for the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican primaries. No one appeared on the primary ballots of the Green Party and the Libertarian Party for U.S. Senate. But both parties had a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate and various other offices.

The Green Party declared write-in candidate in the Green primary for U.S. Senate, Gary Swing, received 238 write-ins. Under the law, he is the nominee and his name will be printed on the November ballot for U.S. Senate. But the Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, Merissa Hamilton, received 1,286 write-ins in the Libertarian primary, and she will not be allowed to be on the November ballot. Libertarians for statewide office this year needed approximately 4,000 write-ins to be nominated, but Greens only needed one write-in.

The law treats “new” parties differently than “old” parties. The Green Party is considered “new” because it last did its party petition in the period June 2013-May 2014. The Libertarian Party has not had to do a party petition since 1992, because it remains on by keeping its registration above two-thirds of 1%. The Libertarian Party is currently in court, arguing against the minimum number of write-ins needed to nominate in the party’s own primary. The law penalizes minor parties for being successful in their voter registration efforts. Thanks to Bob Johnston for the link.

For Third Election in a Row, Georgia Democratic Party Doesn’t Fill the Statewide Ticket

Posted on by September 13, 2016
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The statewide offices up in Georgia this year are President, U.S. Senate, and Public Service Commission. For the third election in a row, the Public Service Commission race will have just a Republican and a Libertarian on the ballot.

In 2014 the Libertarian nominee for this office, John Monds, polled 710,408 votes, 31.67% of the vote. He carried DeKalb, Fayette, and Hancock Counties.

In 2012 the Libertarian nominee for this office, David Staples, polled 1,095,115 votes, 34.17% of the vote. He carried Clayton, DeKalb, and Hancock Counties.

Also, in 2008, there was a Public Service Commission race between just a Republican and a Libertarian. The Libertarian, Monds, polled 1,076,760 votes, 33.40%.

As more of these results accumulate, the state’s policy that the Libertarian Party does not have enough support to be on the ballot for U.S. House, state legislature, and county office, becomes more and more absurd. Libertarians who want to run for those office must each submit a petition of 5% of the registered voters, something so difficult that no minor party has done it for the Georgia legislature since 2004, and that no minor party has ever done for U.S. house in the history of the law, which is 73 years old.

The 2016 Public Service Commission race is between Republican Tim Echols and Libertarian Eric Hoskins. In the U.S. House races this year, four of the fourteen have only one candidate on the ballot.

Texas Secretary of State Now Says Laura Thompson, Independent State Legislator, Does Have Enough Valid Signatures to be on November Ballot

Posted on by September 13, 2016
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In July this year, Laura Thompson was told by the Texas Secretary of State that she did not have the needed 500 valid signatures to be on the November 2016 ballot as an independent candidate for State Representative, 120th district. This announcement had been proved to be ironic on August 2, when Thompson was elected to the same district for a short term. She had been on the ballot in the special election easily, because Texas does not require any candidate in a special election to submit a petition.

Thompson did not agree that she had failed to get 500 valid signatures to be on the November 2016 ballot for the same office. She contested the ruling that her petition was not valid. Finally, on September 8, the Secretary of State changed his mind and said her petition is valid. See this story.

Obtaining 500 signatures may sound easy, but when the petitioning period is short, and when the law provides that no one who voted in the primary may sign (as Texas does), it is not easy.

Texas has a straight-ticket device, which will make it more difficult for Thompson to be re-elected. Thanks to Sidney Smith for the link.