Socialist Party is Only Party, Besides Republicans and Democrats, to File for Guam Advisory Presidential Vote

Posted on by September 25, 2016
3

Starting in 1980, Guam has voted for President in November, even though Guam has no electoral votes. The Guam Election Commission always prints the Democratic and Republican national tickets on its November ballot automatically. It also puts other tickets on the ballot, simply by request. This year, the only third ticket is the Socialist Party’s ticket. See the Guam ballot here. The presidential part is near the bottom. The Socialist Party presidential candidate’s name is Emidio Soltysik, but the ballot omits the “i” in his surname.

Most minor party and independent tickets ignore the Guam presidential vote. Ross Perot never asked to be on the Guam ballot, nor has the Green Party. Ralph Nader was on Guam in 2004 but not any other year. Generally the Libertarian Party ticket is on, but not this year.

The highest percentage of the vote anyone outside the two major parties ever received in Guam was John Anderson in 1980. He got 954 votes, which was 3.78%, lower than his percentage in any of the 50 states except Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Thanks to Walter Ziobro for the link.

Politico Web Page for November 8 Presidential Election Returns Seems Already Set Up, and Apparently Plans to List Only Four Candidates

Posted on by September 24, 2016
15

Politico is a very good source for election night vote returns. It appears that Politico has already set up its presidential election night vote returns web page, and that it will only include Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, and Donald Trump. For example, see the Louisiana page, which only lists those four, even though Louisiana has thirteen presidential candidates on the ballot.

Alaska Can’t Print Ballots in One Legislative District Because Primary Recount Still Isn’t Settled

Posted on by September 24, 2016
Reply

According to this story, the dispute over the identity of the winner of the Democratic primary for Alaska’s state house district 40 won’t be settled until early October. The primary was August 15. The two-person contest was very close and a court is holding a trial to determine the winner.

Utah Debate Commission Holds One-Candidate Event for the Republican Nominee for Attorney General; Refuses to Allow Libertarian to be the Other Participant Even Though He was Present

Posted on by September 24, 2016
5

The Utah Debate Commission is composed of news organizations and the state’s public and private universities. It is chaired by the head of the Utah Republican Party and the Utah Democratic Party. Here is information about the Commission, which is obviously modeled on the Presidential Debate Commission.

It scheduled a televised debate for the evening of Wednesday, September 21, at Dixie State University, for the Democratic and Republican candidates for Attorney General, Jon Harper and Sean Reyes. Libertarian nominee W. Andrew McCullough, who was at 5% in the polls, was deemed not to meet the requirement to be invited, but McCullough was in the audience before the event started.

The event organizers were very surprised to hear that the Democratic nominee would not be appearing because he had decided to drop out of the race, for health reasons. But even though McCullough was present, the Commission still refused to allow him on the stage. Instead, they let the Republican nominee consume the entire time for the event. One-person debates sponsored by corporations are illegal campaign contributions, at least for federal office, although this event concerned a state office. See this story.

Maryland Deadline Victory Confirmed

Posted on by September 23, 2016
3

As noted earlier, on August 26, the Maryland State Board of Elections conceded that a 2015 law requiring independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy in February is unconstitutional. The concession had come after an independent candidate for Baltimore city council, Dan Sparaco, had sued to overturn the requirement. That case was Sparaco v Lamone, 1:16cv-1579.

However, on August 25, two other candidates for Baltimore city council in the same district had sued the State Board of Elections to protest the Board’s concession in the Sparaco lawsuit. That new lawsuit was Schlakman v Maryland State Board of Elections, 1:16cv-2968.

But, on September 20, the Judge who was handling both cases dismissed the Schlakman lawsuit, so that the good precedent established by the Sparaco lawsuit will stand.