Nine Presidential Petitions Filed in Tennessee That May be Valid

The Tennessee petition deadline for independent presidential candidates is August 19 at noon. Nine petitions that may be valid were filed:

1. Darrell Castle
2. Rocky De La Fuente
3. Gary Johnson
4. Alysson Kennedy
5. David Limbaugh
6. Evan McMullin
7. Mike Smith
8. Emidio Soltysik
9. Jill Stein

The Secretary of State has already determined that Gary Johnson’s petition is valid. The office is checking the other petitions.

Jim Hedges did not file because at the last minute, two of his presidential elector candidates changed their mind. Two other presidential candidates filed petitions that were found not to have enough valid signatures: James Germalic and Kyle Kopitke.

State Court in West Virginia Says Party Members Cannot Run as Independent Candidates

On August 18, a trial state court ruled that the independent candidate petition process cannot be used by registered members of political parties. See this story. The ruling disqualifies an independent candidate for Kanawha County Clerk, even though he had enough valid signatures, because he is a registered Democrat.

There is no West Virginia statute that says independent candidates cannot be registered party members. Erik Wells, the candidate, may ask for State Supreme Court review. Wells is the husband of West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

Louisiana Secretary of State Keeps Updated List of Presidential Candidates on Web Page; Deadline is August 19

Independent presidential candidates, and the presidential nominees of unqualified parties, get on the Louisiana ballot by paying $500 by August 19. They must also submit a list of presidential elector candidates, including one living in each of the six U.S. House districts.

The Secretary of State enters each candidate onto its web page, shortly after that individual files. As of 5 p.m. Louisiana time, these seven had filed: Laurence Kotlikoff (It’s Our Children); Jerry White (Socialism Equality Anti-War); Princess Fambro (Loyal Trustworthy Compassion); Gloria LaRiva (Socialism & Liberation); Alysson Kennedy (Socialist Workers); and Tom Hoefling (Life, Family, Constitution).

See the list here. The deadline is 4:30 pm on Friday, August 19. Louisiana’s qualified parties are Democratic, Green, Libertarian, Reform, and Republican.

California Secretary of State Releases New Voter Registration Data

On August 18, the California Secretary of State released a new voter registration tally. See it here. The tally is as of July 7. The previous tally had been as of May 23, just prior to the June 7 primary.

The number of registered voters increased to 18,084,999. The deadline for a new party to qualify for the presidential election was July 7. The law requires registration of .33% of the state total, on the deadline day. Until this new Report of Registration was released, it had been impossible to know exactly what the requirement was: 59,681 registrations. The California legislature eased that requirement in 2014; the old requirement had been registration equal to 1% of the last gubernatorial vote. The 59,681 requirement is thus the lowest registration requirement for a new party to qualify for the presidential election since 1964, when it was 59,297.

Notwithstanding that this was the lowest number of registrations needed since 1964, no new party qualified in California this year.

The percentages for the July 7 tally are: Democratic 45.10%; Republican 27.09%; American Independent 2.52%; Libertarian .645%; Green .435%; Peace & Freedom .39%; miscellaneous unqualified parties .54%; independent voters 23.29%.

The percentages for the May 23 tally had been: Democratic 44.82%; Republican 27.29%; American Independent 2.55%; Libertarian .643%; Green .435%; Peace & Freedom .40%; miscellaneous qualified parties .55%; independent voters 23.32%.

Between these two tallies, Constitution Party registration increased from 288 to 310. Reform Party registration declined from 11,946 to 11.835.