Charlotte Observer Article Explains Why North Carolina Requires so Many Signatures to Get on Ballot

Posted on by August 15, 2016
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This lengthy article in the Charlotte Observer explains the historical background for why North Carolina requires so many signatures for minor parties to get on the ballot. That is in the very end of the article. The law was passed in 1983 in reaction to the Socialist Workers Party having qualified in North Carolina in 1980, when the requirement was exactly 10,000 signatures. That was the first time a Marxist political party had ever qualified for the North Carolina ballot, and the legislature was not pleased. Thanks to Douglas Joy for the link.

Ohio Libertarians Submit Substitution Paperwork for their Independent Presidential Petition

Posted on by August 15, 2016
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On August 15, the Ohio Libertarian Party submitted paperwork with the Secretary of State, to substitute its actual presidential and vice-presidential nominees for the stand-ins who were listed on the party’s independent candidate petition. August 15 is the deadline for that paperwork.

Section 3513.31(F) permits stand-ins for all office, for independent candidate petitions. The Secretary of State’s office has been making the Libertarian Party nervous. First the Secretary of State’s office said it wasn’t sure that substitution is permitted for president and vice-president, even though it was used in Ohio by John Anderson for vice-president in 1980; by the Constitution Party for vice-president in 1996, 2000, and 2004; by the Reform Party for vice-president in 2000; by Ralph Nader for vice-president in 2004; and by the Libertarian Party for both president and vice-president in 1996.

Then the Secretary of State’s office started saying that the substitution paperwork can’t be submitted until after the validity of the petition has been checked, and that this job can’t be done by August 15. But there is no law or regulation that says the paperwork can’t be submitted until after the petition has been checked. This newspaper article says the Secretary of State’s office estimates the signatures will have been checked by August 19.

Canadian Press Article on Flaws in Australia’s Voting System

Posted on by August 15, 2016
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Canada is beginning to look seriously at alternative voting systems. Supporters of the status quo in Canada have pointed to flaws in Australia’s voting system as a reason for Canada to keep “first-past-the-post” voting. This article in the Canadian Press points out peculiarities in Australia, and notes that just because Australia’s system is flawed, it does not follow logically that all alternate voting systems are flawed.

The Australian flaws are: (1) for Parliamentary elections for lower house, Australia uses instant-runoff voting, but with the peculiar rule that voters are required to rank every candidate on the ballot, or the ballot is invalid; (2) for the Australian Senate, which uses ranked-choice voting for parties (not candidates), voters who don’t express a full range of choices are deemed to have voted according to the wishes of the party they do vote for.