New York Independence Party and Libertarian Party Both Nominate Gary Johnson, but Have Different Candidates for Presidential Elector

Posted on by September 16, 2016
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Occasionally, in states that allow two parties to jointly nominate the same presidential candidate, the presidential elector candidates of one party are different that the presidential elector candidates of the other party. When this happens, the vote for the two competing slates can’t be added together.

This year in New York, the Independence Party and the Libertarian Party both nominated Gary Johnson, but the two slates of electors are different people. If Johnson were close to carrying New York, having his vote split into two separate slates would ruin his chances of electing either slate. But this is only a theoretical problem, because it seems unlikely in the extreme that Johnson could carry New York even if both slates were the same names.

This problem existed for Robert La Follette in 1924 in Montana and Oklahoma. He was nominated by three parties in Montana, and two parties in Oklahoma, but the parties didn’t submit the same electors. La Follette came fairly close to carrying Montana. He polled 65,876 votes, for second place behind Calvin Coolidge with 74,138. But if La Follette had received the most votes, he still probably would not have won any electoral votes.

It is too late for the Libertarian candidates for presidential elector to withdraw and be replaced by Independence Party electors. The deadline for that was September 5. The New York Independence Party hadn’t even nominated anyone for president at that point. See this Politico story. Thanks to several people for the link.

Second Circuit Issues 6-Page Explanation of Why It Canceled New York Republican Primary in U.S. House Race

Posted on by September 16, 2016
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On September 16, the Second Circuit issued a six-page order in Martins v Pidot, 16-3028, explaining why it canceled the Republican primary for U.S. House, 3rd district. The three judges had ruled from the bench three days ago but had not yet explained why. The U.S. District Court had ordered a new Republican primary because one of the two candidates, Philip Pidot, had been excluded from the ballot even though he had enough valid signatures.

The thrust of the Second Circuit order, although not expressed clearly, is that because Pidot lost in state court, he can’t go to federal court. Thanks to Thomas Jones and Rick Hasen for the link.

Commission on Presidential Debates Says Only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Will be in First Debate

Posted on by September 16, 2016
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On September 16, the Commission on Presidential Debates said only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be in the September 26 presidential debate. Also only the two major parties will be in the vice-presidential debate. But it is still possible more candidates could be added for the last two presidential debates. See this story. Thanks to Thomas Knapp for the link.

Pennsylvania Has No Independent Congressional Candidates for First Time Since 2002

Posted on by September 16, 2016
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The Pennsylvania Elections Department has posted the candidate list for federal and state office, for November 2016. For the first time since 2002, there are no independent candidates for either branch of Congress. The only non-Democratic, non-Republican candidates for U.S. House are two Libertarians (districts 15 and 16). For U.S. Senate, there is a Libertarian.

For State Senate, there are no minor party candidates. There are two independents, in districts 31 and 41. The party labels are abbreviated in the state’s list. “NOA” stands for “No affiliation.” “USM” stands for “U.S. Minutemen.”

For State House, there are four Libertarians, three Greens, and five independents. “KMI” stands for “Kate McGraw Independent.” One of the independents, Louis Jasikoff, in the 117th district, is a member of the Libertarian Party, but he chose the label “independent.”

John Kasich Reacts to Question on Which Presidential Candidate He will Vote For

Posted on by September 16, 2016
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Ohio Governor John Kasich was asked on CNN which presidential candidate he will vote for. He said he will not vote for Hillary Clinton. He said it is “very unlikely” he will vote for Donald Trump. When asked about Gary Johnson, he said, “I haven’t even gone there yet. It’s a long way to election day.” See this story.