Maine Libertarian Court Hearing Last Four Hours and Will Resume Next Week

Posted on by March 31, 2016
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On March 31, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock heard four hours of testimony and argument in Libertarian Party of Maine v Dunlap, the case that challenges the Maine deadline for a new party to submit at least 5,000 voter registration cards showing the signers as members of that party. The hearing is not complete and will resume next week. See this story. The Libertarian Party argues that the deadline of December 1 in the year before the election is far too early to be constitutional. In 1854, the Republican Party was formed July 6 and went on to win a plurality in the U.S. House of Representatives. That was before there were any ballot access laws or any government-printed ballots.

The news story says the hearing was “heated.”

Republican National Committee Files Amicus Curiae Brief in Defense of New Hampshire Ballot Access Restriction

Posted on by March 31, 2016
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On March 31, the Republican National Committee filed an amicus curiae brief in Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Gardner, the lawsuit challenging the 2014 law that made it illegal to collect signatures on a party petition during an odd year.

The Republican National Committee amicus says similar restrictions were upheld in other states, but none of their cited cases is on point. The Republican brief cites Green Party of Arkansas v Martin, but that was a case about how a party remains on the ballot, not on how it gets on. The brief cites Rogers v Corbett, a Pennsylvania case, but that was not about timing of petitioning; it was a challenge to the concept that Pennsylvania requires non-members of the party to help the party choose its nominees. The Republican brief cites Stone v Board of Elections, but that was about candidate petitions in non-partisan city elections, not petitions to create a new party. The Republicans cite Barr v Galvin, a Massachusetts case, but that was about whether a presidential candidate petition could use stand-ins. The Republican brief cites a 1988 Oklahoma case, Rainbow Coalition for Election Board, and that case did uphold a one-year period for collecting the party petition, but New Hampshire only allows seven months, not one year. Also Oklahoma let the group choose its own one-year petitioning window; New Hampshire does not.

Ron Paul Says Voters Who Agree with Libertarian and Green Parties Ought to Vote for Those Parties

Posted on by March 31, 2016
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Ron Paul, on television recently, said that voters who agree with the Green Party or the Libertarian Party on the issues ought to vote for those parties. Paul also said that he himself will not vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. See this story.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Rand Paul plans a “major” endorsement on Friday, April 1. See this story.

Indiana Legislature Makes Straight-Ticket Device Even More Confusing

Posted on by March 31, 2016
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On March 21, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed SB 61. It keeps the straight-ticket device, but says that voters who use it will also be required to vote separately on local partisan offices for which more than one candidate is elected. See this story. The bill was needed because, according to the story, “a technical glitch” was preventing some votes from being counted. The change will require some counties to re-program their vote-counting equipment.

Indiana legislators who oppose the straight-ticket device tried to amend the bill, so that it eliminates the device entirely, but they did not succeed.