Illinois Democrat Files Lawsuit to Force a More Accurate Count of His Write-ins; Recount Finds Enough to Obtain Democratic Nomination

Posted on by April 21, 2016
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Illinois, like many states that allow write-ins in partisan primaries, sets a minimum number of votes that a write-in candidate needs in order to be considered nominated. Moon Khan, a Democrat, campaigned as a write-in candidate for the Democratic nomination for DuPage County Recorder (no Democrat was on the primary ballot for that office). He needed 844 write-ins. After the initial count, following the March 15 primary, he was told he only had 699. He sued to force a recount, and the recount turned up enough additional write-ins for him to qualify. See this story.

Maine Governor Signs Bill for a Presidential Primary in Future Years

Posted on by April 21, 2016
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On April 15, Maine Governor Paul LePage signed LD 1673, which provides for a presidential primary in the future. For 2016 and recent past presidential elections, Maine has used caucuses instead of presidential primaries.

The bill also requires a study of the expenses of having a presidential primary. The new law will be automatically repealed in 2018, so even though it is the law, it won’t take effect without further affirmative action in 2017 or 2018. The law says that presidential primaries will be closed. If any party wants to let independent voters vote in its presidential primary, it will apparently need to sue the state.

The presidential primary would be in March. Presidential candidates need 2,000 signatures of party members. The bill does not say the signers must be party members, but existing law says only party members may sign other types of primary petitions, and the bill leaves that intact for the presidential primary as well.

Colorado Bill for a Presidential Primary Will Allow Independent Voters to Choose a Primary Ballot

Posted on by April 21, 2016
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Colorado legislative leaders are about to introduce a bill for a Colorado presidential primary. Currently, there is no Colorado presidential primary; the major parties use caucuses to choose delegates to the national conventions. According to this story, the bill will provide that independent voters will be free to choose a presidential primary ballot.

Wall Street Journal Carries Error-Plagued Article by Karl Rove on Whether Donald Trump Could be an Independent Candidate

Posted on by April 20, 2016
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The Wall Street Journal has this article by Karl Rove, which is on the subject of whether Donald Trump could get on ballots as an independent if he waited until the Republican convention to begin.

The article has many factual errors. It says that Colorado requires 5,000 signatures by June 6. Actually Colorado requires no signatures, merely payment of $1,000 and a list of presidential elector candidates by August 10.

It says that Vermont requires 1,000 signatures by June 16, but actually the signatures are due August 1.

It says Rhode Island requires 1,000 signatures by June 29, but only a declaration of candidacy is due on June 29, and the signatures are not due until September 9.

It says that Florida requires signatures by July 15. Although that is true for an independent presidential candidate, Trump could easily create his own party in Florida, or use one of the many ballot-qualified minor parties that already exist, which would leave him until September 1 to need to act.

It mentions that South Carolina requires an independent petition by July 15, which is true, but doesn’t say that South Carolina, like Florida, already has several ballot-qualified parties that would probably nominate him with no need for a petition.