Utah Election Officials are Sending Letters to All Independent Voters Asking Which Primary Ballot They Wish; Democrats Complain

Posted on by May 19, 2016
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Utah election officials are sending letters to all independent voters, mentioning the upcoming primary (for office other than President). The letter asks if they wish a Democratic ballot, or a Republican ballot. The letter explains that if they want a Republican ballot, their registration record will be changed to list them as a Republican. The letter does not say this about the Democratic primary, because the Democratic Party lets independents vote in its primaries.

The Democratic Party has complained about the letter. See this story.

Utah has three other ballot-qualified parties: Libertarian, Constitution, and Independent American. Technically they also nominate by primary, but there are no primary contests for those three parties, because Utah only holds primaries when two competing candidates both show substantial support at a party caucus held before the primaries. The three smaller parties didn’t have any such contests this year.

Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution Analyst, Says California’s Top-Two System is Failing the State in U.S. Senate Race

Posted on by May 19, 2016
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Bill Whalen, of the Hoover Institution, has this commentary on the California U.S. Senate race and the top-two system. He is a Republican and was once part of Governor Pete Wilson’s administration. He says he has been a supporter of the top-two system in the past, but that this year, the system is failing the state, with regard to the U.S. Senate race.

He says that the three leading Republicans running for U.S. Senate this year each represent different shades of the Republican Party, and in a normal system, they would be debating each other over the direction the Republican Party should take. But because California has a top-two system, they don’t interact in debates or other public fora with each other. Instead, because each hopes to place second on June 7, they instead attack their Democratic opponents.

The piece would be better if Whalen did not refer to the top-two system as an “open primary.” “Open primary” has been defined in political science textbooks for over 100 years as a system in which, on primary day, any voter may choose any party’s primary ballot. But each party has its own primary ballot and its own nominees. In California, there are no party nominees or party primaries (except for President). In effect, California has a trial run general election in June, five months before the election itself. And people who don’t place first or second in the trial run are then barred from the election itself.

U.S. District Court Says Only the Third Circuit Can Decide Whether to Put Minor Parties on Pennsylvania Ballot

Posted on by May 19, 2016
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On May 19, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel issued a five-page order, saying only the Third Circuit can decide whether to put the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties on the Pennsylvania ballot. This is because the basis for any such order depends on what the Third Circuit thinks about the underlying issue in the original case. The order is dated May 18 but it wasn’t released until May 19.

On May 19, the parties filed an Emergency Motion with the Third Circuit, asking that they be put on the ballot. The case is Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Cortes.

Connecticut Democrats Nominate Green Party Member for State Legislature

Posted on by May 19, 2016
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On May 17, the Connecticut Democratic Party nominated Bonnie E. Troy for Assembly, 135th district. Troy is a registered Green and has already obtained the Green Party’s nomination for the same seat. See this story. Connecticut permits two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate. Because Troy has now received the Democratic nomination, she can fairly easily qualify for public funding.

The 135th district is in Fairfield County, and includes the towns of Easton, Redding, and Weston. In the same seat in 2014, the Democratic Party did not run anyone. The incumbent Republican in 2014, John Shaban, was re-elected that year with 5,578 votes. Troy was the Green Party nominee in 2014 as well, and she received 1,287 votes. In 2016, Assemblymembeer Shaban is not running for re-election, and the Republican nominee will be Adam Dunsby. Thanks to Green Party Watch for this news. It is believed that this is the first time either major party in Connecticut has ever nominated a Green Party nominee, at least for such an important office as legislature.