Peter Ackerman and Larry Diamond have this op-ed in the Washington Post. It condemns U.S. election laws and practices that make it difficult for new parties and independent candidates to compete against the Republican and Democratic Parties. Peter Ackerman was a leader of Americans Elect 2010-2012. Larry Diamond is a scholar at the Hoover Institute.
The Albany Times-Union has this story about the March 3 oral argument in New York state court over whether Ted Cruz should remain on the Republican presidential primary ballot.
Green Party Watch has this report on election returns from the March 1 Green Party presidential primary.
On March 2, the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Coalition for Secular Government v Williams, 14-1469. The issue is whether small political committees must comply with the state’s onerous campaign contribution and expenditure rules. The Tenth Circuit agreed with the U.S. District Court’s 2014 decision, and held that the particular committee that brought the lawsuit should not need to comply with the disclosure rules.
The Tenth Circuit said, “The minimal informational interest here cannot support Colorado’s filing schedule that requires twelve disclosures in seven months regardless of whether an issue committee has received or spent any money. Further, the burden of asking for personal information of $20-contributors is substantial. Gaining the necessary information from these contributors might well result in fewer contributors willing to support an issue committee’s advocacy.” The Committee that brought this lawsuit had raised $3,500 to fight a statewide ballot measure defining “personhood” to begin at conception. The lawsuit had been brought in 2012. It was delayed because the U.S. District Court had sent the case to the Colorado Supreme Court, but that court declined to help settle the issue.
According to this story, Cleveland is in the process of spending $50,000,000 in federal funds to protect the Republican National Convention from protestors. The convention is July 18-21. If there is no first ballot presidential choice, it is conceivable that the convention might be in session beyond July 21.
