California Assembly Elections Committee Defeats Resolution for an Advisory Presidential Primary Ballot for Independents who Don’t Want a Party Ballot

Posted on by March 30, 2016
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On March 30, the California Assembly Committee defeated ACR 145, which would have asked the Secretary of State to ask the counties to print up advisory presidential primary ballots for independent voters who don’t want a party primary ballot. The Democratic, Libertarian, and American Independent Parties already let independents vote in their presidential primaries, but the Republican, Green, and Peace & Freedom Parties do not. If the resolution were enacted and elections officials carried out the request, then independents who want to vote in the Republican primary would have been able to cast an advisory vote.

The bill needed four votes to pass, but only received two. During the testimony, the chair of the Committee, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, expressed the idea that California’s top-two system (which only relates to congressional a d state office elections, but not president) disenfranchises voters who want to vote for minor parties in November. Weber is a Democrat. The two votes in favor of ACR 145 were also cast by Democrats.

Green Party Candidate Invited, then Disinvited, from Baltimore U.S. Senate Debate; Both Republicans and Democrats Were Included

Posted on by March 30, 2016
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On March 28, Maryland Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers was not allowed to participate in a U.S. Senate debate, even though Democratic and Republican candidates for the same office were invited. Flowers had been invited, and then the invitation was revoked, with new qualifications added at the last minute involving polling. See this story from Green Party Watch. UPDATE: see this story, which has a link to a video.

California Assembly Elections Committee Hears Bill for an Advisory Presidential Primary Ballot for All Voters on March 30

Posted on by March 29, 2016
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The Assembly Elections Committee will hear ACR 145 on Wednesday, Marcy 30, at 9 a.m., along with ten other bills. ACR 145 expresses the sentiment of the legislature that the Secretary of State should exercise his authority to bring into existence an advisory presidential primary ballot that could be used by independent voters who don’t wish to ask for the presidential primary ballot of one of the three parties that lets independents vote in its presidential primary. Also that advisory ballot could be used by independent voters who would have liked the ballot of one of the three parties that doesn’t let independents vote in its presidential primary. Here is the text of the bill.

Here is the analysis of the bill. Click on the link inside the link.

California had a single presidential primary ballot in 2000, when the state had a blanket primary. That single presidential primary ballot listed the presidential candidates of all seven qualified parties. Any voter could vote for any presidential candidate from any party. However, although the ballots appeared identical, they were computer-coded ballots for voters of each qualified party, which allowed the vote-counting equipment to separate out the votes cast by members of each qualified party, and also to count the votes of independent voters. The election returns, showing how members of each party voted, enabled parties to know how members of their own parties had voted, and use only that data to determine how to allocate delegates to its national convention. The 2000 California presidential primary returns provided fascinating data that is not normally known. For example, it was fascinating to see how many registered Republicans voted for Ralph Nader, who was seeking the Green Party nomination that year. The data can be seen on the Secretary of State’s web page, if one chooses the Statement of Votes for the March 7, 2000 primary.