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Independent Party of Oregon Will Have a Presidential Primary

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Richard WingerMarch 2, 2016

The Independent Party is entitled to nominate by primary, the first party in Oregon to have a government-adminstered primary since the Progressive Party had one in 1914. Oregon election officials plan to also provide the party with a presidential primary. It isn’t clear yet whether there will be any candidates’ names on that presidential primary. Either the party will be permitted to have presidential candidates’ names that have been suggested by the party, or else the ballot won’t have any names and the outcome will be decided by write-in votes.

Ohio State Court Says Libertarian Complaint Against John Kasich Campaign on Campaign Finance Can’t be Appealed

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Richard WingerMarch 3, 2016

In 2014, Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich was running for re-election. His campaign spent $592,000 on legal bills in a successful effort to keep the Libertarian Party from having a gubernatorial candidate on the ballot. The Kasich campaign did not report these payments in its campaign finance reports. The Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Earl, filed a complaint against the Ohio Election Commission, but the Commission refused to act. Last year, Earl sued the Ohio Commission for its inaction. But on February 29, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas said that the Commission has discretion on which complaints to act on, and that if the Commission doesn’t want to act, courts may not interfere. See this story. Earl may appeal. The case is Earl v Ohio Election Commission, 15-cv-5973, Franklin County.

UPDATE: on March 3, Earl filed a notice of appeal, so that the State Court of Appeals will hear the case.

Illinois Newspaper Editorial Says Libertarian Party Win Against Full-Slate Law May be Just the Beginning of Ballot Access Improvements in Illinois

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Richard WingerMarch 2, 2016

The Rock Island Argus, a daily newspaper in Illinois, editorializes here that the recent federal court decision invalidating one Illinois ballot access restriction may be just the beginning of improvements in that state’s ballot access laws.

Illinois badly needs ballot access reform. It is one of only eleven states that has no procedure for a group to become a qualified party in advance of any particular election. Its candidate petitions for district office, for both independents and the nominees of unqualified parties, are the second highest in the nation, after Georgia. Illinois is the only populous state in which it is common for half the legislative races to have only one candidate on the November ballot.

U.S. District Court Enjoins Out-of-State Circulator Ban for Presidential Primary Petitions, at Least as Applied to Shawn Wilmoth

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Richard WingerMarch 1, 2016

On March 1, U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall granted a temporary restraining order, prohibiting the Connecticut Secretary of State from blocking Shawn Wilmoth from circulating a presidential primary petition for Rocky De La Fuente. Wilmoth v Merrill, 16-cv-223. The order is one page and says, “The Secretary is enjoined from enforcing sections 9-468, 9-410(c), and 9-412 of the Connecticut General Statutes, to the extent that these sections impose an in-state residency restriction upon Wilmoth’s circulation of petitions to seek Rocky De La Fuente’s inclusion on the ballot for the 2016 Democratic primary election for President.”

Although the same judge, on January 27, 2016, had enjoined Connecticut’s out-of-state circulator ban for general election petitions, this new order is still somewhat surprising. The state had argued that the ban on out-of-state circulators for primary petitioners is intended to protect political parties from outside interference. In this case, however, the Democratic Party didn’t intervene to “protect” itself against out-of-state circulators. And Wilmoth had presented evidence that even though he lives in Michigan, not Connecticut, he is a Democrat.

Another hearing will be held in this case on March 10 at 4 p.m.

South Dakota Attorney General Rules that Candidates in Minor Party Primaries Can Circulate Petitions to get Themselves on Primary Ballots, Before those Parties Have Attained Qualified Status

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Richard WingerMarch 1, 2016

On March 1, the South Dakota Attorney General ruled that candidates who are seeking to place themselves on the primary ballot of a party that is not yet qualified may circulate such candidate primary petitions, even before that party has qualified. South Dakota has very difficult petition requirements for members of small parties to get themselves on their own party’s primary ballot. Candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House need 250 signatures of party members. This is not easy if the party only has, for example, 500 registered members.

South Dakota primary candidate petitions circulate between January 1 and the last Tuesday of March. The March 1 ruling means that candidates who want to be on the primary ballot can start those difficult 250-signature petitions on January 1, whether their party has become qualified at that time or not. Thanks to Stephen Pevar for this news.