New York State Board of Elections Might Buy Vote-Counting System that would Hugely Improve Ballot Format

Posted on by December 15, 2015
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On December 15, the New York State Board of Elections held a meeting, and discussed the possibility of setting up a pilot project to use “Expressvote” vote-counting machines.

New York and New Jersey currently have the nation’s worst ballot format. New York, and almost all counties in New Jersey, design their general election ballots so the major party nominees are easy to find, but many minor party and independent candidates are put in far corners of the ballot, so they aren’t even visible for someone who doesn’t look carefully. But if New York switched to Expressvote, that problem would be solved.

This link shows what the ballot looks like in jurisdictions that use Expressvote. Thanks to Mike Drucker for this news.

Some Members of Congress Want to Eliminate Primary Season Matching Funds and Use the Money to Pay for Major Party Conventions

Posted on by December 15, 2015
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According to this Democracy 21 press release, some members of Congress are working to change the public funding system for presidential elections. Apparently primary season matching funds would be abolished, and the money would be used to pay for the major party presidential conventions. This idea might appeal to Democrats, because the Democratic National Committee is low in funds that are needed to pay for costs of the 2016 Philadelphia convention.

The only minor party or independent presidential candidate who is currently seeking to qualify for primary season matching funds is Jill Stein. She must raise $5,000 in small donations from each of 20 states. She recently crossed the threshold in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, so is up to eleven or twelve states now.

The change in the law would be brought about by inserting provisions into the omnibus spending bill, which is expected to pass by the end of the year.

U.S. District Court Judge Says Trial Needed to Settle Montana Republican Party Lawsuit Against Open Primary

Posted on by December 15, 2015
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Last year, the Montana Republican Party filed a lawsuit against state law that requires the party to nominate candidates for public office in an open primary. On December 14, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris, an Obama appointee, ruled that the lawsuit can’t be decided without more evidence. The Republican Party already provided evidence that in open primaries in other states, a certain percentage of voters who are not loyal to the Republican Party nevertheless choose to vote in Republican primaries.

The ruling, which is 37 pages long and has a comprehensive history of other lawsuits on the issue of primaries, says the case needs evidence from Montana. In order to win the case, the Montana Republican Party will now need to find evidence that votes who don’t really like the Republican Party still choose to vote in Republican primaries.

In Montana, the voter registration form doesn’t ask about party membership, and it isn’t easy for anyone on either side of this lawsuit to define what a Republican is. The state argues that if a person requests a Republican primary ballot, by definition the person is a Republican. Thanks to Rick Hasen for news about the decision.

Texas Democrats Likely to Run Full Slate of Statewide Nominees in 2016, Lessening Chances that Libertarian and Green Parties Will Remain on Ballot After November 2016

Posted on by December 14, 2015
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The Texas Democratic Party has recruited a full slate of candidates for the 2016 statewide offices. Although there is no certainly that all of them will qualify for the March primary ballot, it is likely that they will. The 2015 Texas legislative session passed SB 1073, which removes the requirement that primary candidates for statewide judicial offices need a petition to get on the primary ballot. Therefore, they can all get on the Democratic March primary ballot with just a fee.

This is bad news for the Libertarian Party and the Green Party. Both parties remain ballot-qualified in Texas by polling at least 5% for one of the statewide races, every two years. But the only races in which they are able to poll as much as 5% have been races in which no Democrat was running. For example, in 2014, the highest percentage for a Libertarian in a statewide race with both major parties also in the race was 3.39%. The highest Green percentage for a statewide race with both major parties was 2.03%. Thanks to political scientist Mark P. Jones for this news.

Jill Stein Meets with Foreign Leaders in Paris and Moscow

Posted on by December 14, 2015
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Jill Stein, the 2012 Green Party presidential nominee who is again seeking the Green Party presidential nomination, recently attended meetings in Paris and Moscow. On December 10 she sat at the same banquet table as Vladimir Putin, and she met other Russian political leaders the following day. See Stein’s web page here. Thanks to Jacqui Devenaux for the news.