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North Dakota Libertarians Easily Poll Enough Primary Votes to Qualify for November Ballot

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Richard WingerJune 10, 2014

North Dakota holds primaries for all qualified parties, and no one running for statewide office can appear on the ballot in November if he or she ran in the primary and failed to get at least 300 primary votes. All three Libertarians running for statewide office in the June 10, 2014 primary have between 900 and 1,050 votes, even though as of this writing, only two-thirds of the precincts have reported. This is the first time any minor party candidates will have exceeded 1,000 votes in a North Dakota primary in the last 40 years. Here is a link to the election returns from the Secretary of State’s web page.

It isn’t easy for minor party candidates in North Dakota to poll many votes in the primary, because a voter who chooses the minor party primary is then unable to vote in a major party primary.

Georgia Files Brief in Presidential Ballot Access Case

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Richard WingerJune 10, 2014

On June 10, Georgia filed this brief in Green Party of Georgia v Kemp, 1:12cv-1822, northern district. The issue is whether Georgia’s presidential ballot access procedures are too difficult. The state says that the 11th circuit upheld Florida’s 3% petition in 1983, but the state fails to explain that at the time, Florida had a 1% petition for minor party and independent presidential ballot access.

The state also says that the fact that the Libertarian Party has been on for president in Georgia ever since 1992 proves the law is not too difficult. But the state doesn’t say that the Libertarian Party has been on the ballot for all statewide office, including president, automatically starting in 1988. To get this status, the Libertarians submitted 25,759 valid signatures in 1988, and they have never again been required to petition for statewide office. Meanwhile, the petition for statewide office, including president, is now over 50,000 signatures.

The state says the Eleventh Circuit has said that comparing the ballot access laws of each state is irrelevant. But the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t agree, and did compare the laws of all 50 states in two of its past ballot access decisions, Williams v Rhodes, and Jenness v Fortson.

Even though the brief is 25 pages, nowhere does it explain why Georgia’s severe requirement is needed for any purpose. The procedure is so difficult, it has not been used in fourteen years.

New Mexico Independent Voter Files Lawsuit to be Allowed to Vote in Major Party Primaries

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Richard WingerJune 10, 2014

On June 3, David Crum, an independent voter in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, filed a lawsuit in lower state court, alleging that the New Mexico Constitution requires that independent voters be allowed to vote in partisan primaries. Crum v Duran, d202-cv-2014-03730.

The New Mexico Constitution, Article Seven, section one, says, “Every person who is a qualified elector pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States and a citizen thereof shall be qualified to vote in all elections in New Mexico, subject to residency and registration requirements.”

New Mexico was one of the last states to have partisan primaries. Until 1938, all parties nominated by convention. The state will probably defend the current closed primary law by saying that a partisan primary is not an election; instead it is a means for a political party to nominate candidates. The New Mexico Election Code defines many terms, but it does not define “primary election”, “election”, or “primary.”

Wisconsin Congressional Candidate Survives Challenge to His Choice of Petitioners

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Richard WingerJune 10, 2014

The Wisconsin state agency that adjudicates ballot access challenges has determined that Democratic congressional candidate Gary George should appear on the Democratic primary ballot. His petition had been challenged on the basis that the circulators were ex-felons. However, the Government Accountability Board determined that the circulators, although ex-felons, are no longer on probation, so they are permitted to vote, and therefore to circulate petitions. See this story.

Former Democratic State Legislator Begins Petition Drive to be “Education & Democracy Party” Nominee for Connecticut Governor

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Richard WingerJune 10, 2014

Jonathan W. Pelto, a Connecticut legislator between 1984 and 1994, has begun petitioning to get himself on the Connecticut ballot as the Education & Democracy Party nominee for Governor. See this story. Pelto was Political Director of the Connecticut Democratic Party in 1990.

The only states that are having gubernatorial elections this year, and which definitely won’t have any minor party or independent candidates for Governor on the November ballot, are Alabama, California, and New Mexico. Thanks to Timothy McKee for the link.