New Massachusetts Registration Data

Posted on by February 12, 2025
28

The Massachusetts Secretary of State has released registration data for February 1, 2025.

The number of registered members of various minor parties (none of whom are ballot-qualified) are: Libertarian 15,672; United Independents 12,788; Green 3,545; Socialist 1,770; Working Families 753; Pirate 721; Constitution 289; Workers 219; Natural Law 52; Forward 35; Prohibition 22.

TWo years ago, the same parties had these figures: Libertarian 16,548; United Independent 14,469; Green 3,599;Socialist 1,615; Working Families 722; Constitution 292; Workers 183; Natural Law 54; Prohibition 19. The figures for February 2024 for the Pirate Party and the Forward Party are unknown.

Correction to Previous Post About Revised Illinois Petitioning Period

Posted on by February 12, 2025
14

In a post last year, I reported that Illinois House Bill 4488 (HB4488) moved the general election petition deadline from late June to late May AND shortened to petition period from 90 days to 60 days. The deadline change to late May was correct, but the petition period shortening was incorrect. It remained at 90 days, so the petition period will start in late February, not late March.

However, this is still a significant blow to the ballot access prospects of independent and minor party candidates in Illinois. The first four weeks of the petitioning period will now literally be during the winter season. And, I can personally attest to how winterlike early Spring can be in Illinois.

Possibly more importantly, most farmers markets and festivals, which are frequently good petitioning locations, don’t open until June in Illinois, largely eliminating that source of signatures for potential candidates.

It is possible litigation will be forthcoming from parties harmed by this legislation.

Vermont State Trial Court Again Upholds Law that Permits Burlington to Let Non-Citizens Vote in City Elections

Posted on by February 12, 2025
34

On February 7, a Vermont state trial court again upheld the state law that lets Burlington authorize resident adult non-citizens to vote in local elections. Morin v City of Burlington, 24-cv-02403. This case said that the law is invalid as to School Board elections, because the state helps funds public schools and therefore the first decision doesn’t apply to school board elections. But the court rejected that argument. Here is the decision.