Commission on Presidential Debates Sticks to 15% Poll Rule

Posted on by October 29, 2015
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On October 29, the Commission on Presidential Debates said it won’t change the 15% poll rule that it has used throughout this century. Here is the announcement. Although the decision was made on October 28, it was not announced until October 29.

Two lawsuits are pending against the 15% rule, both in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. They are Level the Playing Field v Federal Election Commission, and Johnson v Commission on Presidential Debates. The first one depends on campaign finance law and the second on antitrust law.

Ohio Libertarian Party Will Petition for Party Status

Posted on by October 28, 2015
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The Ohio Libertarian Party has been fighting in federal court to be restored to the ballot, but so far the lawsuit hasn’t won, although part of it still isn’t decided. Thus, the party has decided to begin petitioning for party status for 2016. It needs 30,560 valid signatures by July 6.

If the petition succeeds, the party will be the first to use the new ballot access law passed in late 2013. The new law says that newly-qualifying parties nominate by convention, not by primary.

The Green Party is ballot-qualified in Ohio and will nominate by primary. If the party wishes, it may have its own presidential primary. Jill Stein is likely to qualify for the party’s presidential primary ballot, since candidates who qualify for primary season matching funds are put on presidential primary ballots automatically.

Washington, D.C. City Council Holds Hearing on Bill to Create Multi-Media Campaign for Statehood

Posted on by October 28, 2015
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On October 27, the Washington, D.C. city council held hearings on PR 21-302, which would authorize the city government to launch a multi-media and petition campaign for statehood for the District of Columbia. See this story. The bill is co-sponsored by a majority of members of the council, so it is likely to pass. The lead author is Councilmember Vincent Orange.

Bills are introduced in every session of Congress for statehood. These bills always specify that the name of the state would be New Columbia. The current bill, by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting representative for D.C. in the House, is HR 317. It has 125 co-sponsors, all of them Democrats.

Some critics claim the bill is unconstitutional, because there are certain parts of the U.S. Constitution that seem to imply that D.C. can’t be a state. On the other hand, critics of the status quo argue that the United States is the only nation in the world in which adult citizens in the national capital have no voting representation in the national legislature.