On September 9, U.S. District Court Judge Andrea R. Wood said she will issue an opinion in Libertarian Party of Illinois v Illinois State Board of Elections by October 6, 2015. The issue is the unique Illinois law that says newly-qualifying parties (but not old parties) must run a full slate of candidates.
A poll for Canada’s October 2015 election was released on September 9. See the results here.
According to this story, the U.S. District Court Judge in Utah who is handling the Republican Party-Constitution Party lawsuit over how parties nominate wants the state and the political parties to reach a compromise settlement. The issue is the new Utah law that lets candidates run in a party primary even if they have not shown support at a party endorsements convention. Another issue is the law that forces parties to let independent voters vote in their primaries.
The electronic New York Times has commentary from five individuals on whether the U.S. would benefit from strong political parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties. Three of the writers say “yes”; two of them say “no.” The material does not appear in the print edition of the Times.
It is ironic that the piece by a Canadian law professor, Gregoire Webber, thinks the United States is better off with only two strong political parties. Canada is in the middle of an election campaign with three major parties, any one of which could potentially elect the next Prime Minister, yet Webber makes no mention of this. Thanks to Theresa Amato for the link.
On September 8, Hillary Clinton released these recommendations for campaign finance law changes. She favors public funding for candidates for federal office.
The statement does not acknowledge that the U.S. already has public funding for presidential candidates. The statement seems to hint that it is too easy now for candidates to get primary season matching funds. The statement says, “Qualifying contribution thresholds. To qualify for matching funds, candidates must first demonstrate that they have sufficient public support for a viable campaign by raising a minimum number of small donations from their constituents.”
Current law says candidates qualify for primary season matching funds by raising at least $5,000 in small donations in each of at least twenty states.
