Libertarian and Green Parties Each Entitled to Presidential Primaries in 2016 in At Least Six States

Posted on by March 28, 2015
7

The Libertarian Party and the Green Party, at this point, are each entitled to presidential primaries in six jurisdictions for 2016.  That number could conceivably increase if the parties complete various ballot access petitions between now and 2016 deadlines.

Libertarians have the right to their own presidential primaries in Arizona, California, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and North Carolina.  Greens have them in Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio.

The Constitution Party has a presidential primary in Missouri.

Technically, the Libertarian and Green Parties could also have a presidential primary in Delaware, except that the law requires so many signatures for a presidential candidate to get on the presidential primary ballot in those states (and only party members can sign) that in fact the primary can’t be used.

Montana Republican Senators Almost Introduced a Bill to Put Top-Two System on 2016 Ballot

Posted on by March 28, 2015
2

According to this story, Republican Senators in Montana almost introduced a bill to put a top-two system on the November 2016 for voters to decide whether or not to implement it.  The measure was drafted for Senator Fred Thomas (R-Stevensville), but he did not introduce it because the Republican leadership in the Senate decided not to support the idea.  Thanks to Mike Fellows for the link.

The story quotes one Republican Senator as saying “the beauty of the top-two system” is that the winner is determined by a majority.  A top-two system does not necessarily mean election by a majority of the voters who cast ballots.  Under top-two systems, a large proportion of the voters who cast a vote simply leave the office blank when they don’t like the listed choices.  In the California November 2012 election for U.S. House, 31st district, 23.1% of the voters who cast a ballot simply left U.S. House blank.

West Virginia Governor Signs Bill that Abolishes Straight-Ticket Device

Posted on by March 27, 2015
4

On March 25, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed SB 249, which eliminates the straight-ticket device.  West Virginia is the eleventh state to have repealed the device in the last fifty years.  The others have been Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, South Dakota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

The ten states that still have it are Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.