Andrew Gripp, adjunct professor of political science at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pennsylvania, has this essay posted at IVN. It contrasts how much freedom voters have in an open primary, with how much freedom they have in California’s top-two system.
Greg Orman, the independent candidate last year for U.S. Senate in Kansas, has this article in The Hill. The article points out the extreme disparity between how much an individual can give to an independent candidate for federal office, versus how much an individual can give to a political party.
As already noted, on January 29, the Ninth Circuit heard 35 minutes of oral argument in Arizona Libertarian Party v Bennett, 13-16254. The issue is the Arizona paper voter registration form, that lists only the two largest parties and gives each of them a checkbox. Anyone who wishes to register into any other party, even though it is qualified, must write-in the choice in the “other” box. Before 2011, the part of the form asking about choice of party just had a blank line.
Here is a link to the oral argument, from the Ninth Circuit’s web page. The attorney for the government seemed to contradict himself when, on the one hand, he argued that forcing applicants to write-in the names of some parties is a very minor burden; but on the other hand he quoted from a U.S. Supreme Court opinion Timmons v Twin Cities Area New Party which said that states have an interest in a “healthy” two-party system and they can write laws that discriminate against other parties.
Vermont Senator Anthony Pollina (Progressive-North Middlesex) has introduced SB 76, which would move the Vermont presidential primary from March to whatever day New Hampshire holds its presidential primary. New Hampshire law says that the New Hampshire presidential primary must be earlier than any other state’s presidential primary.
Vermont requires 1,000 signatures for candidates to get on the presidential primary ballot. However, New Hampshire does not require petitions for presidential primary candidates, and lets anyone on the presidential primary ballot who pays a filing fee of $1,000. If the Vermont legislature wishes to pass SB 76, the legislature would be wise to abolish the petition, because it takes time to process petitions. New Hampshire is able to administer its presidential primary very quickly after the state settles on a date, and part of the reason New Hampshire is so flexible is that it doesn’t require petitions. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.
Texas Representative Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) has introduced HB 1288, to abolish the straight-ticket device. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
