On September 19, prominent supporters of proportional representation for Canada held a rally in the Canadian capitol. The event is sponsored by Fair Vote Canada. The event is getting good publicity; see this article.
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The Alaska Elections Division has posted new registration data. The percentages are: independent and those who left the party choice blank 53.10%; Republican 27.31%; Democratic 14.32%; Alaskan Independence 3.14%; Libertarian 1.50%; Green .37%; Veterans .23%; Constitution .03%.
Percentages in November 2012 were: independent and those who left the party choice blank 53.05%; Republican 27.17%; Democratic 14.50%; Alaskan Independence 3.10%; Libertarian 1.52%; Green .40%; Veterans .25%; Constitution .02%. See here for more details about the current tally.
Alaska has four ballot-qualified parties: Republican, Democratic, Alaskan Independence, Libertarian. Alaska keeps a registration tally of other groups if they request it.
Pamela Goode, who has been active in the Alaska Republican Party, has changed her voter registration to show that she is a member of the Constitution Party. She was an Alternate Delegate pledged to Ron Paul in the 2012 Republican National Convention, and she has served in local elected office. She is also running in the October 1, 2013 election for Delta Junction-Fort Greely School Board. Here is her campaign statement. Scroll down to the bottom.
The Alaska Constitution Party expects to petition for a place on the 2014 ballot for Governor, although it has not yet chosen its nominee and it can’t begin petitioning until it has chosen a nominee. It is also carrying on a voter registration drive. It will become a ballot-qualified party if it either polls 3% for Governor in 2014, or if its registration rises so that it is equal to 3% of the number of people who vote for Governor.
The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs has issued this research on the total number of U.S. Senate candidates on the general election ballot throughout U.S. history. The U.S. has been holding U.S. Senate elections starting in 1914, so the report covers 100 years.
The report finds that New Jersey has had more U.S. Senate candidates on its general election ballots than any other state. This is not surprising, because New Jersey has had consistently easy petition requirements throughout its history. The 1890 law that requires 800 signatures for statewide independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, has never been amended.
The number of minor party and independent candidates for U.S. Senate is not entirely a function of how easy or difficult the ballot access laws are, though. Some states just have a political culture that has discouraged minor party and independent candidates. Mississippi has always had easy ballot access for both independent candidates and minor parties, yet Mississippi has had very few such candidates on the ballot throughout most of its history, although it has had many more in the past twenty years than it did previously. Mississippi has never required a petition for a party to gain a place on the ballot. The statewide independent petition in Mississippi was only 50 signatures between 1890 and 1955. In 1955 it was raised to 1,000 signatures. In 1966 the statewide petition was raised to 10,000 signatures, but the Voting Rights Section refused to pre-clear that change, so it went back to 1,000 signatures.
On September 18, the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Sheriff of Hampton, Virginia, should not have fired one of his deputies. The deputy had “liked” the Sheriff’s election opponent on Facebook, and the evidence showed that the Sheriff fired the deputy for that reason. The lower court had ruled that “liking” someone on Facebook is not actual speech, but the Fourth Circuit disagreed. Bland v Roberts, 12-1671.