Virginia Bill to Ease Definition of “Political Party”

Posted on by January 5, 2015
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Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) has introduced HB 1463. It eases the vote test for a group to obtain and retain political party status. The bill lowers the vote test from 10% to 4% at either of the last two statewide elections.

If the bill were to pass, the Libertarian Party would be ballot-qualified for 2016, because it got 6.52% for Governor in November 2013. In November 2014, for U.S. Senate, it did not get 4%; it got 2.43%.

Rasoul is in his first term.

The reason the existing Virginia vote test applies to the next two statewide elections, instead of just the next election, is that in 1990, the Democratic Party didn’t run anyone for U.S. Senate, which was the only statewide office up that year. After the election, the legislature quickly changed the vote test so that the Democratic Party would remain on the ballot. The 1990 precedent shows that when the legislature eases the vote test, it applies retrospectively. “Retrospective” means that when a bill takes effect, election administrators can look to past election returns to apply the new law.

The Virginia vote test is tied for being second-highest in the nation. The other 10% vote test states are Oklahoma and New Jersey. Alabama, at 20%, has the highest vote test. Thanks to Bill Redpath for this news.

New On-Line Petition Launched for More Inclusive General Election Presidential Debates

Posted on by January 5, 2015
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On December 31, 2014, a new on-line petition directed toward the Commission on Presidential Debates was launched. The petition asks the Commission to invite all presidential candidates who are theoretically capable of winning the election. In all U.S. history, no presidential election has ever had more than seven such candidates. The 2012 election only had four such candidates. Here is the link to the group. Thanks to June Genis for the link.

Montana Republican Party Lawsuit Against Open Primary Moves Ahead

Posted on by January 4, 2015
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On January 2, 2015, the Republican Party of ten Montana counties filed an amended complaint in Ravalli County Republican Central Committee v McCulloch, 6:14cv-58. This is the lawsuit which challenges Montana’s open primary as applied to the Republican Party. The amended complaint adds a challenge to the part of the law that requires election of party officers in an open primary.

Although the state Republican Party is still not a plaintiff, the Republican Party state convention in June 2014 passed a resolution, almost unanimously, that “it is the position of the Montana Republican Party that the voters that select candidates to appear on the general election ballot should be limited to members of the Republican Party who have registered themselves as members of the party if a primary election process is used.”

The ten county Republican Parties which are in the lawsuit already are those of Ravalli, Gallatin, Sanders, Dawson, Stillwater, Richland, Carbon, Flathead, Madison, and Big Horn Counties.

U.S. District Court Upholds California Ban on Write-in Votes in November Elections for Partisan Office

Posted on by January 3, 2015
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On December 24, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter upheld California’s ban on write-in votes at the general election for Congress and partisan state office. Milonopoulos v Bowen, central district, 2:14cv-5973. The case had been filed by Theo Milonopoulos on July 30, 2014. He was a write-in candidate for U.S. House, 33rd District, in the June 2014 primary, and he only received one write-in vote. But he wanted to be a write-in candidate in November, so he filed a pro se lawsuit.

The decision was issued only two days after the hearing. Judge Carter said that because the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Hawaii’s ban on write-in votes in 1992 in Burdick v Takushi, therefore the California write-in ban is constitutional. Carter wrote that Hawaii’s general election choices are more restricted than California’s. This is untrue. In California, all congressional and partisan state office races are limited by law to only two candidates. Hawaii general election ballots give voters far more choices. In November 2014, there were nominees of four parties on the Hawaii ballot for Governor, three for U.S. Senate, three for U.S. House in the 2nd district, and up to four candidates in legislative races.

Carter also said that if California permitted write-in candidacies in November, someone who ran in the primary and lost might file as a write-in. This does not follow logically. California is free to permit write-in candidates in November but to refuse to count write-ins for candidates who had run in the primary, and several states follow that policy.

Nielsen Merksamer, the law firm that intervenes in all California election law lawsuits that have any bearing on the top-two primary, has forwarded a copy of the Milonopoulos decision to the California State Court of Appeals that is hearing Rubin v Bowen, the minor party challenge to the California top-two system. Rubin v Bowen will be heard in San Francisco on Thursday morning, January 15. Nielsen Merksamer has informed the three judges that are hearing Rubin v Bowen that they should take the Milonopoulos decision into account when they hear Rubin v Bowen. Nielsen Merksamer represents Californians for an Open Primary, which holds itself out to the public as a group that promotes voting rights. Neilsen Merksamer had intervened in the Milonopoulos lawsuit in support of the ban on write-in votes.

New York Working Families Party Polled its Best Votes Ever in 2014 for All Federal and State Office Except Governor

Posted on by January 2, 2015
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The New York Working Families Party polled its best percentages ever for federal and state office in November 2014, other than the gubernatorial race. The party polled its highest vote percentages ever for the other statewide offices, Comptroller and Attorney General.

For U.S. House races, its nominees polled 6.12% of the vote in the districts in which the party had nominees. It had nominees in 24 of the 27 districts. All of them were also Democratic Party nominees. Previous Working Families percentages in New York U.S. House races (in which the party had nominees) were: 2000 1.79%; 2002 3.04%; 2004 3.03%; 2006 4.22%; 2008 3.48%; 2010 4.43%; 2012 3.65%.

For State Senate races, WFP nominees polled 5.96% in the districts in which it had nominees. Previous equivalent percentages were: 2000 1.86%; 2002 3.45%; 2004 3.21%; 2006 4.79%; 2008 3.35%; 2010 4.61%; 2012 3.63%.

For Assembly, WFP nominees received 7.24%. Previous showings were: 2000 2.05%; 2002 2.84%; 2004 3.20%; 2006 4.39%; 2008 3.62%; 2010 5.05%; 2012 4.62%.

For the first time in a regularly-scheduled legislative race, the WFP topped 25%. It did that in the 44th Assembly district for its nominee, James Brennan, who was also the Democratic nominee. There was a Republican in this race also. Brennan received 25.12% on the WFP line. The party’s second-best showing in a 2014 legislative race was in the 52nd Assembly district race, where its nominee, Peter Sikora, was not the Democratic Party nominee, but just the WFP nominee. The Republicans also had a nominee in that race. Both the 44th and 52nd Assembly districts are in Brooklyn.

Although the 2014 showing for Governor was lower than the WFP showings of 2006 and 2010, it didn’t decline much. All three years, and always in the party’s history, the WFP gubernatorial nominee has been the person who was also the Democratic nominee. The WFP showings for Governor have been: 1998 1.08%; 2002 1.98%; 2006 3.50% (its best); 2010 3.33%; 2014 3.31%.