The Post Bulletin, daily newspaper for Rochester, Minnesota, has this article, in which the reporter asked leaders of the Independence Party about their thoughts on the party’s future. The party lost its status as a qualified party at the November 2014 election, although it is still entitled to public funding. Minnesota requires a 5% vote for a party to remain ballot-qualified, but only 1% for it to remain entitled to public funding.

No party leader quoted in this article mentioned the idea of asking the legislature to ease the definition of “party” for ballot access purposes. The median vote test of the 50 states is 2%.

The Independence Party gained qualified status in November 1994. In early 1996 it changed its name to the Reform Party, but in 2000 it changed it back to the Independence Party.

On November 15, Virgin Islands election authorities finished the canvass of the November 4 vote. Incumbent State Senator Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, an independent, received fewer than half as many write-in votes as needed to win. See this story. She had been removed from the ballot on October 24 by the Territory’s Supreme Court, which felt that her misdemeanor conviction some years ago made her ineligible. The charter of the Virgin Islands says that the Territory’s Senate is the “sole judge” of qualifications of members, and furthermore the Governor had issue her a pardon.

On November 17, a Michigan House committee will hold a hearing on HB 5974. Introduced by Representative Pete Lund (R-Macomb County), it says the winner of the popular vote for president in Michigan will get nine electoral votes, and then for every 1.5% above 50%, he or she will get another electoral vote. The proposal seems designed to give both major party presidential candidates some electoral votes, but no one else. Here is a link to the bill. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.