Political scientist Richard J. Hardy wrote “The Paradoxes of Political Parties in American Constitutional Government” in 2011. Here is a link to his 27-page article. Even though it is not new, it is relevant today, especially since many individuals believe that political parties are not useful and that the U.S. would be better off if they didn’t exist. There are many books that make his points, but this article is much shorter than a book, and clear and convincing.
According to this story, Dunsmuir, California’s city council cannot act on any matter whatsoever, because a quorum is three members, but the city council now has only two members. Dunsmuir, like almost all California cities, normally has a 5-person city council, but three of the members resigned. With no quorum, no business can be conducted, not even calling a special election or taking other action to fill the vacancies.
On April 24, the Montana Senate passed HB 120, which now goes to the Governor. This is the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, and it includes two ballot access improvements: (1) moving the non-presidential independent deadline from March to May; (2) eliminating a restriction on who can be an independent presidential or vice-presidential candidate. Montana becomes the second state, after Virginia, in which a legislature has passed a bill in 2013 to improve ballot access for minor parties or independent candidates.
Bills to improve ballot access are pending in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.
Think New Mexico, a non-partisan think tank, has asked the Republican Party of New Mexico, and also the Democratic Party of New Mexico, to amend their bylaws and let independent voters participate in their primaries. See this story. New Mexico was one of the last states in the nation to even have primaries. Until 1938, all parties nominated by convention. Primaries have existed since 1938, but have always been closed.
Here is more information about Think New Mexico. The group understands case law, and in its advocacy to the parties, correctly points out that the decision on whether to let independents vote in party primaries is a decision for the party to make, not a decision for the state.
On April 22, the Washington state legislature passed HB 1474. It provides that in all cases, non-partisan state office elections will always appear on the November ballot. Under current law, for state offices that are non-partisan, if anyone gets 50% or more in the August primary, the person is deemed elected.
But under the bill, the state non-partisan offices will always appear on the November ballot, even if someone got 100% of the votes in the August primary. Washington state has write-in space on the November ballot, so even if only one candidate will appear on the November ballot (because only one person filed), in theory the person could be defeated by a write-in candidate in November. Here is the text of the bill, which is very short.
The non-partisan state offices are Superintendent of Public Instruction, and all three levels of state judge (Supreme, Appeals, and Superior). Here is a news story about the bill. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
