The Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party are both qualified parties in South Dakota, but neither one of them has been able to run any candidates for Governor, U.S. Senator, or U.S. House this year, because they must nominate by primary for those offices, and the petition for a candidate to get on the primary ballot for those offices requires 250 signatures of party members. Given the small number of registered voters in those parties, that is too difficult. The 250-signature petition has not been overcome by any qualified minor party in 2008, 2010, 2012, or this year.

On July 23, Charles W. Haan, the Constitution Party’s candidate for U.S. House, filed a pro se lawsuit, asking that he be placed on the November ballot even though he wasn’t technically nominated in the June primary. Haan points out that the party officers certified him as their nominee. He also points out that he did submit a primary petition signed by 205 registered party members.

The Constitution Party filed a similar lawsuit in 2010, but then the plaintiff-candidate withdrew, so the U.S. District Court ruled none of the other plaintiffs had standing. The Court also said that even if some of the plaintiffs did have standing, the requirement is constitutional. The plaintiffs then appealed, and the Eighth Circuit said the U.S. District Court should not have made a ruling on the merits, given that no one had standing.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Storer v Brown, 415 US 724 (1974) that the way to evaluate petition requirements is to divide the number of signatures required by the number of eligible signers. Because the Constitution Party has fewer than 600 registered members, and they are the only eligible signers, the calculation works out to 40%, which should be unconstitutional, if the U.S. District Court will follow the Storer rule. The case is Haan v Gant, 14-3009.

On July 24, the “binder check” process started for the Illinois Green Party. Because the party’s petition for statewide office is being challenged, the party must supply twelve individuals who will spend all day, during weekdays, sitting in a State Elections Board office and poring over each signature that has been challenged. The challengers must have an equal number of workers, but typically when the challengers represent major party figures, those major parties pay their workers.

Worse for the Green Party is that the State Board of Elections is not conducting this process in Chicago, even though the State Board has offices in Chicago. Most of the Green Party workers live in the Chicago area.

The book “United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997”, by Michael J. Dubin, published in 1998, sells new for $409.40. It has election returns for every individual who ever ran for Congress in a general election, including the party label, the vote, and the percentage of the vote.

It is one of my two most precious reference books (the other is “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the U.S. Congress 1789-1989”, by Kenneth Martis). Fairvote is selling copies of Dubin’s 1,005-page book for only $20, which includes shipping. Obviously there is a limited supply, so it’s first come-first serve.

Amazon does have a few used copies of Dubin’s book for $88.00 plus shipping, but the Fairvote copies are new. To buy the book from Fairvote, send a check for $20 to Fairvote, 6930 Carroll Ave., #610, Takoma Park Md 20912.