Bipartisan Policy Center Recommends that All States Hold Congressional Primaries in June

Posted on by June 24, 2014
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On June 24, the Bipartisan Policy Center issued a report, “Governing in a Polarized America: A Bipartisan Blueprint to Strengthen Our Democracy.” One surprising recommendation is that all states hold congressional primaries on the same day in June. The Report does not discuss why June was chosen. Currently, congressional primaries are held over a six month range, from March through September.

The Report does not say whether it believes Congress should legislate a uniform primary date, or whether the states should simply be asked to agree. Bills in Congress to regulate the dates of presidential primaries have been introduced starting in the 1980’s, but none has ever come close to passing. It seems unlikely Congress would ever pass a bill to regulate the date of congressional primaries.

The Report is vague about what type of primaries are best, and simply concludes that primary turnout should be encouraged.

Portland, Maine Press Herald Compares Instant Runoff Voting with Top-Two Primaries

Posted on by June 24, 2014
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The Press Herald of Portland, Maine, has this editorial comparing Instant Runoff Voting and Top-Two Primaries. The editorial prefers Instant Runoff Voting. It says, about top-two systems, “Five months before the election, most voters haven’t tuned in yet and won’t have had the benefit of hearing candidates’ messages honed over long campaigns.” This is an apt criticism, and supporters of top-two generally don’t have a response to this point.

Unfortunately, the editorial writers are not aware that the term “open primary” does not mean a top-two primary. “Open primary” was the name given to the primary system Wisconsin invented in 1907, in which there is no registration by party. Every party has its own primary ballot, but any voter is free to choose any party’s primary ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued several opinions which define the various types of primary, and the U.S. Supreme Court uses the traditional definition; so do political science textbooks. Notwithstanding that, journalists all across the country use “open primary” in wildly different ways. Pennsylvania journalists use “open primary” to mean a closed partisan primary in which the party organization hasn’t made any endorsements. Illinois journalists use “open primary” to mean a secret open primary (in which the primary voter chooses a party primary ballot in the secrecy of the voting booth). British journalists use “open primary” to mean a primary administered and paid for by a party, in which any voter may participate.

U.S. District Court in Arizona Declines to Enjoin County Distribution Requirement for Primary Petitions

Posted on by June 23, 2014
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On June 23, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake declined to enjoin Arizona’s county distribution requirement for petitions to place statewide candidates on the primary ballot. Arizona law requires signatures of one-half of 1% of the registered members of a party to sign statewide primary petitions. In addition, the one-half of 1% standard must be met in at least three counties. The plaintiffs had challenged the requirement that the threshold be met in three counties.

The five-page order says nothing about the validity of the law, but says that the plaintiffs should have filed the lawsuit earlier. Plaintiffs had admitted that they started thinking about filing the lawsuit in December 2013, but did not actually file it until May 15, 2014. The case is Arizona Public Integrity Alliance v Bennett, 2:14cv-1044.

Number of North Dakota Voters Choosing Libertarian Primary Ballot Triples Compared to Last Mid-Term Primary

Posted on by June 23, 2014
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All ballot-qualified parties in North Dakota nominate by primary. The primary is open. On primary day, all voters are free to choose any party’s primary ballot. The only ballot-qualified parties in North Dakota in 2010, and also in 2014, were the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian Parties.

Although it is not possible to know the exact number of voters who choose any party’s primary, it is possible to know this approximately, by looking at the primary election returns. In the June 2010 primary, the largest vote total received by any Republican candidate was 65,205 votes; the largest vote total for any Democrat was 28,404 votes; the largest for any Libertarian was 548 votes.

By contrast, in June 2014, the largest vote total for any Republican was 50,446; for any Democrat, 30,154; for any Libertarian, 1,555. Thus while Republican primary voters dropped 22.6%, and Democratic primary turnout stayed approximately the same, Libertarian primary participation tripled.

Parties remain qualified by polling 5% in November for certain statewide offices. The only third parties that have met the North Dakota vote test to remain ballot-qualified in the last 100 years were the Reform Party in 1996, and the Socialist Party in 1914. The Libertarian Party is optimistic that, for the first time, it will meet the 5% vote test this November. This year, the only office that counts, for which the party has a nominee, is the Secretary of State’s race. Attorney General also counts, but no Libertarian is running for that office.

Independent Party of Oregon Finances Its Own Primary Through Candidate Filing Fees

Posted on by June 23, 2014
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The Independent Party of Oregon is a ballot-qualified party, but it doesn’t quite have enough registrants to qualify for a government primary. Instead, it nominates the way the other ballot-qualified minor parties do, either by convention, or by a primary paid for by the party itself.

The Independent Party has approximately 100,000 registered members, and it costs the party $24,000 to send a piece of postal mail to each registrant. Nevertheless, the party does such a mailing. The mailing tells the member that he or she can log in to the party’s web site, and request a primary ballot. The party pays for this with candidate filing fees. The highest fees are for statewide office, and are $3,000. The party provides for petitions in lieu of the filing fee as well.

The party will have a primary contest between the two major party candidates for Governor, Democrat John Kitzhaber and Republican Dennis Richardson. Oregon permits two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate, so the winner of the Independent Party primary will have the “Independent Party” label on the November ballot next to his name. For instance, if Kitzhaber wins the Independent Party primary, he will be on the November ballot as “John Kitzhaber, Democrat, Independent.” There are 38 candidates seeking Independent Party nominations for various partisan offices this year.