New California Registration Data: The Only Two Parties with Fewer Members are the Democratic and Republican Parties

Posted on by April 23, 2014
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On April 22, the California Secretary of State released new voter registration data. The new data is as of April 4, 2014; the previous tally was for December 31, 2013. The new figures, compared to the previous tally, show that all five of California’s minor parties have more registrations than they had previously. Also the number of independent voters grew. But the Democratic Party and the Republican Party lost members.

The new figures are: Democratic 7,678,424; Republican 5,041,564; American Independent 472,536; Libertarian 114,656; Green 109,157; Peace & Freedom 77,594; Americans Elect 3,604, other parties 444,020 (this includes people who didn’t check any box); no party preference 3,718,931.

The Dec. 31, 2013 figures are: Democratic 7,695,907; Republican 5,073,380; American Independent 469,648; Libertarian 112,527; Green 108,785; Peace & Freedom 76,268; Americans Elect 3,482; other parties 421,600; no party preference 3,698,660.

There is no data for the Constitution Party or the Veterans Party, the only two unqualified parties that have re-filed to have their registrations tallied. That is because those two groups did not file the paperwork in time to be included in the new tally. But they will be included in the tally that comes out next month.

Incumbent New Mexico Legislator Removed from Primary Ballot Due to Failing to File 78 Valid Signatures

Posted on by April 22, 2014
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On April 21, a New Mexico state representative was removed from the June 3 primary ballot, because a court determined that her petition lacked the required 78 valid signatures. Sandra Jeff, a Democrat, submitted 91 signatures, but her petition was challenged, and found to include only 68 valid signatures. See this story.

Kentucky Legislature Adjourns Without Having Passed Bill to Let Candidates Run for President and U.S. Senate in Same Year

Posted on by April 21, 2014
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On April 18, the Kentucky legislature adjourned, without having passed SB 205, which would have let U.S. Senator Rand Paul run for re-election in 2016 even if he is also running for the Republican presidential nomination. See this story.

Kentucky, like most states, holds legislative elections this year. The Senate has a Republican majority and had passed the bill; the House has a Democratic majority and refused to consider the bill. If Republicans were to win a majority in the Kentucky House this year, the bill would probably pass in the next legislative session.

The press consistently fails to mention that Henry Clay was elected to the U.S. House from Kentucky in 1824 even though he was also running for President that year. He carried Kentucky in the electoral college.

Ohio Libertarian Party Files Supplemental Letter with Sixth Circuit, in Readiness for April 22 Hearing

Posted on by April 21, 2014
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The Sixth Circuit will hear Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22. The Sixth Circuit isn’t sitting this week, so the hearing will be on the telephone, with all participants being included in a conference call. On April 18, the Libertarian Party filed a supplemental letter with the court, identifying a Sixth Circuit decision from 1998 that is relevant to the case.

The issue in the case is whether the party’s statewide candidates should be kept off the party’s primary ballot, on the grounds that the circulators didn’t fill out a blank on each petition form that asks who is paying the circulator. The supplemental authority mentioned in the party’s April 18 letter refers to National Labor Relations Board v Midland Daily News, 151 F.3d 472, which found that forcing a newspaper to disclose the identity of an anonymous advertiser, even though it only involved commercial and not political speech, would significantly chill the First Amendment rights of newspapers.

The three judges are Richard Suhrheinrich, Julia Smith Gibbons, and Deborah L. Cook. Suhrheinrich is an appointee of President George H. W. Bush; the other two judges were appointed by President George W. Bush.