Connecticut Can’t Start Printing Ballots Because State Supreme Court Hasn’t Ruled on Which Party Should be First on Ballot

Posted on by September 21, 2012
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As of 6 p.m. eastern time, the Connecticut Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on which party should be listed first on the ballot. This is somewhat surprising, because it is not likely that the decision will appear on the weekend, although it is always possible.

There are other states in which the ballot isn’t final yet either. For example, in Arkansas, the State Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on whether the medical marijuana initiative should be on the ballot. But Arkansas has already printed the ballots with the initiative listed. If the Court removes the initiative from the ballot, the state simply won’t count the votes. But Connecticut is not free to handle its unresolved matter that way. No Connecticut ballots, not even overseas absentee ballots, can be printed yet. Such ballots must be mailed no later than Saturday, September 22, according to federal law.

California Releases New Voter Registration Tally; Libertarians are Only Qualified Party to Gain as a Percentage of the Total

Posted on by September 21, 2012
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On September 21, the California Secretary of State released a new voter registration tally. See the full report here. The tally is as of September 7.

Compared to the last tally (the May 21, 2012 tally), every qualified party has a slightly smaller share of the registration now than it did in May, except for the Libertarian Party. The percentage of voters registered “no party preference” also declined slightly, but the number registered in other, unspecified parties grew.

The percentages for each party, for May 2012, and then September 2012, are:
Democratic 43.39%, 43.33%
Republican 30.24%, 30.11%
American Independent 2.53%, 2.52%
Green .646%, .634%
Libertarian .546%, .548%
Peace & Freedom .349%, .343%
Americans Elect .018%, .017%
all non-qualified parties .98%, 1.22%
No Party Preference 21.31%, 21.28%

Registration data is available for the unqualified parties that have told the Secretary of State that they are attempting to qualify. The Reform Party now has 20,362 registrants. The last tally available for it was in January 2012, when it had 20,722. There is no May tally for the Reform Party because at the time it hadn’t asked for a tally.

The Constitution Party now has 252 registrants, up from 121 in January 2012, and 207 in May 2012.

The Justice Party now has 237 registrants, up from 183 in January 2012. There is no May tally for the Justice Party.

It is somewhat surprising that the Americans Elect registration declined. It went from 3,030 registrants in May, to 2,998 in September. One would have expected it to grow because it wasn’t printed as a choice on voter registration forms in May, but it is now, although some counties are probably still using old forms that don’t include it.

U.S. District Court Says Colorado Ballots May Contain Bar Codes

Posted on by September 21, 2012
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On September 21, a U.S. District Court in Colorado dismissed the case Citizen Center v Gessler, 1:12-cv-370. The judge ruled that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires a secret ballot, so even if the presence of the bar codes does make it possible for someone to learn how someone else voted, that is not a violation of the U.S. Constitution. See this story.

New Public Funding Bill Introduced in Congress

Posted on by September 21, 2012
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On September 14, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) introduced HR 6426, which provides public funding for candidates for Congress. Candidates for U.S. House would qualify by raising contributions privately from at least 2,000 individuals, at least half of whom must live in the district. The total would need to be at least $50,000 in private contributions. Here is the text of the bill.

Reason-Rupe Presidential Poll

Posted on by September 21, 2012
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On September 21, a Reason-Rupe Poll for the presidential race was released. When respondents are asked to choose between President Obama and Mitt Romney, the results are: Obama 48%, Romney 43%, 2% volunteered someone else, 1% said they would not vote, and 6% didn’t know or refused to answer. When the respondents are asked to choose among Obama, Romney, and Gary Johnson, the results are: Obama 49%, Romney 40%, Johnson 6%, someone else 1%, would not vote under 1%, don’t know or refused 4%.

It is unfortunate that pollsters don’t list more candidates. The recent Gallup Poll, listing five candidates, should be a model.

The Reason-Rupe Poll also shows that 65% of respondents have never heard of Gary Johnson. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.