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Newspaper Story Explains How Chilton County, Alabama Uses Cumulative Voting to Enable Minority Groups to Elect Someone to Local Partisan Office

Posted on November 4, 2012 by adminNovember 4, 2012

The Montgomery, Alabama Advertiser has this interesting story about how Chilton County uses cumulative voting. The reason it exists in Chilton County is to enable blacks, who are only 10% of the population, to elect one of their own to countywide partisan office. However, everything about cumulative voting would also enable minor party members to have a chance to elect one of their own as well.

Chilton County is in the geographical center of Alabama, between Montgomery and Birmingham. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Maine Holds a Televised Debate for All Six Ballot-Listed U.S. Senate Candidates

Posted on November 4, 2012 by adminNovember 4, 2012

On Saturday evening, November 3, all six candidates who are on the ballot for the U.S. Senate race in Maine debated each other on television. See this story. One of the independent candidates, Stephen Woods, announced during the debate that he is no longer asking for votes, and endorsed independent Angus King, who is leading in the polls.

The other candidates in the race are Democratic nominee Cynthia Dill, who is running third in the polls; Republican nominee Charles Summers, who is running second; Libertarian Andrew Ian Dodge, whose ballot label is “Independents for Liberty”; and independent candidate Danny Dalton.

CNN/Orc Poll for President in Ohio Includes Five Candidates

Posted on November 3, 2012 by adminNovember 3, 2012

On November 3, a CNN/Orc poll for the Ohio presidential race was released. It mentions five presidential candidates and has these results: Obama 47%, Romney 44%, Johnson 5%, Stein 1%, Goode under one-half of 1%, other or undecided or refused, 3%. See this CNN story; the figures for the five candidates are toward the end of the story.

Two Remaining Presidential Debates, November 4 and November 5

Posted on November 3, 2012 by adminNovember 3, 2012

On November 4, Ralph Nader will moderate a debate between Rocky Anderson, Virgil Goode, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein. Although the room only holds an audience of 100 and is already filled with credentialed members of the media, anyone can watch on-line. Go to www.busboysandpoets.com and click on the video stream. The debate is Sunday, 7:30 pm-9:30 pm east coast time. Busboys and Poets is a restaurant that also has a room for public meetings. Note that this event is on the first day of standard time, not daylight savings time.

On November 5, Free and Equal sponsors a debate between Jill Stein and Gary Johnson in Washington, D.C. It is being held in the studio of RT America (“RT” stands for “Russia Today”) and will include a live audience. The debate runs from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. east coast time. The debate will be streamed live by Free & Equal, Free Speech TV, Stitcher, Orion Radio Network, NextNewsNetwork, Yes Magazine, RT America’s YouTube, American Free Perss, and UK-based Reciva Internet Radio. UPDATE: see this criticism of PBS-TV at Irregular Times. So far, at least, PBS-TV hasn’t said it will carry this debate.

Generally, minor party presidential debates are not true debates. The participants use their time to introduce themselves and their stands on issues to the general public, and are not particularly interested in rhetorical battles with the other candidates present. But the Free & Equal Johnson-Stein debate, with only two participants, might possibly emerge as a chance for each of those two candidates to debate the differences between them, particularly economic issues.

U.S. Postal Service Tells Oregon Secretary of State that Postal Service Will Deliver Ballots from Voters to Election Offices, Even if Ballot Arrives “Postage Due”

Posted on November 3, 2012 by adminNovember 3, 2012

Oregon and Washington vote entirely by postal mail. The Oregon Secretary of State, Kate Brown, recently told the U.S. Postal Service that if a voter sends in a ballot without enough postage, Oregon law requires that the post office not deliver that ballot to the elections office. The Postal Service responded with this October 31 letter. The Postal Service says the Postal Service is not bound by state election law and that the Postal Service will continue its policy of delivering ballots to election offices, even if the ballot arrives “postage due.” Presumably the motive of the Oregon Secretary of State is to save election administration costs.

In Oregon, ballots must arrive by the end of the day on election day, which is November 6 this year. Thanks to Dan Meek for the link. UPDATE: even though the postal service delivers these ballots, some Oregon counties are refusing to count ballots that arrive with postage due.