Eighth Circuit Enjoins Minnesota Campaign Finance Disclosure Law

Posted on by September 7, 2012
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On September 5, the Eighth Circuit enjoined a Minnesota campaign finance law that requires organizations that spend as much as $100 per year on independent expenditures about candidates for state and/or local office to have a separate bank account for its campaign spending and disclose contributions and expenditures. While the principle of disclosure for independent expenditures has been upheld by many other decisions, probably the limit’s very low limit of $100 tipped the balance against the Minnesota law. See this commentary about the decision, which is Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life v Swanson, 10-3126. The vote was 6-5, with all full-time judges of the Eighth Circuit participating.

Illinois State Court Puts Candidates on Ballot; Election Board Had Rejected Them Because they Used Paper Clips Instead of a Staple

Posted on by September 6, 2012
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On September 6, an Illinois state court put three candidates on the ballot in Jackson County, Illinois. The Jackson County Election Board had kept them off the ballot because their nomination documents had been fastened together with a paper clip. The Board said they should have used staples, but the judge disagreed. See this story. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

U.S. District Court Judge Rules Against Libertarian Party Presidential Ballot Access in Michigan

Posted on by September 6, 2012
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On the afternoon of September 6, a U.S. District Court in Michigan dismissed the Michigan Libertarian Party ballot access lawsuit. This was the case to get Gary Johnson on the ballot. The judge said he would explain why on September 7. The case is Libertarian Party of Michigan v Ruth Johnson.

The Libertarian Party is ballot-qualified in Michigan. The Secretary of State won’t print his name on the November ballot because his name appeared on the February Republican presidential primary ballot. He had tried to withdraw, but his withdrawal was received three minutes too late.

The state’s brief had hinted that the Michigan Libertarian Party is free to place Gary E. Johnson of Austin, Texas, on the ballot, but the state did not make this explicit. The party, when it had certified former Governor Gary Johnson, had asked that if the state would not do that, that instead the state should accept Gary E. Johnson of Texas. Gary E. Johnson of Texas is a former officer of the national Libertarian Party and he was a delegate to the national Libertarian Party convention in May.

It is difficult to know if the court decision will be appealed until all sides see the judge’s opinion.

Daily Oklahoman Editorializes Against Letting Americans Elect State Officers Control Their Party

Posted on by September 6, 2012
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The Daily Oklahoman, the largest newspaper in Oklahoma, has this editorial, saying that the lawsuit on whether the state officers of Americans Elect should control their own party’s nomination process is “frivolous” and “a waste of taxpayer dollars”. Even though the portion of the editorial dealing with Americans Elect is very short, it has two factual errors.

First, it asserts that the Americans Elect national rules provided that the party would run one Democrat and one Republican for national office. Actually, the rules just said that the presidential nominee and vice-presidential nominee had to be of different partisan affiliations. The national rules did not exclude independent or minor party members from being on the ticket.

Second, the editorial says the party’s presidential electors were to vote for the nominees chosen by the Americans Elect national convention. Actually, the Americans Elect national rules said the national nominees would be chosen in an on-line vote, not a national convention.

The Daily Oklahoman also has this news story, which lays stress on the desire of Oklahoma election officials to start printing ballots on September 7. The news story does not mention that the Americans Elect state officers chose Gary Johnson on July 21, and the state deliberately did not deny their nomination until August 29. Thus, the rush to decide the lawsuit is entirely the state’s fault, not the fault of the state Americans Elect officers. Furthermore, the article fails to mention that Oklahoma state law requires the presidential electors of all qualified parties to be chosen by the state officers, not the national officers.