Georgia Libertarian Party is Again in a Two-Way Partisan Statewide Race

Posted on by September 3, 2012
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This year, the only two candidates on the Georgia ballot for one of the statewide Public Service Commission races are incumbent Stan Wise, a Republican, and David A. Staples, the Libertarian nominee. This is a partisan race.

Georgia Libertarians also had a nominee in a two-way race for the same office in 2008. That Libertarian, John Monds, polled 1,076,760 votes (33.4%), and carried four counties, including Fulton and DeKalb, two very populous counties.

Staples’ campaign web page is www.votestaples.com.

Florida Will Have Twelve Presidential Candidates on the Ballot

Posted on by September 3, 2012
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Florida will have twelve presidential candidates this year. By comparision, in 2000 there were ten; in 2004 there were eight; and in 2008 there were thirteen.

The twelve in 2008 are the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Justice, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Peace & Freedom, America’s Independent, Socialist, Objectivist, and Reform Parties. These parties are listed in the order of how many states their presidential nominees are on the ballot (so far). UPDATE: an earlier version of this post said the Socialist Workers Party is on and that the Reform Party is not, but the post has been corrected.

Probably Florida will have more presidential candidates on its ballot than any other state except Colorado, although Louisiana might also have more but that is not yet determined. None of the other 47 states will have more than ten.

Four parties that placed presidential candidates on the ballot in Florida in 2008 did not do so in 2012. They are the Prohibition, Boston Tea, Socialist Workers, and Ecology Parties.

Annapolis On-Line Newspaper Features Story About Bob Auerbach, who Has Been Fighting for Better Ballot Access in Maryland Since 1972

Posted on by September 3, 2012
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Eye on Annapolis, an on-line newspaper covering the Annapolis, Maryland area since 2009, has this feature story about Bob Auerbach. The story says that he will be on the November ballot as the Green Party nominee for U.S. House, 5th district. The story focuses on the fact that he is 92 and has been a peace activist for many decades.

Auerbach has been fighting for better ballot access in Maryland since at least 1972. He was active in the Peoples’ Party back then, the party that ran Dr. Benjamin Spock for President in 1972. He was the lead plaintiff in a Peoples’ Party ballot access lawsuit against the Maryland ballot access laws, which at the time seemed to say that if the Peoples’ Party wanted to put Dr. Spock on the ballot, it would have needed to collect 49,341 valid signatures on a candidate petition by March, as well as a separate petition containing 10,000 valid signatures. Although the lawsuit did not win, it caused the Maryland Attorney General to write an opinion saying new parties that submitted the 10,000 signature petition and only wanted to place a presidential nominee on the ballot didn’t need to do the huge candidate petition.

Three Minor Parties Have Nominees on the West Virginia Ballot for State Legislature

Posted on by September 3, 2012
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Three minor parties have nominees on the West Virginia ballot for state legislature this year. The Mountain Party (which is the Green Party affiliate in West Virginia) has four, the most it has had on the ballot for the legislature since 2002, when it had five.

The Constitution Party has three legislative nominees on the ballot. The Constitution Party did not get on the ballot for president, so it put its resources into petitioning for state legislature in three districts.

American Third Position also has a state legislative nominee on the ballot. American Third Position did not attempt to get on the ballot in West Virginia for president, and put its resources into petitioning for a legislative seat. As far as is known, its legislative nominee is the party’s only nominee for any partisan office anywhere in the United States this year, other than for President and Vice-President.

Virgil Goode Campaigns in Arizona and New Mexico, Meets with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Posted on by September 3, 2012
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This story gives an account of Virgil Goode’s campaign trip to New Mexico and Arizona, including a meeting with Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio and Goode are both known for emphasis on the issue of illegal immigration. Arpaio is also famous this year for investigating the validity of President Obama’s full-form birth certificate, his social security card, and his selective service registration card.

Goode, the Constitution Party nominee, is on the ballot in New Mexico, but not on in Arizona. Arizona is one of only five states in which the Constitution Party has never been able to get its presidential nominee on the ballot. The others are Indiana, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia.