Until more information appears, the question of why the New York Independence Party chose no presidential nominee for the first time will go unanswered. The New York State Board of Elections had announced that ballot-qualified parties must choose their presidential nominees by September 10. Nevertheless, the New York Independence Party state committee went ahead with a meeting on September 22, and on the agenda for that meeting was the choice of a presidential nominee.

At the Albany meeting, State Chair Frank McKay proposed a resolution that the party not nominate any candidate for President, and that resolution passed. Nothing was said at the meeting, apparently, that at that point it was too late to choose a nominee. See this somewhat more detailed description of the meeting by Michael Drucker, a long-time officer in that party.

According to this news story, on September 24, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said that voters who vote for someone other than President Obama or Mitt Romney are “wasting their vote.”

The Star-Tribune Minnesota Poll released September 24 apparently lists only three presidential candidates, and shows these results: President Obama 48%, Mitt Romney 40%, Gary Johnson 5%, undecided 7%. Normally this blog doesn’t link to presidential polls that only list three candidates, because they are misleading (except in the few states in which only three candidates are on the ballot for President). However, an exception was made in this case. Former Governor Jesse Ventura has been campaigning for Gary Johnson, and Ventura’s support probably helps Johnson more in Minnesota than in the typical state.

The text of the article says that Johnson was one of the three choices presented to respondents, but the pie graph does not mention Johnson. Thanks to Mr. Straw for the link.