Hawaii Democrats Appeal Open Primary Case

Posted on by December 14, 2013
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On December 12, the Hawaii Democratic Party filed a notice of appeal in Democratic Party of Hawaii v Nago, the case over whether the party can close its primary so that only party members can vote in its primary. The U.S. District Court had upheld the open primary on the grounds that the party had not proved that the open primary results in non-members voting in its primary, or that if non-members do vote in its primary, that the party hasn’t showed this harms the party.

In the Ninth Circuit, it is case 13-17545.

Canada Now Has Two Greens in Parliament

Posted on by December 14, 2013
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On December 13, Bruce Hyer, who had been elected as an independent candidate to the Canadian Parliament, announced he is switching to the Green Party. He represents part of western Ontario. The Green Party now has two members of the Canadian lower house. See this story. The news was not too surprising, because a week ago he had said he would be joining one of the parties, although at the time he didn’t say which one.

U.S. District Court Hears Case on Whether Kansas and Arizona can Force the Federal Government to Alter Federal Voter Registration Form

Posted on by December 13, 2013
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A U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas, is currently hearing oral arguments in Kobach v U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 5:13cv-4095. This is the case in which the Secretaries of State of Kansas and Arizona argue that the court should force the federal government to alter the federal voter registration forms that are used within those two states. If the two states lose this case, they expect to set up dual voter registration records. There would be a list of voters who had used the federal form, who could only vote for federal office, not state or local office.

The controversy all began when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Article One of the U.S. Constitution does permit the federal government to set up its own voter registration form. Kansas and Arizona Secretaries of State don’t like the federal form, because it does not require applicants to prove they are citizens; applicants sign under penalty of perjury that they are citizens, but those two states want more evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court decision implied that states that don’t like the federal form may have the right to force the federal government to alter the federal form to the states’ liking. See this story.

Florida Libertarian Expected to be First Minor Party Nominee for Attorney General Since 1916

Posted on by December 13, 2013
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On December 12, the Florida Libertarian Party issued this press release, which says that the party expects to nominate Bill Wohlsifer for Attorney General in its 2014 primary. Assuming he gets on the ballot, which is very likely, he will be the first minor party candidate for Attorney General to appear on the Florida ballot since 1916, when the Socialist Party ran A. D. Miller for that post. Miller received 7.96% of the vote.

Florida had such restrictive ballot access laws for minor parties between 1931 and 1999, there were almost no minor party candidates in Florida during those years for any office except President (the old Florida laws were easier for President than for other offices). The laws were hugely liberalized in 1999, but since then the only minor party candidates for statewide state office in Florida have been Max Linn, Reform Party gubernatorial candidate in 2006, and Ira Chester, Tea Party nominee for Agriculture Commissioner in 2010. In 2006, John Wayne Smith, who is a member of the Libertarian Party, got on the ballot for Governor as an independent candidate, but he was not the party nominee. For 2014, the Libertarians will also have a gubernatorial nominee; two individuals have announced their attention of winning the party’s 2014 primary for Governor.