Bi-Partisan Virginia Bill to Eliminate Nomination by Convention

Posted on by January 14, 2014
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Twenty-two Virginia legislators are jointly sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the ability of parties to nominate by convention. Currently, Virginia is the only state in which major parties ever use a nomination process for Congress and state legislative office that does not involve a primary.

The bill is SB 507, sponsored by five Republican State Senators, four Democratic State Senators, ten Republican Delegates, and three Democratic Delegates. The bill doesn’t say that conventions can’t be used; it just says that conventions can’t be used if there are any overseas military voters who won’t be able to participate if a convention is used.

An identical bill in the lower chamber is HB 194.

Alabama Ballot Access Bill Re-Introduced

Posted on by January 14, 2014
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On January 9, Alabama State Senator Cam Ward (R-Alabaster) reintroduced the same ballot access bill he had introduced in 2013. This year, the bill is SB 70. It lowers the number of signatures for newly-qualifying parties and non-presidential independent candidates from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, to 1.5% of the last gubernatorial vote. It also eases the petition deadline for newly qualifying parties, from primary day, to three weeks after the run-off primary. In a presidential election year, when the first primary is in March, that would put the deadline in early May. In a midterm year, the deadline would be in early August.

Los Angeles Times Carries Lengthy Story About Independent U.S. House Candidate Marianne Williamson

Posted on by January 13, 2014
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The Los Angeles Times has this major story about Marianne Williamson, who is an independent candidate in California’s 33rd district this year.

Even though she holds herself out as an independent candidate, California election officials will not print “independent” on the ballot next to her name. She is forced to have “no party preference” next to her name, even though she has said that if she is elected she will caucus with the Democrats. Obviously she does prefer the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Most independents do prefer one party; few independents sincerely have absolutely no preference for any party. Thanks to AroundtheCapitol for the link.

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Republican Party of Nevada Appeal on “None of These Candidates”

Posted on by January 13, 2014
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On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Republican Party of Nevada v Miller, 13-442. This is the case in which some Republican nominees for presidential elector in 2012, and the state party, and some voters who want to vote for “None of these candidates” were told that they lack standing. They wanted to challenge the Nevada rules that say that even if “none of these candidates” wins, that has no effect. The plaintiffs argued that, therefore, voters who vote for “none of these candidates” are not being treated equally with other voters.

1787 Party Will Attempt to Petition for Party Status in Texas This Year

Posted on by January 13, 2014
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The 1787 Party has notified the Texas Secretary of State that it will attempt to qualify for the 2014 ballot. That will take 49,729 valid signatures of voters who did not vote in the March 2014 primary. The petitioning period starts in March and ends on May 20.

The founder of The 1787 Party, Emily Mathews, now lives in New York, but she earlier lived in Texas and ran for public office in Texas. According to the party’s web page, www.1787foramerica.org, the party will try to get on the ballot in at least two other states besides Texas in 2014.

Other groups that filed the notice are: Constitution, Christian, Compassion, and “People of Purple Interdependently Thinking Reform.”