On August 28, the Republican Party nominated its presidential and vice-presidential nominees. Mitt Romney received 2,061 votes; Ron Paul 190; Rick Santorum 9; Buddy Roemer 1; Jon Huntsman 1; Michelle Bachmann 1. There were also 18 abstentions. See here for the state-by-state breakdown for Ron Paul. Thanks to Eric Garris for the link.
On August 27, the day before the Arizona primary, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered that write-in votes for Judge Joe Lodge should not be counted. He is a declared write-in candidate in the Libertarian Party primary. He had originally been elected as a Democrat. When he tried to run for re-election this year as a Democrat, his petition failed to specify which seat he was seeking. Therefore, he was kept off the Democratic primary ballot. So, Lodge then filed to be a declared write-in candidate in the Libertarian primary.
Arizona law says when someone attempts to petition onto a primary or general election ballot and the petition is insufficient, the candidate may not then be a write-in candidate for the same office. However, Lodge pointed out he was running for the Libertarian nomination, which is not the same election as running for the Democratic nomination. A lower court agreed with Lodge, but the State Supreme Court disagreed. The State Supreme Court has not yet explained its ruling. See this story.
The Arizona Supreme Court seems composed of judges who are hostile to minor parties. In 2000 the Arizona Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s June petition deadline for independent presidential candidates, and kept Harry Browne, Libertarian Party nominee for President, off the ballot. Later the 9th circuit overturned that same deadline in a case filed by Ralph Nader. Also members of the State Supreme Court seem to favor the top-two open primary initiative, which is very bad for minor parties and independent candidates. And now the State Supreme Court has prevented the Libertarian Party from nominating the candidate of its choice. If the write-ins could have been counted, Lodge would have been the Libertarian nominee, because no other Libertarian was running against him.
On August 27, the Pennsylvania Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties filed this brief in the pending federal case that challenge’s Pennsylvania’s unique system for determining if petitions are valid. The case is Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, 5:12-cv-2726. This should be the last brief before the hearing.
Human Events has this interview with Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, on the subject of the Virgil Goode presidential candidacy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th circuit, will hold oral arguments in Voting for America v Andrade, 12-40914, on Thursday, September 6, in New Orleans. This is the case over whether certain Texas voter registration drive restrictions should remain in place while the case is being decided. One of the restrictions, which the U.S. District Court enjoined, prohibits out-of-state individuals from working on Texas voter registration drives. Another, which was also enjoined, makes it impossible for organizations that work on voter registration drives to take into account an employee’s productivity.
