BuzzFeed Politics has this article, which suggests that former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer may have trouble collecting 3,750 valid signatures of registered Democrats by Thursday, July 11. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for Comptroller of New York city. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Oregon Secretary of State has released registration data as of June 15. See here.
The percentages of voters by party are now: Democratic 39.30%, Republican 30.90%, non-affiliated 22.61%, Independent Party 4.44%, Libertarian .71%, Pacific Green .48%, Working Families .31%, Constitution .16%,, Progressive .09%, Americans Elect .01%, miscellaneous 1.00%.
As of December 15, 2012, the percentages were: Democratic 39.58%, Republican 31.04%, non-affiliated 22.39%, Independent Party 4.34%, Libertarian .70%, Pacific Green .49%, Working Families .20%, Constitution .15%, Progressive .09%, Americans Elect .003%, miscellaneous 1.02%.
The Independent Party will have its own government-administered primary if it can get its registration up to 5%. The Americans Elect Party will probably lose its qualified status in August 2014; the only thing that could keep it on for the 2014 election would be an increase in its registration to at least .5%. Thanks to Michael for the link.
This is very old news, but it had not been reported before. In 2012 the South Dakota legislature passed HB 1182, which moves the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from June to the last Tuesday in April. South Dakota’s primary is in June.
A similar bill, HB 1234, had failed to pass in 2009, because then-Secretary of State Chris Nelson testified that such a change would probably be held unconstitutional. The First, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have ruled that states may not require non-presidential independent candidate petitions to be due earlier than primary day. Also, U.S. District Courts in two states in the Sixth Circuit have made similar rulings. South Dakota is in the Eighth Circuit and the Eighth Circuit has never had a case on this issue. However, Arkansas is in the Eighth Circuit and in 1977, a 3-judge district court struck down a similar deadline in Arkansas, and the U.S. Supreme Court summarily affirmed that decision.
There are no decisions in any state upholding independent candidate petition deadlines that are earlier than the primary, or the day before the primary.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson did not run for re-election in 2010, so he wasn’t available in 2012 to give advice to the legislature.
On July 8, a U.S. District Court in Arizona asked both sides in one of the current legislative redistricting cases to file supplemental briefs. The order asks both sides to comment on the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Shelby County, Alabama v Holder, the decision that struck down part of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Arizona has a non-partisan Independent Redistricting Commission that draws legislative district boundaries as well as U.S. House boundaries. The current legislative redistricting districts very somewhat significantly in population. The lawsuit Harris v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, cv-12-894, argues that the districts aren’t equal enough in population to be constitutional. The Redistricting Commission had defended its districts by saying the federal Voting Rights Act requires protection for racial and ethnic minorities, and that the Commission had to build some population inequality into its districts to help protect those minorities. Now, the plaintiffs will probably argue that this rationale is weakened, because Arizona is no longer required to get permission from the U.S. Justice Department for its redistricting plans.
On July 8, Craighead County Clerk Kade Holliday announced that he has changed his party affiliation from “Green” to “Republican.” See this story. He had been elected in November 2012 as the Green Party nominee. The election, in which he ousted the incumbent Democrat, was 18,471 Green; 11,487 Democratic.
There is an on-line unscientific newspaper poll attached to the news story, giving readers a chance to say if they approve or disapprove of the switch.
The Green Party is off the ballot in Arkansas because it didn’t poll as much as 3% for President last year. It is planning a petition drive to re-qualify for 2014.
