The Arizona Republic, daily newspaper for Phoenix, has this article about the recently-signed bill that blocks minor party candidates from the ballot. The article suggests that national Republican Party officials even intervened to help the bill pass.
Massachusetts elects a U.S. Senator on June 25. Three candidates are on the ballot, including Richard Heos, the Twelve Visions Party nominee. This news story seems to be the first one devoted entirely to information about Heos. Here is a second story that gives some information on him.
There have been many polls in this race, and it appears that every poll asks voters if they intend to vote for the Republican nominee or the Democratic nominee, and does not even give respondents an opportunity to say they are voting for Heos.
According to this story, on Saturday, June 22, Georgia Republican Party leaders will consider whether to study whether the party should nominate by convention instead of by primary, for statewide office and possibly U.S. House. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the link.
The New York legislature adjourned early in the morning on Saturday, June 22. Many election law bills failed to pass. They include the National Popular Vote Plan, the “friendly ballot act” (to make the ballot easier to read), and bills to lower the number of signatures, to establish public funding for state office, to make it easier for voters to change parties, to repeal the unconstitutional law that the circulator is a resident of the district, to rotate names on the ballot in New York city primary elections, and to change the Wilson-Pakula Act.
There may be a special session later this year which could include these and other election law bills.
Stephen Nodine is a former Mobile County, Alabama, County Commissioner and a former city councilmember. He is currently serving a two-year term for perjury. He has announced that he intends to run for U.S. House in the upcoming special election, First District. See this story. He was originally charged with murder, but he agreed to a plea bargain for perjury and there was no trial. He wants to run in the Republican primary.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 in U.S. Term Limits v Thornton that states cannot add to the qualifications to run for Congress or to serve in Congress. This decision was consistent with lower court rulings all throughout the 20th century. On the other hand, the Republican Party has a rule that bars felons or ex-felons from running in a party primary. It seems somewhat likely at this point that the party will attempt to enforce its rule, so if Nodine persists, he will probably file a lawsuit.
In 1992, the Texas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Lyndon LaRouche could not be barred from running in the Texas Democratic presidential primary, in LaRouche v Hannah, 822 SW 2d 632. Alabama state courts have consistently ruled that political parties can bar candidates from running in primaries if the candidate can be shown objectively to be hostile to the party, or to contradict the party platform.
