On March 8, the New Hampshire House defeated HB 1595 by a vote of 136-178. It would have said that independents could still vote in primaries, but if an independent chose to vote in a party primary, he or she would then be deemed to be a member of the party whose primary ballot had been chosen, for at least three months. Under current law, an independent may vote in primary without becoming a member of that party.
On March 22, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 233. It provides that when a party meets the 2% vote test, it is then on the ballot for the next four years. The old law said a party must pass the 2% vote test every two years.
It is far easier for a party to poll 2% in presidential years, when five or six statewide offices are on the ballot, than in midterm years, when there is almost never more than one statewide office on the ballot. The offices up in presidential years, besides President, include U.S. Senate (two-thirds of the time), Attorney General, Auditor, and Treasurer. But in midterm years, only U.S. Senate is ever on the ballot (and even that isn’t on in one-third of the years), except in the rare instances when there is a vacancy in a statewide office and a special election is held.
On Saturday, March 31, 6 candidates seeking the presidential nomination of the Constitution Party will debate each other in Lansing, Michigan. The event is at 10 a.m., at a restaurant at 3420 South Crayts Road. The event is free to the public, but seating is limited.
The six candidates are: Susan Ducey of Kansas, former Congressman Virgil Goode of Virginia, Michael Kennedy of Maryland, J. L. Mealer of Arizona, Dr. Laurie Roth of Washington state, and former head football coach at Savannah State Robby Wells of South Carolina.
On Friday, March 23, Roseanne Barr made her first campaign speech at the Mayflower Club in North Hollywood, California. Here is a 27-minute You Tube of Barr’s talk. As virtually all readers of this blog know, Barr is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail has this story about the Americans Elect petition in West Virginia. It says the petition has 2,600 signatures so far. The story makes a brief mention of the point that in West Virginia, there is no procedure for a group to get on the ballot before it has chosen any candidates. West Virginia is one of eleven states in which a group must list a candidate on a ballot access petition; there is no other way to get on the ballot. The story notes that the Americans Elect petition in West Virginia has a stand-in presidential candidate.
