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Some South Carolina Excluded Major Party Candidates File Lawsuit in Federal Court

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Richard WingerMay 4, 2012

On May 4, some of the almost 200 excluded major party candidates filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to seek relief. They were excluded from Democratic and Republican Party primary ballots. The primary is June 12. Also, some South Carolina legislators will try to rush through a bill to give some relief, that would take effect immediately.

Two days ago, the South Carolina Supreme Court removed the candidates, over paperwork. See this story. The mention of the federal lawsuit is at the end of the story.

Pennsylvania Democrats Nominate U.S. House Candidate by Write-ins at Primary

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Richard WingerMay 4, 2012

Karen Ramsburg polled over 1,400 write-ins in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary on April 24, for U.S. House, 9th district. Because she received over 1,000 write-ins, and because the law requires a write-in candidate in a partisan primary to receive that many write-ins to be nominated (assuming the write-in candidate outpolls everyone else running for that same office in the same primary), she will be the Democratic nominee. No name had been printed on the Democratic primary ballot for that office.

If she had not won the Democratic primary, she was getting ready to become an independent candidate.

Arizona Legislature Adjourns, Doesn’t Pass Omnibus Election Law Bill

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Richard WingerMay 4, 2012

The Arizona legislature adjourned for the year on the evening of May 3. The session did not pass the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, HB 2379. That bill had many provisions. One of them would have increased the difficulty for a candidate to get on a presidential primary ballot.

Existing law lets anyone qualify, with no fee and no petition, if the candidate has a campaign office. The law would have required candidates to either submit 1,000 signatures, or demonstrate that the candidate was already on the presidential primary ballot in at least 20 other states, or had already qualified for primary season matching funds. The latter two choices are not realistic because Arizona has one of the five earliest presidential primaries in the nation, and filing for the Arizona presidential primary closes too early for candidates to have realistically accomplished either of the last two alternative ways for qualifying.

Texas Secretary of State Seems to Alter Stance on Primary Screenout for Independent Candidate Petitions

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Richard WingerMay 4, 2012

According to this story, anyone who signs a Texas petition this year for an independent candidate and who later votes in a partisan primary has (by the act of voting) disqualified his or her petition signature. However, the Secretary of State has told the Guadalupe County Elections Supervisor that all such signatures are presumed valid and will be counted, unless one of the major parties or one of its candidates files a challenge to such signatures.

South Carolina Supreme Court Unanimously Keeps Over 100 Major Party Candidates Off June Primary Ballot

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Richard WingerMay 3, 2012

On May 2, the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ruled that over 100 candidates who filed in the Democratic and Republican June 12 must be removed from the ballot. They all failed to file a statement of economic interests. The case is Anderson v South Carolina Election Commission. It is possible the legislature will rush a bill through, which will still permit these candidates to run. The Democratic and Republican Parties may also ask for a rehearing, although it is unlikely the Court would change its mind at this late date.

Qualified minor parties in South Carolina all nominate by convention, and no minor party candidates are affected, as far as is known.