The Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments in Anderson v State of Vermont, 2012-272, on March 27. The main issue is the method by which independent candidates must submit their signatures, compared to the easier method required for candidates petitioning for a place on a primary ballot. The June petition deadline is also intertwined with this case. The Vermont Supreme Court has chosen to hold this oral argument at a university law school auditorium, instead of in the normal courtroom.
The Washington Post has this article about Bill Bolling, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor. He was elected as a Republican in 2009 and, as the article describes, he is thinking seriously about running for Governor this year as an independent. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
Although minor party or independent candidates for Governor have been elected since the end of World War II in the midwest, the west, and the east, no one other than a Democrat or a Republican has been elected Governor in a southern state since 1916, when the Prohibition Party nominee for Florida Governor, Sidney J. Catts, was elected.
Six North Carolina Republican representatives have introduced HB 185, the “Ballot Reform Act.” It would alter the order of political parties on the ballot, and abolish the straight-ticket device.
Under current law, parties with at least 5% of the registration are listed on the ballot in alphabetical order. Because “D” comes before “R” in the alphabet, this means the Democratic Party is always first on the ballot, and Republicans are always second. The bill would say that the party listed first on the ballot is the party that elected the Governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. The bill doesn’t seem to take cognizance that conceivably, an independent would have won the most recent gubernatorial election; or a party with registration of less than 5% might have won that election. The bill says parties with less than 5% of the registration would appear next (in alphabetical order) followed by independent candidates.
The bill also abolishes the straight-ticket device. The Senate bill that abolishes the straight-ticket device, SB 82, does not have any provision about the order of parties on the ballot. Thanks to Kevin Hayes for the news about the bill.
Alabama State Senator Cam Ward’s ballot access bill is SB 265. It cuts the number of signatures in half (for newly-qualifying parties, and non-presidential independent candidates), and provides for a later petition deadline for party petitions.
On February 28, Great Britain held a special election to fill the vacant House of Commons seat in Eastleigh. The Liberal Democrat Party won the election with 13,342 votes; the U.K. Independence Party placed second with 11,571; the Conservative Party placed third with 10,559; Labour placed fourth with 4,088. There were also ten others on the ballot. See this story for the full results.
This is the first time the U.K. Independence Party had placed as high as second in any Parliamentary election since before 2005.
Eastleigh is in Hampshire, on the south central coast of England. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
