New Hampshire November 2012 Ballots Give Libertarians Their Own Party Column, in a Sense

Posted on by October 23, 2012
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On June 20, this blog posted the sad news that New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner planned to place all the Libertarian Party nominees in a party column called “Other candidates”, even though the party was circulating the petition for party status. This decision seemed a betrayal, because in 2008, the Deputy Secretary of State had said in a court affidavit that groups that successfully circulate the party petition do get their own party column on the ballot.

However, actually, the Secretary of State has arranged that the party column headings for November 2012 ballots will be “Libertarian and Other Candidates”; “Republican candidates”; and “Democratic candidates.” Of course, there is a fourth column for write-ins called “Write-in candidates”, which contains blank lines. Use this link to see a ballot. The link requires you to choose a town, so just choose any town at random. Wait a few seconds after choosing a town, and then scroll down below the list of towns to see the ballot for that town.

The format is still not ideal, because Virgil Goode, the Constitution Party presidential nominee, is within the “Libertarian and Other Candidates” column, with the word “Constitution” printed next to his name in small letters. Every other state that uses party column ballots, except New Jersey, would give the Constitution Party its own party column, even if that party only had a nominee for one office. The party column ballot-format does waste space, and it would be much better ballot design for New Hampshire, and all states, to abandon the party-column format and use an office-group format. Thanks to Seth Cohn for the link.

Two Former Presidential Candidates from South Dakota Die Almost Simultaneously

Posted on by October 22, 2012
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As has been well-reported, George McGovern died in his home state of South Dakota on October 21. And, on October 22, Russell Means died, also in South Dakota. See this obituary from Reason Magazine.

McGovern was the Democratic nominee for President in 1972, and he also sought the Democratic nomination in 1968 and 1984. Means sought the Libertarian nomination in 1988, and he probably would have received it if his opponent for that nomination, Ron Paul, had not been such a formidable candidate.

As far as is known, these two men are the only South Dakota residents who ever ran for President, except that in 1892 a South Dakotan sought the People’s Party nomination.

“Descendants of Americans Slaves”, a New Political Party in Kentucky, Enters Two State Legislative Races

Posted on by October 22, 2012
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A new party called Descendants of Americans Slaves has qualified two candidates for the Kentucky state legislature. Norris Shelton, author of “America’s Little Black Book”, is the only opponent to the Democratic nominee in the 33rd State Senate district in Louisville. Henry Owens III is the only opponent of the Democratic nominee in the 41st State House district, also in Louisville. Here is some information about Shelton.

Suffolk University Poll for Ohio Presidential Race Lists All Seven Candidates on the Ohio Ballot

Posted on by October 22, 2012
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On October 22, Suffolk University released a poll for the Ohio presidential race, which asks voters about all seven candidates listed on the ballot. The poll also asks what percentage of voters have heard of the various presidential candidates. See it here. Thanks to Mike for the link. There is so much publicity about Ohio being a crucial state, it is somewhat likely that the minor party vote in Ohio is depressed, relative to the vote in non-swing states.