The Enid News has this editorial, pointing out that Oklahoma voters can only vote this year for President Obama or Mitt Romney for President. This editorial is a welcome sign that at least some Oklahoma newspapers are noticing the Oklahoma ballot access problem for President. The editorial could have said much more. It could have said that Oklahoma is the only state in which only two choices are on the ballot for President. It could have mentioned that Oklahoma is one of only five states that bans all write-in votes in all elections.

Unfortunately, the largest newspaper in Oklahoma, the Oklahoman, recently editorialized against letting Americans Elect (a ballot-qualified party in Oklahoma) place a presidential nominee on the ballot. And the Tulsa daily newspaper never seems to mention ballot access.

A Zogby poll of the national presidential race includes five candidates: The results: Obama 49%, Romney 40%, Johnson 2%, Stein 2%, Goode 1%, other or undecided 6%. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.

Roll Call has this story about U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cornyn says, “I believe we should strengthen the political parties, and that starts with revising the federal fundraising restrictions and coordinated limits on both parties. Anyone who supports more campaign finance transparency should support a strong political party system.”

Under current federal campaign finance laws, political parties are the only organizations that cannot spend unlimited amounts of money on independent expenditures. They are also subject to strict limits on how much money individuals may donate to them, even for activities that do not relate to campaigns for federal office. Cornyn shows his mind-set with his reference to “both” parties, when of course there are more than two political parties in the United States. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the link.