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Justice Party Has Two State Legislative Candidates in the U.S. This Year

Posted on October 24, 2012 by adminOctober 24, 2012

The Justice Party, which is less than a year old, has two state legislative candidate on the ballot this year. One is Ty Markham, running for the Utah State House, 73rd district. That district encompasses southeastern and south central Utah, and is physically the largest state house district in the state. Here is her web page. Here is a newspaper story that explains how she happened to file to run. Here is a story about the debate she participated in. She is the only opponent of the incumbent Republican in that district, Michael Noel.

The other Justice Party legislative candidate is Benjamin Eastwood, running for the Vermont House in Washington County. His district elects two representatives. Besides Eastwood, there are two Democrats running, and one Progressive.

Washington Post Politics Blog on Free & Equal Debate

Posted on October 23, 2012 by adminOctober 23, 2012

The Washington Post politics blog here comments on the opening few minutes of tonight’s presidential debate between Rocky Anderson, Virgil Goode, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein. UPDATE: here is a more comprehensive story at the same site, written after the debate was over.

Here is a link to the debate through C-SPAN. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport commenters for the link. Here is a Christian Science Monitor story about the debate.

Los Angeles Times Carries Op-Ed on How Top-Two Primaries Limit Voter Choice in November

Posted on October 23, 2012 by adminOctober 23, 2012

Keith Smith, an assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of the Pacific, has this op-ed about California’s top-two open primary. The main focus is on how it has shrunk voter choice in November elections for Congress and state office.

Attorneys’ Fees Upheld in California Top-Two Case

Posted on October 23, 2012 by adminOctober 23, 2012

On October 23, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow issued a tentative ruling in Field vs. Bowen. He refused to reverse his earlier order, requiring plantiffs to pay almost $250,000 in attorney fees.

Attorneys for plantiffs will argue in court Wednesday, October 24, at 9:30 am, to ask Judge Karnow to change his mind.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, please come to the hearing, which is at 9:30 am at 400 McAllister Street, Room 302, San Francisco. UPDATE: Judge Karnow refused to reconsider his earlier opinion, so now the case will be appealed to the State Court of Appeals. Thank you to all the people who attended the hearing. All of the 45 seats in the courtroom were filled, and 25 others were unable to be seated, so remained out in the hallway, unable to either see or hear. There may be publicity about this outcome soon. At the oral argument, Judge Karnow seemed to feel that it is objective truth that a top-two system is intrinsically helpful to the public. Therefore, in his mind, it follows logically that anyone who files a lawsuit against any part of the system is damaging the public interest. This case did not even challenge the essence of the top-two system; it challenged two especially unfair aspects of it that are not present in the Washington state top-two system.

Jill Stein Sues Federal Election Commission over Commission on Presidential Debates Exclusionary Rules

Posted on October 23, 2012 by adminOctober 23, 2012

On October 22, Jill Stein sued the Federal Election Commission in Florida state court, concerning the presidential debate held that day in Boca Raton, Florida. Here is the complaint. The rationale for suing the FEC is that federal law does not permit corporations to make direct contributions to federal candidates, yet the FEC refuses to enforce this rule against the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is mostly funded by for-profit corporations. Although the CPD debates are over for this year, the lawsuit, like Gary Johnson’s debates lawsuits, will not be moot and any possible relief could help in 2016.