Vermont Superior Court Gives Justice Party Two More Weeks to Obtain Signatures

Posted on by August 6, 2012
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Vermont is tied for having the earliest petition deadline for independent presidential candidates. Also, Vermont has very cumbersome petition-checking procedures for independent presidential candidates. They must take the petitions to each town, wait for the town clerks to check the signatures, and then collect the signatures and physically take them to the Secretary of State. Rocky Anderson and the Justice Party failed to qualify, and sued. On August 6, a Superior Court Judge in Washington County ruled that the Justice Party has two more weeks to complete the process. Here is the opinion, which says the procedures the Secretary of State has been using violate the U.S. Constitution. The judge also said that the state must accepted petitions that were collected on photocopies of blank petition forms. The state had been insisting that only forms issued by the state (and not copies made by the group) were valid.

The case is Anderson v State of Vermont, 480-6-12. It seems somewhat likely that the Constitution Party and the Green Party may also benefit from this ruling.

New Book on How Democratic Party Switched Vice-Presidential Nominees in 1972

Posted on by August 5, 2012
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Joshua M. Glasser has just published “The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign Crisis.” The book is published by Yale U. Press. In July 1972, the Democratic national convention chose Thomas Eagleton for vice-president, and George McGovern for president, and certified the names of the nominees to all 50 states and D.C. The following month, Eagleton resigned from the ticket and the Democratic National Committee met and chose Sargent Shriver as the replacement.

The publication of a book on this topic is a welcome development. New and minor parties, and independent presidential candidates, frequently don’t know who their vice-presidential candidate will be until late in the campaign. This was notably true for John B. Anderson, who declared as an independent in April 24, 1980, yet who didn’t choose his v-p until August 27. Unfortunately, the First Circuit, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court, both ruled recently that there is no constitutional right for a newly-qualifying party, or an independent ticket, to make a late decision on the vice-presidential selection. The failure of some states, and some courts, to give flexibility for vice-presidential substitution is an obvious violation of Equal Protection, and having this book in print will make that point easier to explain. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the news about the book.

Sixth Circuit Upholds 2008 Action of Tennessee Democratic Party in Unseating Primary Winner

Posted on by August 4, 2012
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On July 5, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals issued a 3-page ruling in Kurita v The State Primary Board of the Tennessee Democratic Party, upholding the action of the Tennessee Democratic Party in 2008 and also upholding the U.S. District Court decision of 2008. The incumbent Democratic State Senator, Rosalind Kurita, had won the primary, although by only 19 votes. But the party decertified her as its nominee, and instead nominated the runner-up. The party was hostile to her because she had voted for a Republican for Senate President. Also the Democratic Party charged that some of the voters in the Democratic primary were Republicans. Tennessee has open primaries.

The Sixth Circit decision has almost no original content, and on the merits, merely says that the U.S. District Court decision was correct. The implications of this decision are significant, because the U.S. District Court decision only covered Tennessee, but the 6th circuit decision will also control future similar disputes in Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky, which are the other states in the Sixth Circuit. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.

Roseanne Barr Wins Peace & Freedom Party Nomination

Posted on by August 4, 2012
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Roseanne Barr has won the presidential nomination of the Peace & Freedom Party. Cindy Sheehan is the vice-presidential nominee. On the first presidential ballot, the vote was: Barr 29, Stephen Durham 18, Stewart Alexander 12, abstain 4. Peta Lindsay had withdrawn before the vote and had endorsed Barr.

Because the first ballot did not produce a majority winner, a second vote was taken. That ballot was: Barr 37, Durham 16, Alexander 6, abstain 5.

For vice-president, Cindy Sheehan received 50 votes, and there were 14 abstentions.

Activity is being undertaken in Florida to qualify the Peace & Freedom Party for the ballot, and if that succeeds, the Barr-Sheehan ticket will also appear in Florida. Thanks to Dave Kadlecek for this news.

Six Presidential Candidates Submit Petitions in Washington State

Posted on by August 4, 2012
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The deadline has passed in Washington state for minor party presidential candidates, and independent presidential candidates, to submit petitions. Already confirmed for the ballot are Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party, James Harris of the Socialist Workers Party, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, and Peta Lindsay of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The state still hasn’t checked the petitions for Jill Stein of the Green Party and Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party. See this story.