Micah Sifry has this lengthy article about Americans Elect at Tech President, a web page that covers how the internet has changed politics in the United States.
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On July 25, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party filed this petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. This is the case in which, in 2008, the Secretary of State of New Hampshire refused to give the Libertarian Party the name protection that virtually every other state routinely gives to all political parties. Even though the Libertarian Party national convention clearly nominated Bob Barr for President in May 2008, the Secretary of State printed two “Libertarian” presidential candidates on the November 2008 ballot. The U.S. District Court Magistrate, and the First Circuit, then ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not give parties a freedom of association right to prevent non-nominees of the party from using the party label on the general election ballot. The First Circuit did not even mention the only on-point precedents that ruled to the contrary, nor did the First Circuit mention the U.S. Supreme Court decision California Democratic Party v Jones, which has a great deal of language in support of party associational rights. COFOE (the Coalition for Free & Open Elections) helped pay the costs of the petition. COFOE thanks everyone who has contributed to the organization, which is a loose coalition of most of the nation’s nationally-organized minor parties, and other organizations that support their ability to compete in elections.
Sanford Levinson, a well-known law professor at the University of Texas, has this column at the legal blog Balkinization about Americans Elect. Professor Levinson suggests that Americans Elect will nominate General David Petraeus for President. Petraeus is retired.
Levinson also worries that a strong showing by Americans Elect would prevent anyone from getting a majority of the electoral college vote, thus letting the U.S. House choose the President. He seems unaware that Americans Elect has already provided that if no one gets a majority in the electoral college, Americans Elect would hold another nominating event on the internet to let its members decide whom Americans Elect presidential electors should support in December in the electoral college voting.
Levinson also criticizes Americans Elect because it doesn’t plan to run any candidates for Congress. But, even though he is right that this is what Americans Elect says now, Americans Elect will always be free to change its mind on that. And in many states, it will be entitled to nominate by primary for all partisan office, and individuals will be free to file to run for Congress and other office, regardless of the wishes of the founders of Americans Elect. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
As previously reported, on March 17, 2011, the Libertarian National Committee sued the Federal Election Commission, to gain the ability to receive a bequest of $217,734 that had been left to the party by Raymond Burrington, who had died on April 26, 2007. Federal campaign laws prevent anyone from giving that much money to a national committee of a political party in any one calendar year.
On May 3, the FEC had filed a motion, asking the Libertarian Party’s attorneys to clarify the complaint. The FEC said the Libertarian Party complaint did not explain whether the party is only trying to defeat the limit on how much money a deceased person can give to a national committee for any purpose, or whether the party is also trying to defeat the limit on how much money a deceased person may give for the purpose of helping candidates running for President and/or Congress. On May 17, the Libertarian Party filed an amended complaint, clarifying that it is attacking all limits on how much money a deceased person may give, and that the party believes a deceased person’s contribution ought to be available for helping federal candidates, as well as for party projects that are not tied directly to any candidate’s campaign. Now that this has been clarified, the 3-judge court already set for this case has been dissolved, and the case is on its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal campaign laws specify rules for which court handles which type of case, and because this lawsuit now attacks part of the law passed in 1974, the law says such a challenge goes directly to the D.C. Circuit.
North Carolina, and eleven other states, lets state income tax filers choose a political party that they wish to help. North Carolina taxpayers can choose to send $3 to the ballot-qualified party of their choice, by checking a box on the form.
For the income tax returns that have come in during the period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, 6.9% of the taxpayers who participated chose the Libertarian Party. 59.3% chose the Democratic Party, and 33.8% chose the Republican Party. This is the highest share for any minor party, in any state, since Ballot Access News has been tracking this data. The North Carolina Libertarian Party will have received $47,646 from the tax returns filed during the last twelve months, after it requests the money.
The September 1, 2012 print edition of Ballot Access News will have a chart showing this data for all twelve states that have this type of program.