On Saturday, May 5, the Connecticut Senate passed HB 5024, the bill to let unregistered individuals register on election day and then vote that same day. The vote was 19-16. The bill now goes to the Governor, who is expected to sign it. Thanks to Joshua Van Vranken for this news.
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson was nominated to be the Libertarian Party candidate for President. Here are the votes:
Gary Johnson 419
Lee Wrights 152
James Burns 12
Carl Person 3
None of the Above 3
Sam Sloan 2
Max Abramson 2
Ron Paul 1
Wayne Root 1
Judge Jim Gray was nominated for Vice-President. Here are the votes:
Jim Gray 357
Lee Wrights 229
Jim Burns 6
NOTA 7 votes
On May 3, the Maryland State Board of Elections determined that the Americans Elect petition for party status has enough valid signatures. Americans Elect submitted 18,450 signatures. The requirement is 10,000 valid signatures. Thanks to Doug McNeil for this news.
This article says some South Carolina major party members plan to petition as independent candidates, if they cannot obtain any relief from the primary ballot access problem mentioned in earlier posts.
It is likely that Gary Johnson, Lee Wrights, Carl Person, and Jim Burns will qualify to be nominated for President at the Libertarian Party national convention now being held in Las Vegas. Each delegate to the convention, upon registration, receives one token relating to presidential candidates. A delegate may use the token to indicate support for a particular presidential candidate. The delegate chooses a presidential candidate, lists that candidate on the token, and drops it in a ballot box.
Only candidates who receive at least 30 tokens may then be placed in nomination. According to Independent Political Report, so far Gary Johnson has 263 tokens, Lee Wrights has 127, Carl Person has 28, Jim Burns has 27, Sam Sloan has 12, Rita Neumann has 3, and James Ogle has 2. Not all tokens have yet been cast. Saturday is the day for presidential nominating speeches and voting for President.
