| Page 4437

Arizona Top-Two Primary Initiative Expected to Qualify for Ballot This Year

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Richard WingerApril 14, 2012

An initiative to convert Arizona elections to the top-two primary system now used by Louisiana, Washington state and California is expected to qualify this year. Assuming the initiative has enough valid signatures, it will be on the November 2012 ballot. The petition deadline is July 1 and only another 50,000 signatures are needed.

On May 9, sponsors of the Arizona initiative and the similar California initiative will defend their idea, in a debate sponsored by the O’Connor House Public Policy Committee. Former State Senator Steve Peace of California, a backer of California’s Proposition 62 in 2004 (which lost at the polls) and Proposition 14 in June 2010 (which won at the polls) will team with Grady Gammage, Jr., a sponsor of the Arizona initiative. Gammage is an attorney and a Senior Fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute.

On the other side will be Alan Maguire, a former high-ranking employee of the Arizona legislature, and currently President of the Arizona Economic Forum, and President of the Maguire Company, a public policy consulting firm. He will be teamed with Richard Winger. The event is at Phoenix’s main public library, the Burton Barr Library, at 1221 N. Central Avenue. It runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free, and the room is large. But the O’Connor House still recommends that people who wish to be in the audience register in advance, to guarantee a seat. Here is the O’Connor House web page. The O’Connor House is associated with former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The moderator will be Michael M. Grant, an attorney who has also served as host for 25 years for the local PBS station’s public affairs show “Horizon.”

Oregon Libertarian Party Plans to Nominate by Private Primary

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Richard WingerApril 13, 2012

According to this story, the Oregon Libertarian Party expects to nominate candidates for public office this year by privately-financed mail balloting. The party may have got this idea from the Independent Party, another ballot-qualified Oregon minor party that has been nominating that way for several years now.

Is it Illegal for U.S. Residents to Suggest to Canadian Voters How Canadians Should Vote?

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Richard WingerApril 13, 2012

Since 1908, Canada has had a law prohibiting non-residents of Canada from “inducing” Canadian voters to vote for or against a candidate, during the Canadian campaign season. See this interesting analysis of the law on CBC News, which wonders if particular U.S. citizens (including Michael Moore) may have broken that law in recent years. “CBC” stands for “Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.”

U.S. House Signature Requirements for Minor Party and Independent Candidates in Illinois and Pennsylvania are Significantly Lower This Year than Normally

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Richard WingerApril 13, 2012

Because 2012 is the first election year following redistricting, the number of signatures needed for minor party and independent candidates for U.S. House in Illinois and Pennsylvania is significantly lower than in normal years.

In Illinois, in a normal year, the petition is 5% of the last vote cast. That means the typical U.S. House district following a presidential year needs, on the average, 14,000 signatures; and following a midterm year, 10,000. But Illinois law says in the year after redistricting, the requirement is exactly 5,000 signatures.

In Pennsylvania, in a normal year, the U.S. House petition is 2% of the winning candidate’s vote in the last election. But in years after redistricting, the new districts didn’t exist in the last election. So, instead, the state uses a different base for the percentage. Instead of 2% of the winner for Congress two years previously, it calculates what the winner of the preceding odd-year judicial election received in the new district. This is a lot of work for election officials. It also means that because the turnout is so much lower in the odd-year election years, the calculation produces a lower number. In 2012, in the average U.S. House district in Pennsylvania, an independent, or the nominee of an unqualified party, needs 1,144 signatures. By contrast, in 2010 the requirement in the average district was 3,842 signatures. Thanks to John Murphy for this news. UPDATE: it turns out that another clause in the Pennsylvania election law requires minor party and independent candidate requirements to never be less than what Democrats and Republicans need to get on the primary ballot. That number for major party members is 1,000 signatures to run for U.S. House, so this year minor party and independent candidates need between 1,000 and 1,961 signatures, depending on which district the candidate is running in.

Green Party and Constitution Party Respond to Tennessee’s Efforts to Remove them from Ballot

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Richard WingerApril 13, 2012

On April 10, the Constitution Party of Tennessee, and the Green Party of Tennessee, filed this brief in the 6th circuit. The state is trying to persuade the 6th Circuit to remove these two parties from the 2012 ballot. A U.S. District Court had put them on, on February 3, 2012. The state says the two parties haven’t shown a modicum of voter support.