Use this link to see the CNN election returns from the Sunday, March 18 presidential primary in Puerto Rico.
Reply
Recently, the Republican Party of Bernalillo County filed a federal lawsuit against part of New Mexico’s law that provides public funding for candidates for some state offices. The lawsuit challenges the part of the public funding law that gives extra public funding to publicly-funded candidates who have well-financed opponents. There is virtually no chance this lawsuit can fail, because the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated extra public funding for this kind of candidate last year in the Arizona Free Enterprise Club decision.
See this story for the melodramatic story of how a Pennsylvania Democrat who tried to run for the state legislature this year was knocked off the ballot before anyone even checked to see if her petition is valid. The reporter says she “only” needed 300 signatures, implying that the requirement is easy. It is not easy. The typical State House district in Pennsylvania has approximately 20,000 registered Democrats, and they are the only voters eligible to sign. Furthermore, no one can circulate a primary petition in Pennsylvania if the circulator doesn’t live in the district.
Before 1985, candidates for State House needed 100 signatures to get on the ballot in a primary. The 1985 session of the legislature tripled the legislative requirement and increased the statewide petition by a factor of ten, from 200 to 2,000 signatures. Pennsylvania is also the only state that still has a county distribution requirement for statewide petitions, even though such county distribution requirements were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969. The Pennsylvania state courts repeatedly uphold ballot access restrictions that have been struck down in federal courts. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.
Rhodes Cook’s blog has this interesting calculation, showing that this year, Mitt Romney has won 38% of the votes cast in Republican presidential primaries, and 33% of the vote cast so far in Republican caucuses. Cook notes that there has never been a Republican presidential nominee who polled such a low share of the nationwide presidential primary vote for his party, during the era in which a majority of states have held presidential primaries. The first presidential election in which a majority of states held presidential primaries was 1976.
Cook notes, however, that several Democratic nominees polled almost that low a share of the Democratic presidential primary vote. The lowest percentages for Democratic nominees were Walter Mondale’s 38% in 1984, and Jimmy Carter’s 39% in 1976. Rhodes Cook is the author of America Votes, the nation’s most accurate and thorough reference books for election returns for federal office.
It is possible that three presidential candidates, all of whom are seeking a minor party presidential nomination, will qualify for primary season matching funds this year. Buddy Roemer, who is seeking the Americans Elect nomination, was certified for primary season matching funds on February 2, 2012. Gary Johnson is seeking them and his campaign says so far he has raised the needed $5,000 in fourteen states. Twenty states are needed to satisfy the legal requirements. Jill Stein is seeking the funds and her campaign says so far she has raised the needed $5,000 in three states.
The primary season matching funds program has existed starting in 1976, and there has never been a presidential election in which three minor party presidential candidates received matching funds. The funds must be raised before the candidate has been nominated for President. Johnson must meet the qualifications before the Libertarian convention in early May, and Stein must meet them before the Green convention in mid-July. The money may be used for general election petitioning.