ABC News Story on Presidential Candidates Outside the Two Major Parties

Posted on by November 24, 2011
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ABC News has this story about the 2012 presidential election, and alternatives to the two major parties. Like many other stories, this story quotes an authority who says that if someone were elected President who wasn’t the nominee of either of the two major parties, that person would not be able to work with Congress. In this case the quoted authority is Professor Jonathan Ladd.

It is surprising that people who make this point never seem to remember that the U.S. has had six minor party or independent Governors elected in the last 40 years (two in Maine, and one each in Minnesota, Alaska, Connecticut, and Rhode Island), and that these Governors did work with their state legislatures and did get things done.

Independent Political Report Story Says Gary Johnson Extremely Likely to Seek the Libertarian Party Presidential Nomination

Posted on by November 23, 2011
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Independent Political Report has this story, saying Gary Johnson’s campaign manager has said that the probability that Gary Johnson will seek the Libertarian Party presidential nomination is 99%.

The Libertarian Party was able to place its presidential nominee on the ballot in either 50 states, or 49 states, in 1980, 1992, 1996, and 2000. The Libertarian Party has a possibility of placing its presidential nominee on the ballot of all 50 states in 2012. Much will depend on whether the party’s national officers decide to spend money on the ongoing Oklahoma petition drive, which currently has 30,000 signatures. The law requires 51,739 valid signatures by March 2012.

A newspaper story recently reported that Americans Elect will have spent $10,000,000 on ballot access, by the time petitioning for the 2012 election is over. 50-state ballot access for a party (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties) is a precious asset. Yet some members of the Libertarian Party National Committee are reluctant to spend relatively small amounts of money on ballot access during the odd years before presidential election years, even though petitioning in the odd years before election years is less expensive.

El Paso Mayoral Recall Lawsuit Tackles Important Constitutional Issues

Posted on by November 23, 2011
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See this story about the state court lawsuit in El Paso, Texas, over whether a recall petition for the Mayor is valid. Supporters of the Mayor believe that Texas laws make it illegal for churches and other corporations to contribute to a recall campaign. The church, or at least an officer of the church, has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that if Texas law does prohibit such contributions, then the Texas law violates the U.S. Constitution.

Typographical Error on Derby, Connecticut Ballot Leads to Election of a Person who Doesn’t Want the Job

Posted on by November 23, 2011
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At the November 8, 2011 in Derby, Connecticut, one of the Democratic Party nominees for a seat on the Board of Apportionment and Taxation was James R. Butler. However, whoever prepared the ballots erroneously listed him as James J. Butler. It happens that the town does have a resident by that name, and he is the son of James R. Butler. According to this news story, the Connecticut Secretary of State has ruled that James J. Butler has therefore been elected, even though he apparently doesn’t want the job.

The Connecticut Secretary of State’s ruling seems faulty. There may be other relevant facts that the news story doesn’t mention. One wonders what the Secretary of State would have said if no one by the name of James J. Butler lives in Derby, or if there were several people in the town with that name. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the link.

Americans Elect Has Enough Valid Signatures in Utah and Hawaii

Posted on by November 23, 2011
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Americans Elect petitions for party status have enough valid signatures in Utah and Hawaii. In Hawaii, the state still doesn’t consider the party ballot-qualified until it submits some additional paperwork about its officers and bylaws.

Florida has again confirmed that Americans Elect is qualified there. It had already been qualified, but Florida elections officials had been reviewing party paperwork for all minor parties and renewing the status of those parties.