Indiana Libertarian Won Partisan Race by One Vote

Posted on by November 15, 2011
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On November 8, 2011, the town of Henry, Indiana, held partisan elections for Town Council. Each race was at-large but each race was a separate election. Two of the seats only had a Republican running. For the third seat, two candidates were on the ballot, Libertarian Dennis Denney and Republican incumbent Rebecca Hammer. The final results show that Denney received 93 votes and Hammer received 92. Thanks to Rick Hasen and Robbin Stewart for this news.

Hammer could ask for a recount, but she probably will not do so. Shirley has a population of 830 and is in east central Indiana, in Henry County. The Libertarian Party won three other partisan elections around the U.S. on November 8. The others were: (1) Susan Bell, Town Judge, Hagerstown, Indiana; (2) Miccah Shepherd, Clerk-Treasurer of Claypool, Indiana; (3) Erik Viker, Selingsgrove, Pennsylvania Town Council.

Pennsylvania District Attorney Seeks to Learn Identity of Voter Who Used Write-in Space on Ballot to Express a Hostile Opinion

Posted on by November 15, 2011
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At the November 8, 2011 election in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, a voter wrote this message on his or her ballot in the space reserved for write-ins: “Both candidates corrupt and belong in prison or dead.” The Monroe County Elections Board asked the District Attorney to try to learn the identity of the voter who put this on the ballot, and to determine whether the message deserves criminal prosecution for conceivably making a threat. See this story. Thanks to Mel Kaplan for the link.

California Republican Party Submits Referendum Petition on State Senate Redistricting

Posted on by November 15, 2011
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Between November 10 and November 13, California Republicans submitted 710,924 signatures on a referendum petition concerning the new State Senate districts. California law requires 504,760 valid signatures on such a referendum petition. California Republicans oppose the new State Senate districts drawn up by the new redistricting commission.

If the petition has enough valid signatures, the new State Senate districts will be put to a vote of the people. It is not clear what State Senate districts the state will use, if the referendum petition does have enough valid signatures. In a normal referendum, the challenged statute can’t be implemented until the popular vote affirms the law. But California needs to have valid districts in place in time for the June 2012 primary. For more information about the referendum’s backers, see their web page, www.FairDistricts2012.com.

Federal Election Commission Publishes 2010 Election Returns for Both Houses of Congress

Posted on by November 14, 2011
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The Federal Election Commission has published Federal Elections 2010, a 150-page paperback book that contains election returns for both Houses of Congress, from the November 2010 election. The book includes primary election returns as well as general election returns, and is available free to anyone who requests it. The FEC’s phone number is 800-424-9530.

The book generally lists write-in votes, but lists no such votes for Pennsylvania. Although Pennsylvania election officials did tally the number of write-ins cast, it did so months after the official tally for the candidates listed on the ballot. Furthermore, Pennsylvania election officials didn’t post the write-in totals on the state election office’s web page, so virtually no one knows about the tally.

California Secretary of State Web Page Shows Progress of Validating Americans Elect Petition

Posted on by November 14, 2011
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The California Secretary of State’s web page has this chart, which is updated daily, showing validation from each county for the petition to qualify Americans Elect as a party in California. The work must be completed by December 19, 2011.

The petition needs validity of 63.53% in order to succeed. So far, every county that has finished checking is reporting a higher percentage valid, except for two small counties, Imperial and Del Norte.