Shreveport Times Article About Variety of Parties that Louisiana Voters Put on Voter Registration Forms

Posted on by January 15, 2012
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The Shreveport Times has this article, mentioning that many Louisiana voters have chosen to register into a huge variety of political parties. Of course, many of the “parties” mentioned in the article are not actual organizations.

Most states that have registration by party let voters register into any party they wish. But generally, newspapers and other media never get to see the complete list of parties that creative voters join, on voter registration forms, because election officials don’t make the complete list available. Louisiana elections officials have been making it easier recently for media and individuals to get the entire list, and that has generated the Shreveport Times news story.

Justice Party Starts Petitioning for Party Status in Utah

Posted on by January 14, 2012
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According to this story, the Justice Party has already started petitioning for party status in Utah. The law requires 2,000 valid signatures by February 15. Parties that are already ballot-qualified in Utah, besides the two major parties, are Americans Elect, Constitution, and Libertarian.

On January 13, Rocky Anderson accepted the presidential nomination of the Justice Party, at a public meeting held on the campus of the University of Utah.

California Libertarian Presidential Primary Ballot Has Nine Listed Candidates

Posted on by January 14, 2012
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The California Libertarian presidential primary ballot will carry nine names: Roger Gary, R. J. Harris, Gary Johnson, Scott Keller, James Ogle, Carl Person, Bill Still, Joy Waymire, and Lee Wrights. The Libertarian presidential primary might be deemed somewhat irrational, because the primary is not until June, and the party will have chosen its nominee in May.

The Libertarian Party didn’t use its presidential primary in California in 1980, 1984, and 1988, because the national convention was before the date of the California primary. In 1992, the only name listed on the Libertarian California presidential primary was Andre Marrou, who was already the nominee.

Starting in 1996, though, the Libertarian Party national conventions were later than the California primary, so the party started holding multi-candidate presidential primaries in California. In 1996, Harry Browne won the primary in a 4-way race and went on to be the nominee. In 2000, Browne won the 5-way California primary and again went on to be the nominee. In 2004, Gary Nolan won the California 3-way primary but was defeated for the party’s nomination at the convention. In 2008, Christine Smith won the 12-person primary but she was not nominated at the national convention.