Tucson Newspaper Feature Story on Contested Green Party Primary for Mayor

Posted on by August 21, 2011
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Next month, Tucson holds partisan primaries for city office. This year, no one’s name is on the Republican primary ballot, and only one candidate is on the Democratic primary ballot. Yet there are two Greens running in the Green Party primary, Mary DeCamp and Dave Croteau. This story says that the Green Party deliberately set up a primary contest to attract more attention for the party, and that the two candidates are supportive of each other.

The Republican Party may yet have a nominee, if any Republican write-in candidate in that party’s primary can poll enough votes to get the Republican nomination.

Tucson is the only city in Arizona with partisan city elections. In 2009 the legislature passed a bill, requiring all cities to use non-partisan elections. However, the State Court of Appeals then ruled that the law violates the Arizona constitution, and that Tucson may retain partisan elections if it wishes. The state government has appealed that ruling to the State Supreme Court, which will probably say next month whether it will hear the state’s appeal.

New Hampshire Libertarians Hope to Win September 6 Special Legislative Election

Posted on by August 21, 2011
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New Hampshire voters will choose a new state representative on September 6, in the Rockingham County 14th State House district. Here is a Seabrook, New Hampshire newspaper story about Brendan Kelly, the Libertarian nominee. In November 2010, he had run for the same seat, and polled 24.63% in a race in which both major parties also had nominees. In the upcoming special election, Kelly has received endorsements from some Republican leaders.

Law Journal Article Argues that if States Permit Write-in Votes, Those States Must Not Set up Obstacles to Casting a Write-in Vote

Posted on by August 20, 2011
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University of Texas Law School Professor Joseph R. Fishkin has written this eleven-page article. It argues that if states permit write-in voting, then those states have an obligation not to throw roadblocks in the path of voters who wish to count a write-in vote. The article seems to have been triggered by last year’s litigation in Alaska, around the write-in candidacy of Lisa Murkowski in the general election. The Alaska Republican Party, seeking to block the write-in campaign, had argued in court that election officials should not be permitted to help any voters (even those who asked) know how to spell “Murkowski.”

Forty-five of the fifty states permit write-in votes in the general election. However, some states include counties that routinely discard all write-in votes without counting them (especially Pennsylvania). The District of Columbia refuses to tally votes even for declared write-in presidential candidates. And only a minority of states post at the polls a list of the declared write-in candidates. Finally, California, under the new top-two law, allows write-in space in November for Congress and partisan state office, but says such write-ins may never be counted.

The Fishkin article was recently published in Alaska Law Review, vol. 28, no. 29.

FEC Releases 2010 Election Returns Book

Posted on by August 20, 2011
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The Federal Election Commission always publishes a book of official election returns, after any regularly-scheduled congressional election. The book is always called “Federal Elections (followed by the year).” The FEC has just posted its on-line version of the 2010 book. See this link. A chart in the book shows that 5.45% of the November 2010 U.S. House vote went to “other”; the other 94.55% went to the two major parties. The printed book is not yet available, but it will be in a few weeks. The FEC does not charge for copies of the book. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.