Michigan Republicans About to Decide Whether to Use Presidential Primary or Caucus

Posted on by August 11, 2011
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The Michigan Republican Party will decide on Saturday, August 13, whether to use a presidential primary or a caucus to choose delegates to the 2012 national convention. See this story. If the Republican Party decides on a caucus, it is likely the legislature, which reconvenes in September, will eliminate the presidential primary for 2012, since the Democratic Party has already decided to use a caucus in 2012. If the Republican Party chooses a presidential primary for 2012, the legislature will probably pass a bill setting the date that the Republican Party prefers. The article seems to feel that the Republicans will opt for a primary to be held February 28, which would violate national Republican Party rules. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

Michigan has other ballot-qualified parties: Americans Elect, Constitution (called U.S. Taxpayers Party in that state), Green, Libertarian, and Natural Law. However, Michigan election law doesn’t give those parties their own presidential primary.

Americans Elect Spokesman Elliot Ackerman on Colbert TV Show

Posted on by August 11, 2011
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On August 11, Elliot Ackerman, Chief Operating Officer for Americans Elect, appeared on the Stephen Colbert show. The most significant news from the interview is that Ackerman did not imply, suggest, or say, that Americans Elect has a centrist or a moderate agenda. Last week he had suggested that it did. But, on the show, when asked, “What does Americans Elect stand for?” he said that it stands for whatever its delegates want it to stand for. A delegate is any registered voter in the U.S. who chooses to participate in the Americans Elect presidential process. At no point did he even mouth the words, “centrist” or “moderate”, or any other word that suggests any political agenda.

Ackerman strongly implied that the process by which the two major parties choose their presidential nominees, in which the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, have more influence than the voters of other states, is a flawed process.

The interview will leave viewers believing that it requires 2,900,000 valid signatures to get a presidential candidate on the ballot of all 50 states. Actually the number is approximately 850,000, and that will drop to approximately 740,000 if the new Florida ballot access law is overturned. Ackerman made a statement that Americans Elect will provide the first opportunity by which a presidential candidate can be directly nominated by the American people. Actually, however, the Reform Party in 1996 provided the same opportunity for all U.S. voters to nominate a presidential candidate. The Reform Party chose its presidential nominee by a mail-ballot (any registered voter could obtain a ballot). Then the Reform Party obtained ballot access for that nominee in all 50 states. Ackerman’s statement would have been accurate if it had specified that this is the first time using the internet to choose the nominee.

Siena Research Institute Poll for Special New York Congressional Election Ignores One of the Three Ballot-Listed Candidates

Posted on by August 10, 2011
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Siena Research Institute has released this poll for the September 13 special election to fill the vacant New York U.S. House seat, 9th district. Three candidates are on the ballot in that race: Democrat David Weprin, Republican Robert Turner, and Socialist Workers Party nominee Christopher Hoeppner. However, the poll only presented three choices: Weprin, Turner, or “Don’t know/No opinion.”

The link to the poll works with Explorer browser, but not with Firefox. The poll shows Weprin 48%, Turner 42%, 9% “don’t know/no opinion.”