Law Professor Suggests Americans Elect Presidential Nominee will be David Petraeus

Posted on by July 25, 2011
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Sanford Levinson, a well-known law professor at the University of Texas, has this column at the legal blog Balkinization about Americans Elect. Professor Levinson suggests that Americans Elect will nominate General David Petraeus for President. Petraeus is retired.

Levinson also worries that a strong showing by Americans Elect would prevent anyone from getting a majority of the electoral college vote, thus letting the U.S. House choose the President. He seems unaware that Americans Elect has already provided that if no one gets a majority in the electoral college, Americans Elect would hold another nominating event on the internet to let its members decide whom Americans Elect presidential electors should support in December in the electoral college voting.

Levinson also criticizes Americans Elect because it doesn’t plan to run any candidates for Congress. But, even though he is right that this is what Americans Elect says now, Americans Elect will always be free to change its mind on that. And in many states, it will be entitled to nominate by primary for all partisan office, and individuals will be free to file to run for Congress and other office, regardless of the wishes of the founders of Americans Elect. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Libertarian National Committee Clarifies Lawsuit Against Limits on Donations to Parties from Bequests

Posted on by July 25, 2011
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As previously reported, on March 17, 2011, the Libertarian National Committee sued the Federal Election Commission, to gain the ability to receive a bequest of $217,734 that had been left to the party by Raymond Burrington, who had died on April 26, 2007. Federal campaign laws prevent anyone from giving that much money to a national committee of a political party in any one calendar year.

On May 3, the FEC had filed a motion, asking the Libertarian Party’s attorneys to clarify the complaint. The FEC said the Libertarian Party complaint did not explain whether the party is only trying to defeat the limit on how much money a deceased person can give to a national committee for any purpose, or whether the party is also trying to defeat the limit on how much money a deceased person may give for the purpose of helping candidates running for President and/or Congress. On May 17, the Libertarian Party filed an amended complaint, clarifying that it is attacking all limits on how much money a deceased person may give, and that the party believes a deceased person’s contribution ought to be available for helping federal candidates, as well as for party projects that are not tied directly to any candidate’s campaign. Now that this has been clarified, the 3-judge court already set for this case has been dissolved, and the case is on its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal campaign laws specify rules for which court handles which type of case, and because this lawsuit now attacks part of the law passed in 1974, the law says such a challenge goes directly to the D.C. Circuit.

Seven Percent of North Carolina Income Tax Filers Who Helped a Political Party with a Small Donation Chose Libertarian Party

Posted on by July 25, 2011
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North Carolina, and eleven other states, lets state income tax filers choose a political party that they wish to help. North Carolina taxpayers can choose to send $3 to the ballot-qualified party of their choice, by checking a box on the form.

For the income tax returns that have come in during the period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, 6.9% of the taxpayers who participated chose the Libertarian Party. 59.3% chose the Democratic Party, and 33.8% chose the Republican Party. This is the highest share for any minor party, in any state, since Ballot Access News has been tracking this data. The North Carolina Libertarian Party will have received $47,646 from the tax returns filed during the last twelve months, after it requests the money.

The September 1, 2012 print edition of Ballot Access News will have a chart showing this data for all twelve states that have this type of program.

All Briefs Filed in Postal Petitioning Case

Posted on by July 25, 2011
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The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, currently has the lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service regulation that prohibits petitioning on interior postal sidewalks. As of July 19, all the briefs have been filed. The case is Initiative and Referendum Institute v U.S. Postal Service, 10-5337. This case was first filed in 2000 and was delayed for years by a U.S. District Court Judge, who finally ruled in favor of the Postal Service on September 8, 2010. Only after he ruled was the case permitted to go to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

British Campaign Finance Expert Explains that Strict British Campaign Finance Laws Give British Newspapers Huge Power

Posted on by July 25, 2011
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The New Republic has this interesting article by Jacob Rowbottom, a British scholar on campaign finance. Because British campaign finance laws are so strict, the only uninhibited spending about partisan political commentary comes from the newspapers, who are not controlled by campaign finance laws. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.