According to this article, the British House of Lords may sit for 24 hours per day, so as to give that body the opportunity to fully debate the bill that sets up a national popular vote on whether House of Commons elections in the future will be conducted with Instant Runoff Voting (that is not the British term). Election officials say the bill must pass by mid-February 2011, if the vote is to take place in May 2011.
Gautam Dutta has this article about flaws in California’s “top-two” election system, in the Huffington Post of January 17. Dutta is the attorney representing candidates and voters in a pending lawsuit in the California State Court of Appeals. The lawsuit challenges the new California law that bars anyone from being listed on any ballot, in an election for state office and for Congress, as an independent candidate. The same law says candidates may list their party on the ballot, but only if they are registered in a qualified party. Also, he is challenging the law that says write-in votes cannot be counted in November in elections for state and congressional office.
Gautam Dutta has this article about flaws in California’s “top-two” election system, in the Huffington Post of January 17. Dutta is the attorney representing candidates and voters in a pending lawsuit in the California State Court of Appeals. The lawsuit challenges the new California law that bars anyone from being listed on any ballot, in an election for state office and for Congress, as an independent candidate. The same law says candidates may list their party on the ballot, but only if they are registered in a qualified party. Also, he is challenging the law that says write-in votes cannot be counted in November in elections for state and congressional office.
On November 2, 2010, Wisconsin Green Party Assembly nominee Ben Manski received 31.11% of the vote, in a race with Democratic, Republican, and Constitution Party nominees as well. Manski placed second, well ahead of the Republican nominee, in the 77th district, centered in Madison.
That was the first time a minor party nominee for Wisconsin legislature had defeated one major party opponent since 1944, and also the first time since 1944 that a minor party legislative nominee in that state had exceeded 30% of the vote. Manski is Executive Director of Liberty Tree. He won the endorsement of the state’s long-serving Democratic Secretary of State, Doug La Follette. He was also endorsed by two Democrats who ran for that seat in the 2010 primary, by several unions, and by many local elected officials. Here is his campaign web page.
In 1944, the Progressive Party (a party that existed only in Wisconsin) had elected six Assembly members and a State Senator. In 1946 the Progressive Party disbanded and its leaders became Republicans.
Wisconsin is another state that uses a straight-ticket device, which always injures minor party candidates, especially when they are running for an office not near the top of the ballot. Manski calculates that he won more popular votes than any other candidate, among voters who did not use the straight-ticket device. There were no other Green Party nominees on the ballot in Wisconsin in 2010.
On November 2, 2010, Janine Hansen, the Constitution (Independent American) Party nominee for Assembly, 33rd district, received 30.43% of the vote and outpolled her Democratic Party opponent. This was the first time since at least 1920 that a minor party nominee for Nevada state legislature had outpolled one of the major party nominees, and the first time that one had polled over 30% of the vote in a race with both major parties.
One could say that in recent years, two Libertarian nominees for the Nevada legislature came closer to victory. In 1992 Tamara Clark polled 44.38% for State Senate in a race in a two-party race; and in 2000 James Dan polled 45.27% for Assembly in a two-party race. But, as noted above, Hansen was running in a 3-party race.
The 33rd Assembly district includes Elko and Humboldt Counties in northeastern Nevada. Hansen has been a frequent candidate for public office in the last decade. She ran for U.S. House in 2002 and polled 3.60%; she ran again for the same office in 2004 and polled 3.65%. In 2006 she was the Constitution Party’s nominee for Secretary of State, and polled 7.03%. In all of these races, she had opponents from both major parties. In 2008 she ran for State Senate and polled 34.75% in a two-party race. She spent years as a lobbyist at the State Capitol, which has given her the experience and knowledge of state government to be a credible candidate.
The Constitution Party affiliate in Nevada is called the Independent American Party, which was founded in 1968 in Nevada. In 2010, it won four partisan county elections in Nevada. It was also strong in the 1970’s. In 1974, one of its legislative nominees, Duane Porter, carried Pershing County, but Pershing County was only part of that district (the 37th Assembly district), and when the Humboldt County part of the district votes were added in, Porter came in third in the district as a whole.
No minor party has elected anyone to the Nevada legislature since 1914, when the Socialist Party elected one State Senator and one member of the Assembly. UPDATE: the Reno News & Review has this story, published January 13, about the party’s success in northeastern Nevada.
