Minnesota Independence Party Gubernatorial Candidate at 13% in Poll

Posted on by August 31, 2010
3

On August 31, the MPR News-Humphrey Institute released a poll for the Minnesota gubernatorial race.  It shows:  Republican Tom Emmer 34%; Democratic-Farmer-Labor Mark Dayton 34%, Independence Party Tom Horner 13%, undecided or other 19%.  See this story.

Horner, the Independence Party nominee, is already higher in this poll than Jesse Ventura was in similar polls at this point in the 1998 election cycle.  Ventura was at 10% in polls in mid-September 1998, but he won with 37%.  At that time the name of the Independence Party of Minnesota was the Reform Party.

Minnesota has a very active group working for Instant-Runoff Voting.

New York City Voters Will Vote on Whether to Ease Ballot Access

Posted on by August 31, 2010
1

On November 2, voters in New York City will vote on two amendments to the city charter.  The second question requires voters to cast a “Yes” or “No” vote on seven separate aspects of election law, including easier ballot access for candidates for city office.  See the details here.

The first amendment would restore two-term term limits for members of the city council, and the city’s executive elected positions.

These measures were put on the ballot by the Charter Review Commission.  That body heard lots of testimony in favor of making New York city elections non-partisan, but the Commission didn’t put that issue on the ballot.

Arizona Democratic Party Files Complaint Against Three Republicans who Recruited Candidates to File in Green Party Primary

Posted on by August 31, 2010
4

On August 30, the Arizona Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney, and the Maricopa County Attorney, saying that three Republicans recruited various people to file in the Green Party primary.  See this story.  Here is the 12-page letter.

On the one hand, the activity complained of certainly is not illegal, notwithstanding the arguments made in the letter.  On the other hand, the activity is harmful to the Green Party, which had already been complaining about the activity.  The recruited candidates are not sincere and have no desire to campaign or to meet with Green Party leaders.  Thanks to Bradley Jansen for the link.

Michigan Tea Party Loses Lawsuit to Get Itself on Ballot

Posted on by August 31, 2010
2

On August 30, the Michigan State Court of Appeals ruled that “The Tea Party” should not be added to the ballot because of discrepancies over its name.  In many official documents it had said its name is “The Tea Party”.  But on the petition sheets, the name of the party is “Tea Party”.  See this story.  Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.  The decision doesn’t appear to be on the Court’s web page yet.  UPDATE:  the party says it will appeal to the State Supreme Court.

The Tea Party movement had not created the party that submitted the petition.  Considerable evidence showed that the petition had been circulated and paid for by groups and individuals associated with the Democratic Party.  Although the awareness of that might have influenced the judges’ attitude toward the case, factors like that are separate from the legal issues in this case.

Constitution Party Will Sue to Get on Illinois Ballot

Posted on by August 31, 2010
4

The Constitution Party of Illinois expects to file a lawsuit on September 1 to get its statewide slate of candidates on the Illinois ballot.  Illinois requires 25,000 valid signatures.  After employees of the State Board of Elections checked each signature, they found 25,017 valid signatures.  But then members of the Board reduced the valid number to 22,000.  They did this by presuming that certain signatures must be forged, because the signature on the petition does not resemble the signature on the voter registration form.

The party says that is because some voters have not signed a voter registration form in decades, and as these voters have aged, the appearance of their signature has changed.

When the Board found a signature it believed had been forged, it then disqualified all the signatures on the same sheet.  This is the same reasoning that led the Board to disqualify the statewide Libertarian slate in 1998.  See this story.  Thanks to Jeff Trigg for the link.