West Virginia Holds 3-Party U.S. Senate Debate

Posted on by October 15, 2010
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On October 14, a U.S. Senate debate was held in West Virginia.  Participants included three of the four candidates on the ballot:  Republican John Raese , Mountain Party nominee Jesse Johnson, and Constitution Party nominee Jeff Becker.  See this story.  The Democratic nominee, Joe Manchin, did not attend, but he did provide written answers to the debate questions.

All four candidates will debate on October 18; see this story.  That debate will be televised and will be the first televised debate in West Virginia that includes a minor party debating major party opponents.  Thanks to the commenters for improving the accuracy of this post.

Ohio Case on Whether Polling Place Locations Beyond 100 Feet Must be Open to First Amendment Activity

Posted on by October 15, 2010
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On October 18, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett will hear arguments in Liberty Township Tea Party v International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 648, southern district of Ohio 1:10-cv-707.  The issue is whether a private property owner who rents out space for a polling place may stop leafletting outside the polling place, in the area beyond 100 feet of the polling place door.

This particular Ohio polling place is a union local headquarters.  Union officials told Katherine Dirr that she could not stand on their property with a sign that said “Stop Obama Care”, on primary election day in May 2010.  Ohio election law does not permit electioneering within 100 feet of the polls, but she was beyond the 100 foot limit.  She and the Liberty Township Tea Party argue that if the union is correct, then the union could permit electioneering and leafletting (outside the 100 foot zone) for one side of an issue, but not the other side.  Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.

Idaho Republican Party Trial Over Closed Primary Ends

Posted on by October 15, 2010
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The trial in Idaho Republican Party v Ysursa has now ended.  This is the case in which the Republican Party is fighting to obtain a closed primary for itself.  A last round of briefs will be filed in the next few weeks.  The decision, when it comes down, will be a landmark.  This is the first case in which either major party has submitted empirical evidence that it needs to close its primary because persons not in sympathy with the party have been voting in its primaries.  The Democratic Party of Mississippi, and the Republican Party of Virginia, had earlier filed lawsuits to obtain closed primaries for themselves, but no equivalent evidence was presented in either of those cases.

The Mississippi Democratic Party case had lost on a legal technicality, and the Virginia Republican Party had ended with a compromise, in which the party has a right to demand a closed primary for itself only when it is being forced to hold a primary for that particular office.

For more details about the Idaho trial, see blogger Dennis Mansfield’s blog here.  Scroll down; not everything on the blog relates to the court case.

Illinois Press Reports on State’s First Televised 3-Party Gubernatorial Debate

Posted on by October 15, 2010
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On the evening of October 14, Illinois held its first-ever gubernatorial general election debate that included more than the two major party candidates.  Here is one newspaper’s account of the debate, which included Rich Whitney, the Green Party nominee.  Here is another story; here is another one which says that Whitney outperformed his opponents.

In other news about Rich Whitney, the Chicago Board of Elections now says the electronic voting machines will show his name with correct spelling.