Tom Tancredo May become Constitution Party Nominee for Governor of Colorado

Posted on by July 23, 2010
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According to this Denver Post story, there is a fair chance that former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo will become the American Constitution Party’s candidate this year for Governor of Colorado.  The Constitution Party affiliate in Colorado is called the American Constitution Party.  It is ballot-qualified.

Tancredo is more famous than most former members of the U.S. House, because he ran for President in the early Republican presidential primaries in 2008.  When he ran for President, he emphasized the issue of illegal immigrants more than any other issue.  Thanks to Taegan Goddard’s PoliticalWire for the link.

Here is another Denver Post story, on the legality of Tancredo’s candidacy.  Colorado law lets each qualified political party decide for itself whether to nominate candidates who, in the past, were members of another party.  The American Constitution Party’s bylaws say that past affiliation is not relevant, if two-thirds of the party state committee agree to let the candidate run.  The American Constitution Party’s state committee has already voted to accept Tancredo’s nomination.  The party’s original gubernatorial nominee, Benjamin Goss, has also agreed to withdraw in favor of Tancredo.  Thanks to Jason Miller for that link.

Wisconsin Independent Candidate Files Federal Lawsuit Over Denial of Her Ballot Label

Posted on by July 22, 2010
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On July 22, independent candidate Ieshuh Griffin filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, over the state elections office refusal to print her partisan label on the November ballot.  She is running for Assembly, 10th district, and wants “Not the ‘whiteman’s bitch’ ” on the ballot.  The state elections office won’t print that.  The law says independent candidates can choose up to five words to describe their political principle.

The case is Griffin v Government Accountability Board, 10-cv-617.  It has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Randa.  Here is her Complaint.

Seventh Circuit Tells Illinois to Hold Special U.S. Senate Election

Posted on by July 22, 2010
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On July 22, the 7th circuit issued this two-page order in Judge v Quinn, 09-2219.  It says that Illinois must hold a special U.S. Senate election on November 2, 2010, whether Illinois has any state election laws on how to handle that or not.  The special election is for the seat that would have been up in 2010 anyway.  The special election will merely determine who holds the seat between November 3, 2010 and January 3, 2011.

Superficially, the two-page order is a denial of the state’s request for a rehearing en banc.  However, the original 3-judge panel modified its earlier opinion to make it clear that the election is required under federal law.  The order says, “To the extent that Illinois law makes compliance with a provision of the federal Constitution difficult or impossible, it is Illinois law that must yield.”  Thanks to Jeff Trigg for the link.

Mary Norwood Files New Ballot Access Lawsuit in State Court

Posted on by July 22, 2010
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On July 22, Mary Norwood, independent candidate for Chair of the Fulton County (Georgia) Commission, filed a lawsuit in state court in Atlanta.  The case is Norwood v Fulton  County Board of Registration and Elections, 2010-cv-188643.  A state law requires her to have paid her filing fee by noon on July 2, even though he petition was not due until July 13.  She did pay the fee on July 2, but at 4:40 p.m.  The lawsuit argues that substantial compliance should control this situation.

Meanwhile, county elections officials are checking her petition to see if she has the needed 22,500 (approximately) signatures.  She submitted approximately 33,000.

Georgia law has very few precedents on substantial compliance for independent candidate petitions.  The requirements are so difficult, it is rare for anyone to even try to get on the ballot as an independent candidate in Georgia.  No independent candidate petitions requiring as many as 22,000 valid signatures have succeeded in Georgia since Georgia first started requiring petitions for independent candidates in 1943, except for two independent presidential petitions, those of John Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992.

Norwood had filed an earlier ballot access lawsuit on June 22, to validate her petition sheets in which the name “Fulton County” had been pre-printed on each signature line, so that the signer would not need to add this.  The judge in that case refused to rule either way, but later the Fulton County Election Board voted to accept those petition sheets.