On June 9, the Texas Secretary of State determined that the Green Party petition this year had enough valid signatures, and the party will be on the 2010 ballot. The party is very likely to poll 5% of the vote for State Comptroller this year, because there is no Democratic nominee for that office this year. That will mean the Texas Greens will also be on in 2012.
North Dakota held a primary on June 8. The three qualified parties were Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian. Two Libertarians ran for statewide office. They each got enough votes in the open primary to qualify for the November ballot.
North Dakota is the only state in which a ballot-qualified party cannot nominate candidates in its own primary unless its candidates (whose names are printed on the primary ballot) poll a minimum number of votes. Statewide nominees must poll 300 votes.
North Dakota is the only state that does not have voter registration. North Dakota party primaries are open. Anyone who shows up to vote on primary day decides which party’s primary to vote in.
The Albany, New York Times-Union of May 9 has this op-ed by John Koza, father of the National Popular Vote Plan campaign.
The Oregon Secretary of State plans to give permission for Oregon counties to use 3-letter abbreviations for political parties, instead of the normal practice of printing the full name of parties. See this story.
It is likely there will be litigation over this. The story quotes an opponent of the idea, as saying that abbreviations are inherently discriminatory, because virtually all voters know what “DEM” and “REP” means, but few voters will know that “PGP” means Green Party.
This New York Times article of June 9, about the passage of California’s Proposition 14, acknowledges the idea that California general election ballot access is now draconian for minor party and independent candidates.
