The 11th circuit upheld Georgia’s 5% petition requirement for independent and minor party candidates (for U.S. House) on March 22, 2010, in Coffield v Handel. Faye Coffield asked for a rehearing before the full 11th circuit on April 9. That request is still pending. Most petitions for rehearing are denied within 30 days of the request, but this one has been pending for 38 days.
According to this story, a petition is circulating to qualify the Tea Party for the Michigan ballot. However, the story also says that the same petitioning company that is circulating this petition has worked in the past for the Democratic Party. The story does not interview any leader of the drive to qualify the party, so it is difficult to know. In most states, a petition to qualify a new party must contain the name and contact information for at least one officer of the proposed new party. Unfortunately, Michigan petitions do not do that. The petition has a postal address but no names of party officers. The address appears to be P.O. Box 23, Richville, Michigan. Richville is in the “thumb” area of the Michigan “hand”, east of Saginaw.
Even if the party gets on the ballot, if it doesn’t hold a state convention and nominate candidates, the effect of the petition would be nil. Thanks to Mike Feinstein for the link.
In 2004, Colorado Democrats paid to ballot-qualify two new parties for the ballot, the Gun Owners Rights Party, and the Pro Life Party. As in Michigan, new qualified parties in Colorado nominate by convention. Even though the two parties qualified in Colorado, they never called any convention and never nominated any candidates. After the 2004 and 2006 elections were over, the two parties were removed from the ballot for having failed both the vote test and the alternate registration test.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the leading proponent of California’s Proposition 14, the top-two primary ballot measure. He is hosting a dinner at his home in Los Angeles on the evening of May 18, Tuesday. The event is for the purpose of raising money to promote Proposition 14. Tickets to the dinner at his home are $100,000 per couple. The home is in the Brentwood neighborhood of west Los Angeles.
Minor party activists, and also major party activists, are planning to gather as near the site as they are permitted to be, with leaflets and signs expressing opposition to Proposition 14. See this story at the Free and Equal web page. Check back to www.freeandequal.org for updates. A sign-making event will be held Monday evening, May 17, 6:30 p.m., at the Peace & Freedom Party office at 2617 Hauser, in Los Angeles near Culver City. The demonstration itself starts at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. The fundraising dinner starts at 6:30 p.m.
Governor Schwarzenegger has not generally shown concern for voting rights. He has repeatedly vetoed bills to enhance voting rights. Twice he vetoed the National Popular Vote Plan bill. He also vetoed a bill to provide that the intent of the voter should control, when a voter casts a write-in vote, so that such votes would count even if the voter didn’t know to “X” the box next to the name written in. He also vetoed a bill to let general law cities and counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections if they wish.
A U.S. District Court in Buffalo will hear Fox v Paterson on May 25. This is the lawsuit over whether New York state must call a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 29th district. The district has had no representative since March, when incumbent Eric Massa resigned. The state says it will hold a special election in November 2010. The plaintiffs say the U.S. Constitution guarantees them representation before then.
See this story. Judge David Larimer, a Bush Sr. appointee, has already rejected the state’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. The state says an election in late June or early July is too expensive.
Orange Juice Blog, started in 2003, was the first political blog in Orange County, California, and it has a substantial readership. It is on the internet in both English and Spanish. It has this article about Proposition 14, written by the Green Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate, Duane Roberts. Roberts lives in Orange County. Orange County is California’s 2nd-most populous county, after Los Angeles County.
