New California Registration Data

Posted on by June 4, 2010
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On June 4, the California Secretary of State released new registration data. This is the first tally since the April 9, 2010 tally.

Since the April tally, the Republican, American Independent, Libertarian, and Peace & Freedom Parties increased their share of the registration. Independents also increased their share, as did the Reform Party and the cumulative total of other unqualified parties. The Democratic and Green Parties declined slightly.

Below are each of the parties, with the April percentage first, followed by their May percentage:

Democratic 44.57%, 44.49%
Republican 30.79%, 30.80%
Amer. Indp. 2.31%, 2.34%
Green .66362%, .66357%
Libertarian .506%, .511%
Peace & Freedom .3325%, .3333%
Reform .132%, .140%
other unqualified parties besides Reform .559%, .560%
independents 20.14%, 20.17%

New Hampshire Secretary of State Agrees to Accept Libertarian Petitions Collected in 2009 for 2010

Posted on by June 4, 2010
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On June 4, the New Hampshire Secretary of State agreed to accept 276 signatures on petitions for the 2010 Libertarian Party statewide candidate petition that had been collected in 2009.

In 2009, the legislature had set a start date of January 1 of any election year, for candidate petitions. However, the Libertarian Party had already collected 276 signatures in 2009 when the bill was signed. For months now, the party has been trying to persuade the Secretary of State that it violates due process to refuse to accept signatures that, when they were collected, were legal. Thanks to Ken Blevens for this news. Blevens has been tireless, working for this outcome. The statewide petition needs 3,000 signatures and is due on August 4.

Norman Solomon Writes About California’s Proposition 14

Posted on by June 4, 2010
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Norman Solomon is a well-known journalist who lives in Marin County, California. He helped establish the group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) and he founded the Institute for Public Accuracy. His commentary about California’s Proposition 14, the top-two measure on the June 8 ballot, is in the June 4 Marin Independent-Journal. It is also posted at CommonDreams.org. Thanks to Roy Ulrich for this news.

Virginia Libertarians Sue over Residency Requirement for Circulators

Posted on by June 4, 2010
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On June 3, the Libertarian Party sued the Virginia State Board of Elections over that state’s rigid rules on residency of petition circulators. No one may circulate a petition to get a candidate on the ballot for a district office, unless that circulator lives in that district. The case is Libertarian Party of Virginia v Virginia State Board of Elections, filed in U.S. District Court, Alexandria, 1:10-cv-615.

There are lawsuits on this issue now pending in California, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, although Kansas has informally indicated that it will concede the issue. The recent Idaho case won on April 9, 2010, is now over, because the state did not appeal. Lawsuits on this issue have also won in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, in the last ten years.

John B. Anderson Declares His Opposition to California’s Proposition 14

Posted on by June 4, 2010
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On June 4, John B. Anderson declared that he is opposed to California’s Proposition 14, the top-two election law measure being on the June 8, 2010 ballot. Anderson was a leader of the Republican Party in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 1970’s. In 1980 he became an independent presidential candidate, and he got on the ballot in all 50 states after winning many ballot access lawsuits.