Rand Paul, son of Congressman Ron Paul, won the Kentucky U.S. Senate Republican primary on May 18, by a very large margin.
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On May 17, the Louisiana Senate passed HB 292, which converts congressional elections to a system in which all candidates run in November. If no one gets 50%, there is a run-off in December.
Louisiana also used this system 1998 through 2006. Generally the incumbent runs for re-election and gets 50% or more, so there is no run-off.
According to this story, the Senate amended the bill so it takes effect this year. Now it must return to the House, to see if the House agrees with that change. The original bill didn’t take effect until 2011.
The Senate also passed SB 796, which is identical to HB 292 but which says the change won’t take effect until 2011. That bill also now goes to the House.
The Washington Times has this story, saying the North Carolina First Party failed to obtain the required 85,379 signatures to be on the ballot in 2010 and 2012. May 17 was the deadline. Here is the AP story, which is more detailed.
The story does not mention that the party is free to continue circulating and submit the signatures when it is finished, and then it would be on the ballot in 2012. The story also does not mention that the party could probably win a lawsuit against the May 17 deadline. North Carolina parties nominate by convention their first year on the ballot, so there is no state need for the deadline to be so early. The independent candidate petition deadline this year is June 10. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.
On May 18, the Connecticut Supreme Court heard arguments in the case over whether Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz is eligible to run for Attorney General. The Court heard arguments, and then ruled from the bench that she is not eligible. UPDATE: here is the Court’s one-page order.
It is virtually unheard of for any State Supreme Court to ever issue a ruling on the day it hears the argument. See this story. The Court’s opinion is not written yet. It appears that Bysiewicz lost on both arguments. First she argued that she is in compliance with a state law that says Attorney General candidates must have been actively practicing law for the past ten years. Then, alternatively, she argued that even if she does not meet that requirement, the law is unconstitutional because it adds to the qualifications contained in the State Constitution for Attorney General. But apparently neither argument worked. Thanks to Gene Berkman for this news.
Delaware is the only state in which the sole determinant of whether a party is ballot-qualified is how many registered voters it has. Delaware created this system in 1978, and said any party with registration membership of one-twentieth of 1% is ballot-qualified. Vote returns are irrelevant.
Early this year, Delaware changed the requirement from one-twentieth of 1% to one-tenth of 1%, and made it effective immediately. Now the Commissioner of Elections, cognizant that it is not easy for a qualified minor party to double in size in a matter of months, has asked the legislature to pass a bill, effective immediately, to postpone the new tougher requirement until 2011. Generally the Delaware legislature follows the recommendations of the Elections Commissioner, on election law matters.
Delaware has severe restrictions on the ability of voters to change parties during an election year. The restrictions on voters changing parties are more severe than any other state except New York.
Among the parties that want to participate in this year’s election, the Constitution Party is most severely disadvantaged by the new requirement, because it is smaller than the other active minor parties.