North Dakota Libertarians Gain Another Nominee

Posted on by June 18, 2010
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According to this story, North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger has agreed to list Joshua Voytek on the November 2010 ballot as the Libertarian Party nominee for Public Service Commission.

Voytek sent his candidacy forms to the Secretary of State’s office in early April, but although they were received in that office, they were inadvertently misfiled, and Voytek was left off the Libertarian primary ballot. The error was discovered in late May, after the primary ballots had been printed. The Secretary of State consulted with the Attorney General, and they agreed that since he was the only person running in the Libertarian primary for that office, he would be deemed to have been nominated. Thanks to Edward T. J. Brown for the link.

Montana Republicans Abandon February Caucus, Will Use June Primary

Posted on by June 18, 2010
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The Montana Republican Party recently decided not to hold a presidential nominating caucus in February 2012. Instead the party will treat its presidential primary in June 2012 as the method for selecting delegates. See this story.

In 2008, the June presidential primary was just a “beauty contest” for Republicans, with no binding force. The 2008 Republican delegates were chosen in a February caucus.

Montana primaries have always been open. Montana has never had registration by party.

“The Monkey Cage”, Political Science Blog, Discusses California’s Proposition 14

Posted on by February 18, 2019
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The Monkey Cage is a political science blog established in 2007. Here is a general discussion of California’s Proposition 14, the top-two election system, or jungle primary.

The opening says Proposition 14 passed with 54% of the vote, but every indication, as more and more ballots are being counted, is that the true figure is 53%.

Ohio Libertarian Analyzes Which Kind of Voter Chose a Libertarian Primary Ballot This Year

Posted on by June 18, 2010
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Mark Noble, an Ohio Libertarian, has just completed a study of the voters who chose a Libertarian Party primary ballot last month, in Franklin County, Ohio. Franklin County is Ohio’s second-most populous county, and includes Columbus. In Franklin County last month, 1,351 voters chose a Libertarian primary ballot.

The analysis shows that in 2008, 22% of those voters had chosen a Republican primary ballot; that 27% had chosen a Democratic primary ballot; and that 41% had not voted in any party’s primary. Erickson hopes to do further research on this for counties other than Franklin County. In 2008, the only parties that had primaries in Ohio were the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Illinois November Ballots Will Probably List Two U.S. Senate Races This Year

Posted on by June 18, 2010
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On June 16, the 7th circuit released a 40-page opinion in Gerald A. Judge v Governor Pat Quinn, 09-2219. The issue was whether Illinois must hold a special election for President Obama’s old Senate seat earlier than November 2010. Even if Obama had not been elected President, his seat, the Class III seat, would have been up in November 2010 anyway.

The 7th circuit said that the U.S. District Court had been correct to deny injunctive relief, and that the plaintiffs had no right to expect a special election in 2009. But, the decision suggests that the state must hold a special election for that seat on November 2, 2010, to fill that seat for the short amount of time remaining in the current term. Thus, Illinois will probably be required not only to hold the normal election for that seat for the term January 2011-January 2017, but to also hold a simultaneous election to fill that same seat for the period November 2010 through January 2011.

Because of legal technicalities, the issue was not fully resolved, and the U.S. District Court will hold a new hearing in the case on June 23.