The June 16 issue of the New York Times has this story, about the possible danger to the Utah Democratic Party, in its upcoming June 22 primary. Utah Democrats have an open primary. Any registered voter may vote in that primary. There is some reason to believe that opponents of the Democratic Party plan to vote in the party’s primary, and vote for the perceived weaker candidate, to make it more likely that the Democrats will lose the general election for U.S. House, 2nd district.
The Arizona Green Party is ballot-qualified and nominates by primary. Arizona requires petitions for candidates to get on the primary ballot of their own party. The only person who submitted a petition to be on the Green Party primary ballot for Governor, Larry Gist, seems assured of being the party’s nominee, because a challenge to his petition has been withdrawn. See this story. The challenge had been filed by a Democrat, but the challenge has been dropped because it appears Gist’s petition has enough valid signatures. Only independent voters, and registered Greens, were eligible to sign.
Activists in the Green Party do not know Gist, and were not involved in helping him get himself on the party’s primary ballot. He needed 1,231 signatures, and submitted 2,980.
Mary Norwood is an independent candidate for Chair of the Fulton County, Georgia, County Commission. She needs 22,700 valid signatures by July 13. CBS TV in Atlanta has this story about her struggle to get those signatures.
Fulton County, Georgia, only had 206,160 votes cast for Governor in November 2006. Norwood’s petition hurdle, in practice, thus amounts to getting a number of signatures equal to 11% of all the people who voted in the important gubernatorial election. Also, she must pay a large filing fee, and all her signature sheets must be notarized. The reporter who wrote the story seems dumbfounded that Norwood is even attempting this petition drive.
On June 15, Port Chester, New York, held a partisan election to elect six village trustees. The winners include the only Conservative Party nominee (he was not the nominee of any other party), and one of the two independent candidates. Only two Hispanics were on the ballot. The one who was a Democratic Party nominee was elected; the one who was a Republican Party nominee was not elected.
The Republican Party ran a full slate of six candidates, and got a second line on the ballot for each of them, under the slogan “Citizens for Tax Relief.” Two of the Republicans were elected.
Democrats ran only four candidates, and two of them were elected. Here are the vote totals from the Village’s web page. However, that web page does not show the party affiliations of each candidate. The winning independent candidate, whose ballot label was “Taxpayers Relief Movement”, is Bart Didden, and he came in first. The only Conservative Party nominee was John Branca, and he came in third. The independent who did not win is Gene Ceccarelli, whose ballot slogan was “Pride in Port Chester.” The four Democrats were Daniel Brakewood, Luis Marino (both of whom won), Gregory Adams, and Anthony Saline. John Palma was a write-in candidate. The six Republicans were Joseph Kenner, Saverio Terenzi (both of whom won), Richard Cuddy, Fabiola Montaya, Philip Semprevivo, and Michael Scarola.
This AP story has a small picture of the ballot, but even with the magnifying device, the ballot is too small to read well. Each candidate’s name was printed on the ballot six times, in a vertical column. The parties are arranged in order, from left to right: Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Citizens for Tax Relief, Pride in Port Chester, and Taxpayers Relief Movement. The single candidate of the Taxpayers Relief Movement placed first.
On June 15, Ken Blevens filed a formal complaint with the New Hampshire Attorney General, against authorities of four towns that are now refusing to let Libertarian petitioners work at the town recycling centers. Blevens is the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate.
The New Hampshire Code for “Towns, Cities, Village Districts, and Unincorporated Places”, title 3, section 31:102-a, gives municipalities the power to regulate access to such places. But it says, “A city, town, or village district shall be specifically prohibited from licensing or regulating a candidate for public office in the process of obtaining signatures on nomination papers, who seeks to have the candidate’s name placed on the ballot for the state general election.”
Libertarians are petitioning to place statewide candidates on this year’s ballot. Although only 3,000 signatures are required, petitioning is more difficult in New Hampshire than most states because only one signature is allowed per petition form. Libertarian statewide petitions in New Hampshire failed in 2004 and 2006. The Green Party has never managed to place a candidate on a New Hampshire ballot for statewide office, except in 2000.
The four towns named in the complaint are Bedford, Candia, Deerfield, and Pittsfield. The towns say petitioning at their recycling centers is dangerous, or alternatively that it impedes traffic flow, although Blevins refutes this charge in his complaint.
