Both major parties recently set the dates for their 2012 national conventions. The 2012 general election is on November 6.
The Republicans will meet August 27-30, and the Democrats will meet September 3-6. Both major parties will be able to comply with state certification deadlines, which is some states are 60 days before the election. Sixty days before the 2012 general election works out to September 7.
The location for these conventions will be determined in the next six months.
Andy Shugart, who wanted to be on the ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. House in Alabama in 2008, has just filed this cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is Shugart v Chapman, number not yet assigned.
He challenges the number of signatures required for an independent candidate for U.S. House, which, in his district, is greater than the number of signatures an independent presidential candidate needs. Alabama has six U.S. House districts, so the state requires more signatures for an office that covers one-sixth of the state than it requires for an office in the entire state.
This story from The Daily Record of Wooster, Ohio, explains that county elections officials are struggling to handle the May 4, 2010 primary, because six parties are participating. Ohio has never before been required to hold primaries for more than four political parties in any one year. The six parties are Democratic, Republican, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, and Socialist. The latter four parties are on the ballot because the 6th circuit struck down Ohio’s requirements for ballot access for new parties in 2006, and the legislature has never passed any new requirements.
A large majority of states provide that newly qualifying parties nominate by convention, not by primary. Ohio doesn’t have that option because Ohio is one of only two states with a state Constitution that requires that all recognized parties nominate by primary.
The county elections officials are struggling because they don’t know how many primary ballots to print for the four smaller parties. Ohio doesn’t ask voters to choose a party on voter registration forms. Any voter is free to ask for the primary ballot of any of the four minor party primary ballots. The problem is that no one has any idea how many voters will ask for one of the minor party primary ballots. Chances are, very few voters will ask for one, but the counties dare not risk printing too few ballots and then running out.
The bills in the Ohio legislature to replace the old ballot access law with a new one have not moved all year, and odds are dimming that the legislature will pass any bill on this subject. The most sensible policy would be to start the process of amending the Ohio Constitution, so that only large parties are required to nominate by primary. However, no one in Ohio government seems motivated to do this, and the proposal would need to be approved by the voters since it involves changing the state Constitution.
The Pennsylvania Libertarian Party has nominated Ebert Beeman to run for U.S. House, 3rd district. This district, in northwest Pennsylvania, is one of the most closely balanced U.S. House districts in the nation. In 2008 the vote had been Kathy Dahlkemper, Democrat, 146,846 votes; Phil English, Republican incumbent, 139,707.
Beeman was elected to the Erie County Council, 6th district, in a partisan election in November 2009, as a Republican. However, he had been a registered Libertarian as recently as May 2009. In the 2009 general election, the Republican Party had opposed Beeman even though he was the Republican nominee. Beeman won anyway, with only 32.14% of the vote. The November 2009 vote was Republican (Beeman) 2,132 votes; Democratic 1,924; write-ins 1,624; independent Steven Porter 773 votes; and Green Party 180 votes. Beeman is an interesting person; see this news story from October 2009 describing him.
The Santa Clara, California, city Chamber of Commerce has voted to oppose Proposition 14, the “top-two” ballot measure on the June 8 ballot. On March 23, the chamber had heard a presentation from representatives of both sides. Brian Brennan from the Silicon Valley Leadership Group had spoken for the measure, and Christina Tobin of Free & Equal had spoken against it.
