Howard Dean, former national chair of the Democratic National Committee, has this op-ed in the February 26 issue of the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press. His op-ed asks Burlington voters to retain Instant Runoff Voting. He points out that the Democratic Party nominee lost the Mayor’s election in both 2006 and 2009 in Burlington, but he still supports IRV and he also predicts the Democratic nominee will win the Mayor’s election in 2012.
According to this story, Kristin Davis will announce her candidacy as an independent candidate for Governor of New York on March 1. Earlier, Davis had said she would seek the Libertarian Party nomination.
On February 25, the Minnesota House passed SF 2251, which moves the primary from mid-September to August 10. It takes effect this year.
The bill also moves the petition deadline for independent candidates (for office other than president) from 56 days before the primary, to 70 days before the primary. If it is signed into law, the independent candidate deadline this year moves from July 17 to June 1.
Courts in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, have ruled that independent candidates (for office other than president) cannot be forced to file their petitions as early as the same day on which primary candidates file. But no one in Minnesota government seems to be aware of this.
SF 2251 is still not through the legislature. The House amended the bill, so now it returns to the Senate.
Massachusetts election law has two methods for a group to become a qualified party. The older method is for the group to run a candidate for statewide office. If that candidate polls 3% of the vote, then the ballot label for that candidate becomes a qualified party. This is how the Libertarian Party won this status in 2008; its U.S. Senate candidate polled over 3% of the vote.
The other method has existed only since 1990. A group can register its name, and then elections officials keep track of how many voters register as members of that group, on voter registration forms. If it gets registration of 1% of the state total, then it becomes qualified as well. No group has ever used this method.
Recently, the Independent Party filed paperwork to become eligible to have a voter registration tally. See this story. Massachusetts has never before had a ballot-qualified party named “Independent Party”, although there was an “Independent Voters Party” recognized after the 1990 election. It went off the ballot after the 1992 election because it didn’t poll as much as 3% for any statewide office in 1992 and also because it never attained registration of 1%.
Massachusetts election law has two methods for a group to become a qualified party. The older method is for the group to run a candidate for statewide office. If that candidate polls 3% of the vote, then the ballot label for that candidate becomes a qualified party. This is how the Libertarian Party won this status in 2008; its U.S. Senate candidate polled over 3% of the vote.
The other method has existed only since 1990. A group can register its name, and then elections officials keep track of how many voters register as members of that group, on voter registration forms. If it gets registration of 1% of the state total, then it becomes qualified as well. No group has ever used this method.
Recently, the Independent Party filed paperwork to become eligible to have a voter registration tally. See this story. Massachusetts has never before had a ballot-qualified party named “Independent Party”, although there was an “Independent Voters Party” recognized after the 1990 election. It went off the ballot after the 1992 election because it didn’t poll as much as 3% for any statewide office in 1992 and also because it never attained registration of 1%.
