Congratulations to Libertarian Party of Oklahoma Chair Chris Powell for this outstanding, in my opinion, oped in opposition to the Top Two initiative that is currently circulating in Oklahoma.
Last month, the Hawaii Elections office determined that the We the People Party had enough valid signatures to be a qualified party. The party was formed by supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., because in Hawaii the petition for a new party requires far fewer signatures than the petition for independent presidential candidates.
Recently some Democratic Party officials challenged the validity of the party’s status. The challenge is not to the petition validity, but to the fact that in 2022, two of the officers of the We the People Party voted in the Democratic Party primary. The objectors say that this makes them Democrats, and that they are therefore not eligible to be officers of the We the People Party.
Hawaii does not have registration by party. Nothing in the election law supports the notion that if someone votes in a party primary, he or she is therefore trapped into being a party member for the infinite future. The challenge will face an administration hearing on March 28.
On March 26, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. held a campaign rally in Oakland, California, and introduced his vice-presidential running mate, Nicole Shanahan. Now that he has a vice-presidential running mate, it will be free to start petitioning in almost 20 more states.
Shanahan is 38 years old and lives in San Mateo County, California. Her ancestry is mixed; her father had Irish antecedents and her mother’s ancestors are from China.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s Nevada independent presidential petition was circulated without a vice-presidential nominee, after an employee of the Secretary of State told the campaign that the petition didn’t need to list a vice-presidential nominee. After the petition had been circulated, the state said the employee had been mistaken. See this story. The Kennedy campaign says it will sue.
There are court precedents that it violates Equal Protection to force an independent presidential candidate to have chosen his or her vice-presidential running mate early in the year, because the major parties don’t formally choose their vice-presidential nominees until national conventions, which are held in July and August.
Last year the Green Party hired a professional circulator to gather signatures for a party petition. He reported that he submitted the petition months ago. But the Secretary of State says no such petition was ever submitted. The Green Party has been trying to reach the circulator for some weeks, but he or she doesn’t communicate.
There is time to do a new petition. The deadline is in July and 3,502 signatures are needed.
