The November 5 of the Springfield, Illinois daily newspaper, the State Journal-Register, has this interview with Richard Whitney, who was the Green Party’s candidate for Governor in 2006 and is expected to again be that party’s gubernatorial nominee in 2010. The interviewer asked Whitney’s prior activism in the Socialist Labor Party, and Whitney gives some interesting answers.
On November 4, the 5th circuit heard arguments in Moore v Hosemann, 09-60272, the case that arose in 2008 when presidential elector declarations of candidacy for Brian Moore were turned in to the Mississippi Secretary of State at 5:10 p.m. The office was still open, but the Secretary of State said they were ten minutes too late. Brian Moore was the Socialist Party presidential candidate, although in Mississippi he had been nominated by the Natural Law Party, a ballot-qualified party.
Mississippi election laws do specify that 5 p.m. is the deadline for many other kinds of paperwork, but says nothing about 5 p.m. for anything concerning presidential elections. The Mississippi Secretary of State said he had his own regulation about that, but Article II of the U.S. Constitution says only state legislatures can write election procedures concerning presidential electors.
Judge Edith Jones seemed unsympathetic, but she might have been playing devils’ advocate. Judge Harold DeMoss seemed very interested in the case and asked tough questions for both sides. Judge Jerry Smith only asked about whether the case is moot.
On November 4, the 5th circuit heard arguments in Moore v Hosemann, 09-60272, the case that arose in 2008 when presidential elector declarations of candidacy for Brian Moore were turned in to the Mississippi Secretary of State at 5:10 p.m. The office was still open, but the Secretary of State said they were ten minutes too late. Brian Moore was the Socialist Party presidential candidate, although in Mississippi he had been nominated by the Natural Law Party, a ballot-qualified party.
Mississippi election laws do specify that 5 p.m. is the deadline for many other kinds of paperwork, but says nothing about 5 p.m. for anything concerning presidential elections. The Mississippi Secretary of State said he had his own regulation about that, but Article II of the U.S. Constitution says only state legislatures can write election procedures concerning presidential electors.
Judge Edith Jones seemed unsympathetic, but she might have been playing devils’ advocate. Judge Harold DeMoss seemed very interested in the case and asked tough questions for both sides. Judge Jerry Smith only asked about whether the case is moot.
This interview, published in the Christian Science Monitor on November 4 with Mike Huckabee, quotes Huckabee as saying that voters should not support minor parties or independent candidates.
Huckabee doesn’t seem to know, or to acknowledge, that minor party and independent candidates sometimes win. Since 1986, 175 people who were not the nominees of either major party have been elected to state office.
Back on July 7, 2007, Huckabee said if he became the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, he would be willing to participate in general election presidential debates that included minor party and independent candidates who were on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win. See his response here.
Three members of the Utah Constitution Party were elected to city office on November 3, 2009. They are Kenneth O. Lutes, elected Mayor of Elk Ridge; Matt Kimmel to the Syracuse City Council; and Thomas Butler to the Highland City Council. These were non-partisan elections, but newspapers generally would report the party affiliation of the various candidates.
Also, the party’s vice-chair, David Perry, polled 42% for Mayor in Sandy. Sandy is the sixth-largest city in Utah. Perry was the only opponent of the incumbent Mayor.
