New Alaska Voter Registration Data

Posted on by October 6, 2009
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The Alaska Elections Division posts new registration data every month. The October 3 tally shows that the Libertarian Party and the Alaskan Independence Party are the only two parties to have increased their share of the state’s registration in the last month. The percentage of people registered as independents, and the percentage of people in each of the major parties, declined slightly.

The Libertarian Party will lose its place on the ballot unless it has at least 9,786 registrants by the spring of 2010. The October 3 tally shows that it has 8,565 registrants, compared to 7,859 a month ago.

The October 3 percentages are: Republican 25.98%, Democratic 15.54%, Alaskan Independence 2.79%, Libertarian 1.77%, Republican Moderate Party .64%, Green .52%, Veterans .37%, independents 52.39%. The Republican Moderate Party, the Green Party, and the Veterans Party, are not ballot-qualified, but the state tallies them because they have said they desire to qualify.

The September 3 percentages were: Republican 26.01%, Democratic 15.60%, Alaskan Independence 2.78%, Libertarian 1.63%, Republican Moderate Party .64%, Green .53%, Veterans .37%, independent 52.45%.

New Jersey Newspaper Publicizes Bad Ballot Design of New Jersey Ballots

Posted on by October 5, 2009
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The Press of Atlantic City, the leading daily newspaper in southeastern New Jersey, has this story in its October 5 edition about New Jersey ballot design. The issue is getting press attention because Chris Daggett as well as the New Jersey Libertarian gubernatorial candidate, Ken Kaplan, filed a lawsuit over that ballot design last month.

Illinois Legislature Will Attempt to Override Veto of HB 723

Posted on by October 5, 2009
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On October 5, the Illinois legislature set a date for a vote on overriding Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of HB 723. That vote will come on October 14. HB 723 is the bill that requires candidates nominated by meetings of qualified parties to submit petitions, in order to be on the November ballot. In the past, qualified parties in Illinois have always been permitted to nominate candidates by party meeting, after the primary, if that party had not nominated anyone in its own primary for that particular office. HB 723 retains that procedure, but says the nominee needs a petition.

Alabama Ballot Access Plaintiff Files Brief in 11th Circuit

Posted on by October 5, 2009
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On October 2, Andy Shugart filed this brief in the 11th circuit. The lawsuit, Shugart v Chapman, 09-14250, challenges Alabama law that requires more signatures for an independent candidate for U.S. House than it does for an independent presidential candidate. Alabama is the only state that ever requires more signatures for an independent for U.S. House than it does for an independent for president.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1979 and again in 1992 that states cannot require candidates running in just part of the state to get more signatures than are required for candidates running for statewide office. Nevertheless, the U.S. District Court in the Shugart case upheld the Alabama requirement, by saying that the 1979 precedent only relates to the situation when a state requires more signatures for a municipal partisan office than a statewide office. The U.S. District Court did not mention the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Orange County Register Covers Hearing in Presidential Qualifications Case

Posted on by October 5, 2009
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On October 5, U.S. District Court David Carter heard arguments in Santa Ana, California, in one of the presidential qualifications cases. This California case is the one in which Alan Keyes is a plaintiff. Here is a newspaper report from the Orange County Register about the hearing, in which government attorneys argued the case should be dismissed before any discovery takes place.