The Ohio House of Representatives Committee that handles election law bills will begin hearing testimony on HB 260 during the week of October 13-16. HB 260 is a very long bill that revises dozens of Ohio election laws. Among other things, it eases ballot access for new and unqualified political parties. Hearings will be held over several days, and it isn’t known yet which days will be devoted to ballot access. Ohio’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and her office wrote the bill.
Since 2007, Ireland has been governed by a coalition between Fianna Fail and the much small Green Party. The Green Party is holding a party convention to decide if it will pull out of the coalition or not. If it does so, no party will have a majority in the national legislative body. See this BBC story. UPDATE: the Green Party meeting voted 523-99 to maintain the governing coalition.
Free and Equal is holding an Illinois gubernatorial debate on October 9 at 6 p.m. Candidates from all parties, and independent candidates, were invited. Two of the leading six Republican candidates for Governor, Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski, will participate. Also participating is Rich Whitney, who is expected to be the Green Party’s nominee, and several others, including one Democrat, Bill Walls. See Free and Equal’s web page here for more details. UPDATE: the debate was covered in the October 10 edition of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper of Carbondale, Illinois. See this story.
The Republican race so far is perceived as a 6-way race. At a recent Cook County Republican meeting, a straw poll shows these results, with Andrzejewski in third place, and Proft in fourth place. See this story.
It is somewhat unusual for debates to be held among all candidates from several different parties, before a primary election. However, Minnesota held many such debates in 1998, starting in January, even though the Minnesota primary was not held until September. Jesse Ventura participated in many of these debates, along with the three Democratic contenders for Governor and the Republican contender.
Free and Equal is holding an Illinois gubernatorial debate on October 9 at 6 p.m. Candidates from all parties, and independent candidates, were invited. Two of the leading six Republican candidates for Governor, Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski, will participate. Also participating is Rich Whitney, who is expected to be the Green Party’s nominee, and several others, including one Democrat, Bill Walls. See Free and Equal’s web page here for more details. UPDATE: the debate was covered in the October 10 edition of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper of Carbondale, Illinois. See this story.
The Republican race so far is perceived as a 6-way race. At a recent Cook County Republican meeting, a straw poll shows these results, with Andrzejewski in third place, and Proft in fourth place. See this story.
It is somewhat unusual for debates to be held among all candidates from several different parties, before a primary election. However, Minnesota held many such debates in 1998, starting in January, even though the Minnesota primary was not held until September. Jesse Ventura participated in many of these debates, along with the three Democratic contenders for Governor and the Republican contender.
CATO is holding its first-ever event on ballot access, at noon, Tuesday, October 13. Although the event is free, reservations are required. See here for instructions on how to reserve, either by phone or by e-mail. The event is centered around Professor James Bennett’s book (being released on October 13) “Not Invited to the Party.” Also, Theresa Amato, author of “The Myth of Vote Choice in a 2-Party Tyranny” will speak; and Hans A. von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commissioner, will speak. Reservations must be made no later than Monday, October 12, at noon. Although October 12 is Columbus Day, a federal holiday, CATO is open that day.
The event is at CATO headquarters, 1000 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20001. The link above can also be used on October 13 to watch the event live.
