Ralph Nader on National Tour to Promote New Book

Posted on by October 4, 2009
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Ralph Nader recently published a 733-page book, “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us”, and he is touring the nation to speak about it, answer questions, and sign copies of the book. The work is fiction and imagines a scenario in which a Republican-majority Congress, and a Republican President, signed into law various bills making the type of reforms that Nader has long worked for.

The key to the outcome is that a group of retired billionaires who support these ideas had decided to work together and use all their money, and their knowledge of how Congress works, and their knowledge of how to get bills passed, to this end. Among the techniques they use are the creation of a new political party, the Clean Elections Party, which ends up winning 17% of the seats in Congress and holding the balance of power in Congress. Nader was in San Francisco on October 3 and is in Portland, Oregon, on October 4. For more about the schedule, see the book’s web page, here.

Connecticut Public Funding Agency Asks Legislature to Fix Public Funding Law

Posted on by October 4, 2009
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According to this AP story dated October 4, the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, which handles the public funding program, wants the Connecticut legislature to hold a special session to repair the parts of the program that were declared unconstitutional on August 27, 2009. The law had been declared unconstitutional because it massively discriminates against independent candidates and the nominees of new political parties. The case is called Green Party of Ct. v Garfield.

Although the state is appealing that decision to the 2nd circuit, it is possible that the legislature will revise the law and make any appeal moot.

Long Beach, California, Newspaper, Carries Lengthy Analysis of Instant Runoff Voting

Posted on by October 3, 2009
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The Long Beach, California Press-Telegram has this lengthy analysis of Instant Runoff Voting in its October 4 print edition. The Long Beach City Council will soon consider whether to ask the voters if they wish to use IRV for city elections. Long Beach is a charter city, so the city is free to make that change for its own elections, if it wishes to.

Libertarian Party Has Statewide Nominee on Pennsylvania 2009 Judicial Election

Posted on by October 3, 2009
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Pennsylvania voters elect Supreme Court Justices, and Superior Court judges, on November 3, 2009, in partisan elections. The Libertarian Party has one nominee on the ballot for Superior Court Judge, Marakay Rogers. This is the first time a minor party or independent candidate has appeared on the statewide ballot in Pennsylvania in an odd year since 1993.

The party was able to place Rogers on the ballot this year because one of the Superior Court races is a special election. Pennsylvania does not require qualified parties to submit a petition in order to place a nominee on the ballot in a special election. The Libertarian Party is the only “qualified” statewide party in Pennsylvania, other than the Democrats and Republicans. It has that status because it polled more than 2% of the highest vote-getter’s vote for a statewide office in 2008. Normally, “qualified” status doesn’t mean much, because another Pennsylvania election law says “qualified” parties must be treated as though they weren’t qualified unless they have registration membership of over 1,000,000 voters. But, the law makes an exception for special elections, and the Libertarian Party has put that loophole to good use this year.

The last time a minor party had a nominee for one of the partisan statewide judicial races in an odd year was 1993. The Patriot Party placed Robert Surrick on the ballot for Supreme Court Justice. He polled 112,820 votes, or 5.38%.

CNN Featues Segment on Rick Nagin, Asks "Time Ripe for Third Party?"

Posted on by October 3, 2009
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CNN on October 2 ran a short segment titled, “Time Ripe for Third Party?”, triggered by media interest in Rick Nagin’s run-off for a city council set in Cleveland. Nagin associates himself with the Democratic Party but is also a member of the Communist Party and a reporter for the party’s newspaper. The election is November 3, 2009. The segment also features Bob Barr, and refers to strong independent gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Thanks to Jared Cowing for the link.