“Frontloading HQ”, a blog by Political Science Graduate student Josh Putnam, has this piece, debating whether the 2012 Republican presidential primaries might be affected if Democrats (who, presumably, will only have a boring one-candidate presidential primary of their own in 2012) decide to vote in Republican presidential primaries. The article does not come to a conclusion.
On June 23, the three ballot-listed candidates for U.S. House in California’s 32nd district held a debate in Azusa. The three candidates are Democrat Judy Chu, Republican Betty Chu, and Libertarian Christopher Agrella. This article describes the debate, although it barely mentions Agrella, although he is in the picture. The caption under the picture, saying the election is for the California Assembly, is an error. The election is July 14.
A recent article in Vanity Fair magazine about Sarah Palin reveals that on October 15, 2008, Sarah Palin e-mailed the McCain-Palin ticket’s campaign manager about Todd Palin’s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. See this article.
Governor Palin said, “He (Todd) was only a member because independent Alaskans too often check that ‘Alaska Independent’ box on voter registration thinking it just means non-partisan. He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box.”
Todd Palin was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party between 1995 and 2002. Alaska used a blanket primary in 1996, 1998, and 2000, so it is plausible that Todd Palin didn’t notice that he was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party, since every primary voter received the same primary ballot in any event. In 2002, each party had its own primary ballot. The voter registration form in use during 1995 listed these choices, with the parties in alphabetical order:
Affiliation: (with a checkbox next to each line)
Alaska Democratic Party
Alaskan Independence Party
Green Party of Alaska
Republican Party of Alaska
non-partisan (no party affiliation)
undeclared (no party declared)
A recent article in Vanity Fair magazine about Sarah Palin reveals that on October 15, 2008, Sarah Palin e-mailed the McCain-Palin ticket’s campaign manager about Todd Palin’s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. See this article.
Governor Palin said, “He (Todd) was only a member because independent Alaskans too often check that ‘Alaska Independent’ box on voter registration thinking it just means non-partisan. He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box.”
Todd Palin was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party between 1995 and 2002. Alaska used a blanket primary in 1996, 1998, and 2000, so it is plausible that Todd Palin didn’t notice that he was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party, since every primary voter received the same primary ballot in any event. In 2002, each party had its own primary ballot. The voter registration form in use during 1995 listed these choices, with the parties in alphabetical order:
Affiliation: (with a checkbox next to each line)
Alaska Democratic Party
Alaskan Independence Party
Green Party of Alaska
Republican Party of Alaska
non-partisan (no party affiliation)
undeclared (no party declared)
On April 30, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a state campaign finance law. The case is DePaul v Commonwealth, 969 A 2d 536. The law made it illegal for anyone associated with the casino industry to contribute any money whatsoever to any candidate running for state office.
The significance of this decision is that the Court reiterates that the Pennsylvania Constitution provides greater protection for freedom of expression than the U.S. Constitution does. Page 546 of the decision summarizes past decisions that establish the greater protection from the Pennsylvania Constitution than from the U.S. Constitution. The Pennsylvania Constitution also provides that elections shall be “free and equal”. One hopes that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court bears these ideas in mind, as it considers the ballot access cases now pending in that Court.
