On June 3, Alan Keyes (2008 presidential candidate of America’s Independent Party) pled “Not Guilty” to charges of trespassing at Notre Dame last month. See this story.
In the meantime, Keyes’ running mate in California on the American Independent Party line, Rev. Wiley Drake, said that he is praying for the death of President Barack Obama. Drake also said that he believes “someone in the Obama camp” murdered Kansas abortion provider George Tiller. See this story.
On June 3, Alan Keyes (2008 presidential candidate of America’s Independent Party) pled “Not Guilty” to charges of trespassing at Notre Dame last month. See this story.
In the meantime, Keyes’ running mate in California on the American Independent Party line, Rev. Wiley Drake, said that he is praying for the death of President Barack Obama. Drake also said that he believes “someone in the Obama camp” murdered Kansas abortion provider George Tiller. See this story.
On June 4, the Louisiana House unanimously passed HB 420, which extends the deadline for an independent presidential candidate to file his or her slate of presidential electors. Existing law requires this to be done by the first Tuesday in September, but the bill changes that to the Friday after the first Tuesday in September. The bill also makes the deadline for qualified parties to file their elector slates less ambiguous.
On June 3, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Election Laws held a hearing on three bills to make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. As it usual in Massachusetts, the committee did not take any action on the hearing day itself.
Witnesses from these groups testified against all three bills: Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Common Cause, Citizens for Limited Taxation, the Family Institute, and Citizens in Charge. The only group in favor of the bills was the Teachers Union, but the Teachers Union witness merely said that the committee should read his written testimony, and did not otherwise speak.
The three bills are H559, H571, and H572. H571 would require paid circulators to wear a signboard with all of this information in 14-point type size: (1) the circulator’s name; (2) the circulator’s employer; (3) the name of the group who hired the employer; (4) the statement “I am being paid $ (insert amount) for each signature I collect.” Anyone not wearing the sign would be subject to a fine of $500, and his or her employer would be subject to a fine of $5,000.
H572 would make it illegal to pay initiative circulators, something that the U.S. Supreme Court already ruled to be unconstitutional.
On June 4, Maine LD 1041 made some headway. The House passed it on First Reading on Consent. LD 1041 changes the way a party remains on the ballot. Existing law requires it to poll 5% for the office at the top of the ballot at either of the last two elections. The bill would change this. A party would remain on the ballot as long as it continued to have 10,000 registered members who vote in each general election.
The only ballot-qualified party in Maine besides the Democratic and Republican Parties is the Green Party, which has approximately 31,000 registered members. Three-fourths of them voted in the November 2008 election. If the bill passed, chances are overwhelming that the Green Party would remain a qualified party even if it didn’t run anyone for Governor in 2010.
LD 1041 does not change the method by which a group becomes a qualified party. If LD 1041 were to become law, it would still be true that a group could become a qualified party by sponsoring a candidate for Governor or President who then polled 5% of the vote. Alternatively, a group can become a qualified party if it submits a petition signed by 5% of the last gubernatorial vote.
