This year, Massachusetts voters elect all 160 members of the State House of Representatives. There is a contest between a Republican and a Democrat in only 29 of those races. This is because of the massive weakness of the Republican Party, which has nominees in only 37 districts.

The only minor party nominee this year for Massachusetts state house is one nominee of the Veterans Party. The Green Party is ballot-qualified in Massachusetts, but Massachusetts makes it so difficult for a small ballot-qualified party to place nominees on its own primary ballot, the Green Party has no candidates this year for state house, or U.S. House, or U.S. Senate. There is one Green running for State Senate. The Working Families Party is also ballot-qualified, but it has no nominees for any office in Massachusetts this year, and will lose its qualified status. The Green Party will also lose its ballot status unless Cynthia McKinney polls 3%, which is unlikely.

Sarah Palin gave an impromptu press conference at the Colorado Springs airport, on the evening of October 19. She said, “I believe that anybody that would try to thwart a fair and clean election is not following American principles because part of being an American is protecting and being able to rely on free and fair elections.” See here for the entire transcript.

One wishes that someone would ask her opinion about the actions of Pennsylvania Republican Party officials this year, who filed a lawsuit, with seven attorneys, to remove Bob Barr from the Pennsylvania ballot. That attempt failed to accomplish anything for the people who filed the challenge, and it created a useful precedent that will help minor party and independent candidates in the future.

On October 20, Alabama state officials signed papers indicating that they were wrong to have prevented Reverend Kenneth Glasgow from visiting prisoners for the purpose of registering them to vote. Alabama prohibits felons and ex-felons from registering to vote only if they have been convicted of “crimes of moral turpitude”. Most crimes are not in that category. Glasgow had been permitted to visit prisons and jails to register people to vote if they had not commited crimes of moral turpitude, and then the state had revoked permission, after the Alabama Republican Party had complained. Glasgow had then sued in federal court. That case is Glasgow v Allen, middle district, 2:08-cv-801. The case will be dismissed now that Alabama officials have acknowledged that Glasgow had a right to do what he had been doing. Ironically, however, it is now too late for Glasgow to carry on his work this year.