On September 18, the Texas Supreme Court asked the Texas Secretary of State, and the Texas Democratic and Republican Parties, to respond to Bob Barr’s lawsuit over the fact that the two major parties did not certify their national tickets on time. The response is due September 22 at 3 p.m. Thanks to Angela Grover for this news.
On September 18, a U.S. District Court in South Carolina refused to put Eugene Platt on the ballot for state house, as the Green Party nominee. South Carolina permits fusion. However, the law says that if a candidate seeks the nomination of two different parties, he or she must win both of them, or will be unable to accept either party nomination. Eugene Platt won the Green Party nomination in April. Then he tried for the Democratic nomination, but he lost the June primary. Now he can’t run at all. This is a serious blow to the South Carolina Green Party. Platt is a local office-holder and some believed that he could have won the state legislative race.
It is peculiar that a state which permits fusion, would at the same time have a rule that says if a candidates tries to get the nomination of two parties, that candidate must win both, or can’t run at all. One doubts that Platt would be off the ballot if he had first won the Democratic nomination, and then tried and failed to get the Green Party nomination. Thanks to David Gillespie for this news.
On the evening of September 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HB 6625 unanimously. It tells the Veterans Administration to permit groups to enter VA facilities in order to register people who live at those facilities. However, such groups must be non-partisan.
A companion bill, S 3308, has passed the Senate Rules Committee. Thanks to Scott Rafferty for this news.
On September 17, Ohio elections officials confirmed that the Green Party will have a candidate on the ballot for U.S. House. He is Dennis Spisak, running in the 6th district (the district in southeastern Ohio that runs along the Ohio River). Although a court had ordered the Ohio Green Party placed on the ballot earlier this month, Spisak had not been a named co-plaintiff. Ohio elections officials recently asked him for proof that the Ohio Green Party had nominated him. He supplied that proof, and is now on the ballot. Ohio elections officials have been very fair to minor parties this year.
This is the first time a “left” minor party has had candidates on the Ohio ballot for U.S. House, with the party label, since 1972.
On September 17, Pennsylvania Senator Mike Folmer received a bill number for his ballot access reform bill. It is SB 1578. It should be on-line at the Pennsylvania legislature’s web page by the end of the week. It defines a qualified minor party to be a group with registration equal to one-twentieth of 1%. If it were law now, the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties would be on the ballot automatically. They would nominate by convention. The law is based on Delaware’s law. The bill sharply reduces the number of signatures for independent candidates.
There isn’t much time left this year for the legislature to act, but if it doesn’t pass this year, Senator Folmer will reintroduce it next year.
