Florida Reform Party

Posted on by July 21, 2008
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The Florida Reform Party is ballot-qualified, and sent 7 delegates to the national Reform Party meeting in Dallas held on July 18-19. The Florida delegates believed that the party should not nominate a presidential candidate, and therefore abstained on the vote for a presidential nominee. Leaders of the Florida Reform Party are unhappy with some aspects of the Dallas meeting, and believe that at the next state convention, the Florida Reform Party will disaffiliate from the national Reform Party, at least temporarily. However, only a state convention can make that decision, so for now, the Florida Reform Party is still affiliated.

Greens Revive Pennsylvania Statewide Petition

Posted on by July 21, 2008
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The Green Party is working again on its statewide presidential petition. The party got a boost from the national convention last weekend, and another boost when Cynthia McKinney visited Pennsylvania on Sunday, July 20. The requirement is 24,666. The party had stopped collecting earlier this month, but has started, and now has approximately 10,000.

Chances are that if the party submits barely more than the legal requirement, its petition will not be challenged. No statewide minor party or independent petition had been challenged in Pennsylvania in all the years after 1938, until 2004, when Nader was challenged. Then, in 2006, the Green Party was challenged. However, the legal mess engendered by those two challenges is still in the news and the courts. It seems likely that the old tradition that Pennsylvania statewide minor party and independent candidate petitions are not challenenged will reassert itself this year. Furthermore, it would make little sense for Democrats to challenge Cynthia McKinney, if Nader has a challenge-proof petition in Pennsylvania anyway.

Maine Independent Presidential Petition Deadline is August 8, Not August 15

Posted on by July 20, 2008
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The printed, monthly Ballot Access News has a 2008 presidential petitioning chart, which shows the progress of petitioning for the leading minor party and independent presidential candidates each month. That chart also shows the deadlines for both full party petitions, and candidate petitions. Unfortunately the print version shows a Maine candidate petition deadline of August 15. The actual deadline is August 8. I regret the error, which will be fixed in the next print issue.

Dallas Reform Party Meeting

Posted on by July 20, 2008
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The Reform Party meeting of July 18-19 in Dallas nominated Ted Weill of Tylertown, Mississippi for president, and Frank E. McEnulty of Long Beach, California, for vice-president. McEnulty has already been running as the presidential nominee of the New American Independent Party. He is already on the ballot in Colorado. However, when he addressed the convention, he said that he would withdraw as a presidential candidate and hoped to be the vice-presidential nominee for the Reform Party. The presidential vote was: Weill 25, McEnulty 3. McEnulty was then chosen for vice-president by acclamation. UPDATE: his post below indicates that although he was withdrawing as a contender for the Reform Party presidential nomination, he still is the presidential candidate of the New American Independent Party.

Officers chosen are: David Collison of Houston, Texas, chair; Rodney Martin of Yuma, Arizona, vice-chair; Janelle Skinner-Weill, secretary; Beverly Kennedy, treasurer.

Maine Democrats Ask Maine Supreme Court to Remove Independent from Ballot

Posted on by July 20, 2008
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On July 17, the Maine Democratic state chairman announced that he is asking the State Supreme Court to remove Herb Hoffman from the ballot. Hoffman is an independent running for U.S. Senate. If Hoffman is removed, Maine will be one of only seven or eight states with a U.S. Senate race that has no independent or minor party candidate on the ballot. There are 33 states with U.S. Senate races this year.

Everyone agrees that Herb Hoffman’s petition was signed by more than 4,000 registered voters. Maine Democrats say he should still be removed from the ballot, because they don’t believe that some sheets correctly identify the person who was watching the signatures be gathered.