On April 3, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire, alleging that John McCain is not eligible under Article II to be president. See the complaint here. Thank to Dan Tokaji for this news. The case is Hollander v McCain, 1:08-cv-99-JL. It has a hearing on July 24. Here is the Republican National Committee’s brief urging that the case be dismissed.
On July 10, the Guam legislature passed Bill 287, which moves the territory’s general election presidential vote from November, to the Guam primary. This year, the Guam primary is on Saturday, September 6. The Governor has until July 24 to sign or veto the bill. If it becomes law, it takes effect this year.
Guam has been voting for president in the general election starting in 1980. Because Guam has no electoral votes, the vote is merely a “straw vote”. Guam has been holding a general election for president in order to draw attention to the fact that the residents of Guam are U.S. citizens, and they must obey the laws passed in Washington, yet they have neither a voting member of Congress, nor any meaningful presidential vote.
The preamble to Bill Number 287 says that the U.S. media never report the Guam presidential vote, which is true. The bill’s preamble says, “It is therefore the intent of I Liheslatura to move the ‘straw poll’ for President and Vice-President from the general election to the primary election so that Guam’s choice for our nation’s highest leaders will be known in advance of the national general election, and draw attention to the continued disenfranchisement of the American citizens living in the American territory of Guam.”
Guam is the only colonial possession of the U.S. to have ever held a general election vote for president. The Puerto Rico legislature passed a similar measure some years ago, but the Puerto Rican Supreme Court ruled that the measure violates the Puerto Rico Constitution.
Presidential candidates get on the Guam general election presidential ballot by showing that they are on the ballot in at least one state, and by writing a letter to the Guam Election Commission. In 2004 the only candidates on the Guam ballot were Bush, Kerry, Nader and Badnarik.
The Socialist Workers Party will appear on the Delaware ballot this year, for the first time ever. This Militant article says it is the first time in 30 years, but actually it is the first time ever. It is also the first time a Marxist party has appeared on the ballot in Delaware since 1976, when the Socialist Labor Party ran its last presidential campaign.
Finally, the SWP in Delaware is the first Marxist party in U.S. history that ever got on any state’s ballot by having a certain number of registered voters. Marxist parties generally don’t encourage people to register as members. Ever since 1978, the only method for a party to get on the Delaware ballot is by persuading one-twentieth of 1% of the state’s voters to publicly join the party, by filling out voter registration forms listing themselves as members. This year that requires 284 registered members. The SWP got most of these registrants in 2004, but they weren’t processed in time for the SWP to be on the ballot in 2004, and the party was not active in Delaware in the 2006 elections.
Nationally, the Socialist Workers Party has enjoyed an exemption from reporting its federal campaign contributions and expenditures ever since 1982, but its exemption runs out at the end of 2008. The party will try to persuade the Federal Election Commission to extend its exemption.
The Guardian, one of Great Britain’s major newspapers, has this article about the Working Families Party in its July 9 issue.
The Guardian, one of Great Britain’s major newspapers, has this article about the Working Families Party in its July 9 issue.
