New Jersey Presidential Filing Closes

Posted on by July 29, 2008
Reply

Petitioning candidates for president who filed by the July 28 New Jersey deadline are Bob Barr, Roger Calero, Gloria La Riva, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore, and Ralph Nader. Also someone named Jeffrey Boss of Guttenberg, New Jersey, filed under the “Vote Here” Party label. His vice-presidential running-mate is Andrea Maria Boss.

The Constitution Party did not submit a petition, even though it is almost finished, because its members believed the petition deadline is August 11. UPDATE: the Constitution Party has just sent proof (by fax) that the petition form that was given to them has instructions on the front page that say the petition is due August 11. The New Jersey Elections Department has acknowledged that it made this error, and has suggested that if the petitions are submitted very quickly, they will be accepted.

The New Jersey Elections Department webpage erroneously has Gloria La Riva’s ballot label as “Socialism and Libertarian”, but the Department says that will be fixed very soon. The La Riva petition says “Socialism and Liberation.”

Pollina to Run for Vermont Governor as an Independent, Not a Progressive Party Nominee

Posted on by July 28, 2008
Reply

On July 21, Anthony Pollina announced that he will run Vermont Governor as an independent candidate, not as the nominee of the Progressive Party. To get on the ballot as an independent, he only needs 250 signatures by September 12 (Vermont petition requirements are easier for non-presidential independents). Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for this news. Pollina still is loyal to the Progressive Party, and has been its state chair, but he feels his campaign will be more successful with the “independent” label.

Independent Candidate for U.S. House Sues Illinois Over Number of Signatures

Posted on by July 28, 2008
Reply

On July 28, an independent candidate for U.S. House filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois’ 5% (of the last vote cast) petition requirement for that office. Illinois law says that in years after redistricting, such as 1982, 1992, 2002, etc., the number of signatures for an independent for U.S. House is exactly 5,000 signatures. But in all other election years, it is 5% of the last vote cast, which can be as high as 13,000 signatures.

The plaintiff is Allan Stevo, running in the 10th district. He submitted approximately 7,150 signatures, but he was challenged. The law requires him to submit 10,111. He will submit evidence showing that in years in which the requirement is only 5,000 signatures, the ballot is never crowded. The 5,000-signature requirement for years after redistricting has been in effect starting with 1982, and when one looks at the record for 1982, 1992, and 2002, one finds that there were no U.S. House races in Illinois with more than three candidates on the ballot (except that there was one race with four candidates). The case is Stevo v Illinois State Board of Elections, U.S. District Court, Central District, no. 08-3162.

Kentucky Secretary of State Gives Libertarians a Choice for U.S. Senate

Posted on by July 28, 2008
Reply

The Kentucky Libertarian Party has been embarassed by the recent comments of its U.S. Senate candidate, Sonny Landham. He has disparaged Arab people. Yet he is listed on the party’s statewide petition (for U.S. Senate), along with the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees.

The Kentucky Secretary of State has ruled that if the Kentucky Libertarian Party desires to disassociate itself from Landham, the Secretary of State will accept the petition, and list Landham on the November ballot as an independent, rather than as a Libertarian (assuming the petition has 5,000 valid signatures, of course). This decision respects the will of the voters who signed a petition for Landham, and it also preserves the associational rights of the Libertarian Party. The party will decide what to do at a meeting on the evening of July 28.