The Party for Socialism and Liberation has been told by elections officials in Utah and Vermont that its petitions (for Gloria La Riva for president and Eugene Puryear for vice-president) have enough valid signatures.
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Green Party Watch recently said that the U.S. Constitution forbids a party from running a candidate for president and a candidate for vice-president who are both from the same state. This is a common misconception.
The 12th Amendment says that a presidential elector can’t vote for someone for president and someone else for vice-president, if both candidates are from that elector’s home state. So, the only barrier is that the electors from one particular state can’t vote for such a team. Electors in the other 49 states are free to vote for a team in which both members are from the same state.
Also, the ban only applies to residence in December of the presidential election, the month when the electors vote. So if a minor party did carry the state in which both the president and vice-president live, the electors are still free to vote for that team if either the presidential candidate, or the vice-presidential candidate, moves out of that state before the mid-December date when the electors vote.
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney both lived in Texas when they were nominated in 2000, but Cheney switched his residence to Wyoming, so that the Bush-Cheney ticket was able to receive the votes of the Texas electors.
In the past, the Socialist Workers Party frequently nominated two New Yorkers, one for president and one for vice-president. The party’s national office has always been in New York and it was usually more convenient to the party to have both candidates living in New York. Challenges to the party’s ballot position in New York were made on the basis of residence, but the New York State Courts always upheld the SWP’s ballot position.
June 23 was the Illinois petition deadline for independent candidates, and candidates of unqualified parties. Besides the 49,000 signatures turned in by the Libertarian Party, and the 52,000 turned in by Ralph Nader, there were also petitions submitted by the Constitution Party and the New Party. Illinois is the only state in which someone can get on the general election ballot with a petition that is below the legal minimum. However, this only happens when no one challenges a petition that is below the legal minimum. The Constitution Party and New Party petitions don’t have as many as 25,000 signatures, so they will wait to see if they are challenged. The New Party presidential candidate is John Joseph Polachek of Chicago.
Another unique Illinois law requires unqualified parties to file a complete slate of candidates. This means that, this year, they must run somone for U.S. Senator if they are also running someone for president. The Libertarian and Constitution Parties followed this law, but the New Party did not include a candidate for U.S. Senate, so that is another basis on which the New Party petition could be challenged. This Illinois law is probably unconstitutional, however.
On June 23, the Waltham, Massachusetts Daily News Tribune ran this editorial, calling on the Massachusetts legislature to pass the National Popular Vote Plan bill before the legislature adjourns in July.
Cindy Sheehan, who hopes to be the first independent candidate for U.S. House on the California ballot since 1996, has 3,500 signatures as of June 23. She needs 10,198 valid, by August 8. The Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party have endorsed her, as has Cynthia McKinney. She is running in the 8th district, which includes most of San Francisco. The only parties that have nominated someone for that seat are the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties.