On April 24, the New York State Court of Appeals (the highest state court in that state) heard one case involving an intra-party dispute in the Independence Party, and another one involving such a dispute in the Working Families Party.

The Independence Party case is called Conroy v State Committee of Independence Party. It concerns a state party rule that deprives New York City branches of the party the ability to decide whether to let candidates who are members of other parties enter the Independence Party primary. The motivation for the rule was that Lenora Fulani supporters control the New York City branches of the party, and the state officers are opposed to her and desire to limit her power in the party.

The Court of Appeals judges seemed intent on deciding the issue by figuring out what the New York state election law says about the issue, even though that is very difficult, since the law is not only unclear, but virtually contradictory. The mid-level court had split the difference, ruling that the local New York city party officials could enjoy authority over the 3 citywide offices, but not the district offices within the city.

The other case is called Master v Pohanka. The Working Families Party has a rule that the state officers of the party have jurisdiction over whether members of other parties may enter the Working Families Party primary. Some county officials of the party claim that the state party rule violates the election code, and desire more local control.

The April 23 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle has a story about confusion between the American Independent Party, and independent voters. The American Independent Party has been ballot-qualified since 1968, yet some Californians still think that if they wish to register as an Independent voter, they should choose the box for “American Independent Party.” The correct way for a California voter to register as an independent is to check the box labeled “Declines to State a Party.”

The publicity was engendered when Mayor Gavin Newsom’s fiancee registered into the American Independent Party. When this was noticed, the Mayor said his fiancee had intended to register as an independent. The American Independent Party is the California affiliate of the Constitution Party. The California Secretary of State says she will redesign the voter registration form to make it more obvious that the American Independent choice is a party. However, the logical solution, to change the designation for actual independents from “Declines to State a Party” to “Independent” cannot be implemented without a change in the election code. The legislature in the past has voted down bills to make this change. Apparently legislators don’t want the choice of “independent” to be listed on the voter registration form, because they believe it is too attractive.

The Illinois House Local Government will hold a hearing on HB 5263 on Tuesday, April 29, at 1 p.m., in room 409 of the Capitol. HB 5263 makes it more difficult for ballot-qualified parties to nominate candidates. Current law says that if a ballot-qualified party doesn’t nominate someone for a particular office at its own primary, party leaders can still choose a nominee afterwards. This bill says that if the post-primary nomination procedure is used, the candidate still can’t be considered nominated unless he or she submits a petition of 5% of the last vote cast.

The Green Party is the only ballot-qualified party statewide in Illinois currently, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties. This year, the Green Party nominated more people by post-primary meeting, than by the primary itself. Ballot access for candidates to get on a primary ballot itself requires a burdensome petition, so losing the ability to make post-primary nominations will be injurious.