January 21 was the Vermont deadline for filing for the presidential primaries. Candidates needed 1,000 signatures.
Republicans who filed are Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Paul and Romney. Democrats who filed are Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich and Obama.
In the Liberty Union primary, only Brian Moore (Socialist Party presidential nominee) filed. The Liberty Union presidential primary is binding, so Moore will be the Liberty Union nominee in November in Vermont.
On January 10, the Oregon Secretary of State said he would put these candidates on the major party presidential primary ballots automatically: Democrats Clinton, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama; Republicans Giuliani, Huckabee, Hunter, McCain, Paul, Romney, Thompson. The law says candidates are on the ballot automatically if they are mentioned in news media.
The Secretary of State also said he would delete any names on his list who withdraw, so presumably he will soon delete Duncan Hunter.
On January 3, New Mexico congressional candidate Don Wiviott filed a lawsuit in state court, alleging that the new primary ballot access (for office other than president) is unconstitutional. The 2007 legislature changed the primary ballot access law, so that no one without at least 20% support at party conventions may appear on the primary ballot. Wiviott is running for U.S. House, 3rd district. The lawsuit is in state court in Santa Fe. It is called Wiviott v State, 101cv-2008-22.
Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, New York State Board of Elections v Lopez Torres, will make it very difficult for Wiviott to win his lawsuit, unless the court decides that the New Mexico State Constitution has more ballot access protection than the U.S. Constitution does.
The Oregon Independent Party became ballot-qualified in January 2007. It was formed by people who were angry that the 2005 session of the Oregon legislature had made ballot access so difficult for independent candidates.
Oregon law provides two methods for a ballot-qualified party to remain on the ballot. Either it must poll 1% for any statewide race at the last election, or it must keep its registration above one-half of 1% of the state registration total. Currently, the Libertarian and Green Parties of Oregon have more than one-half of 1% of the state registration total, so their ballot status is “safe”; they will remain on the ballot, even if their entire statewide slate fails to poll 1% in 2008. Now, the Independent Party of Oregon has also just about qualified for “safe” status. The November 2007 voter registration tally shows that it has registration of .48% of the state total, and is growing rapidly. At the rate at which it has been gaining registrations, it is virtually certain to be above .50% in the December 2007 tally, and in the various monthly tallies of 2008.
By contrast, the Working Families Party registration in Oregon for November 2007 was only .08%. Statewide offices on the 2008 ballot will be president, U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Attorney General. Unless Working Families registration increases drastically, the party will need to poll 1% for one of these offices, or it will lose its ballot position immediately after the November 2008 election.
Vermont holds presidential primaries on March 4. The state has four parties that are qualified for their own primaries: Democratic, Republican, Progressive, and Liberty Union. However, the Progressive Party doesn’t want its own presidential primary.
Vermont requires presidential candidates to submit 1,000 signatures in order to be on a presidential primary ballot. The Liberty Union Party leadership mostly supports Brian Moore (the Socialist Party presidential nominee), and has helped him gather 1,100 signatures. The deadline for petitions is Monday, January 21 (even though that is a holiday, the Secretary of State’s office is open). It is likely that Moore will be the only presidential candidate on the Liberty Union ballot.
This is the first presidential primary the Liberty Union Party has had since 1996. Since the party didn’t poll enough votes in either 1998 or 2002 to qualify for a primary, no presidential primary was held for it in either 2000 or 2004. But it did poll enough votes in 2006 to be entitled to a 2008 primary.
Brian Moore flew from his home in Florida, to California, on January 12. He had expected to debate his opponents in the Peace & Freedom Party presidential primary in several cities in California. However, he had a slight fever when he left his home in Florida, which became a high fever by the time he landed in Sacramento, California. He developed a bad infection in his left leg, probably from a spider bite, and he is recovering in a Sacramento hospital. His mishap yielded him some publicity in Sacramento network television news; see this link. Thanks to Third Party Watch.
