Louisiana will be holding closed or semi-closed primaries for Congress starting in 2008. Louisiana has 5 qualified parties. Each party that desires to keep independents out of its congressional primaries must tell the Secretary of State by January 1, 2008. If a party doesn’t express itself, the Secretary of State will assume that the party wants independents to vote in its Congressional primaries.

The Republican Party has already told the Secretary of State that it doesn’t want independents voting in its Congressional primaries. The Democratic Party has already told the press that it does want independents to vote in its Congressional primaries. The Green Party had a state convention on September 8 and decided to let independents vote in its Congressional primaries. Libertarians will decide this question at a state convention on December 1. It is believed the Reform Party will let independents vote in its Congressional primaries.

On October 16, the Iowa Republican State Central Committee voted to set the Republican presidential caucus on the evening of January 3, 2008. Iowa Democrats don’t necessarily need to choose the same date, and have not yet decided when the Democratic caucus will be. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.

The New York Independence Party has been ballot-qualified since 1994. When Ross Perot started the Reform Party in September 1995, the Independence Party of New York became the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party. The New York Independence Party disaffiliated from the national Reform Party in 2000, and has since then just been a party in New York state. It ran John Hagelin for president in New York in 2000, and Ralph Nader for president in New York in 2004.

Now, leaders of the New York Independence Party want to create a nationwide Independence Party. A meeting was held on September 23 in White Plains, New York. Frank MacKay was elected national chair. MacKay has been on a trip around the eastern half of the United States, trying to organize the party. The Minnesota Independence Party, which has also been ballot-qualified since 1994 and which was also once a state affiliate of the national Reform Party, will hold a state convention on December 1. It will decide at that convention whether to join the national Independence Party. Dean Barkley, a founder of the Minnesota Independence Party, has already agreed to advise the national Independence Party.

Leaders of the national Independence Party are aware that there is a great deal of similarity between Unity08 and the Independence Party. Both groups would be helpful to Mayor Michael Bloomberg if he were to decide to run for president outside the major parties in 2008.