On August 25, the Minnesota Democratic Party decided to move its presidential caucuses from March 4 to February 5. Thanks to politicalwire for this news.
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The Green Party National Committee passed this resolution on August 26, by a vote of 113-10: “Whereas the GPUS National Committee has clearly stated, through passage of Proposal 218, a commitment to run “full out” campaigns, and Whereas running “full out” requires gathering the greatest amount of resources such that a campaign can be as strong as possible, and Whereas the reality of modern American politics is that the longer we wait to make our involvement clear, the more resources we will lose, and Whereas past election cycles have demonstrated the absolute necessity of making it clear that we will hold a competitive nomination process culminating in our quadrennial presidential nominating convention lest we send mixed signals to Greens, prospective candidates, the media, and the public at large, and Whereas prospective presidential candidates considering whether to run as a Green will look for clarity from the national party as to intentions for 2008, and will be encouraged by a party with determination to run, Be it Therefore Resolved that it is the firm intention of the Green National Committee that the Green Party will nominate a presidential ticket at its 2008 convention, and Be it Further Resolved that it is the firm intention of the Green National Committee to strengthen our eventual ticket by generating and applying resources to ensure, among other things, that we will maximize the number of ballot lines on which our nominees will appear, and Be it Further Resolved that the Green National Committee hereby directs its officers and committees, when addressing the matter of the party’s intentions in 2008, and to the extent appropriate given the context of any such public statements, that the Green Party is conducting a contested presidential nomination process and that we will be nominating a presidential ticket at our 2008 convention.”
According to this article in the New York Times of August 29, the Republican National Committee expects to deprive any state of half its delegates to the national convention, if that state chooses delegates by primary before February 5. The Republican national rule, unlike the Democratic national rule, doesn’t regulate caucus dates.
On August 24, Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap proposed that the state legislature abolish primary elections. He says the state can’t afford the $300,000 every other year for primaries, and says that the parties are capable of nominating by caucuses, at their own expense. Dunlap was co-hosting the radio show “Maine in the Morning” when he made this suggestion. In Maine, the Secretary of State is appointed by the legislature rather than being elected by the voters. Dunlap is a Democrat. The legislature won’t be in session until 2008.
On August 27, the California Assembly passed SB 439 on a voice vote. It legalizes write-ins in instances when the voter forgets to “x” the box next to the name written in. Since the bill is worded slightly differently than the Senate version of the bill, it now returns to the Senate.
A similar bill passed the legislature last year, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.