Doug Stanhope, who had been planning to announce that he is seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination, dropped out on May 1. He is a professional comedian. He said, “Federal Election Commission rules would not allow me to campaign at paid gigs while also retaining a personal income from those shows.”
Of course, he shouldn’t criticize the Federal Election Commission for the laws; he should criticize Congress.
On May 1, Ron Paul paid the $25,000 filing fee needed to get in the Republican Party of South Carolina’s presidential primary. The fee is so high because the party pays for the administration of that primary. Paul was the fourth candidate to pay it. Earlier, Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain had paid it. Those who don’t pay the filing fee this month will not be invited into the 2nd Republican presidential debate. That debate is hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party and FOX Network. It is set for May 15.
In September 2005, the Iowa Libertarian and Green Parties sued Iowa in federal court, over procedures that force all voters to register “Republican”, “Democratic”, or “independent.” Iowa and Kansas are the only states that don’t have a blank line on the political party question on voter registration forms. Instead, they just have checkboxes for each qualified party, and the choice to be an independent.
For almost a year, Iowa officials have been indicating they want to settle the lawsuit out of court, but progress toward implementing the exact settlement has been agonizingly slow. But signs are that it will be settled by May 31. The settlement will include a procedure by which voters can register as members of unqualified parties, if those unqualified parties have been active in the state.
The U.S. Supreme Court will probably announce on May 14 whether it will hear Kidwell v City of Union, Ohio, no. 06-1226. This very interesting case presents the question of whether a government may spend tax dollars on advertising that asks voters to vote “no” on an initiative.
Another interesting election law case pending in the U.S. Supreme Court is Underwood v Guam Election Commission, no. 06-1268. The Court will probably decide whether to take this case in late May; all three briefs have been submitted. The issue is whether an overvote is a “vote cast”. Federal law says no one may be elected Governor of Guam without a majority of the “votes cast.” The Guam Election Commission considered overvotes (which are void, since the voter voted for two different candidates for Governor) to not be “votes cast.” If they had considered them to be “votes cast”, a run-off would have been needed after the November 2006 gubernatorial election.
On April 28, the Nebraska Democratic State Executive Committee voted to use a February 9 caucus to choose the state’s delegates to the Democratic national convention. The state’s May presidential primary will just be a “beauty contest” with no role in choosing any delegates.
