Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski still hasn’t either signed or vetoed HB 2082, which makes it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. The bill was sent to him on July 9. He has until August 8 to act. Should you wish to ask him to veto it, his office phone is 503-378-3111.
Sam Waterston appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball TV show on July 24. He said that Unity08 now has 100,000 people who have signed up to vote in Unity08’s on-line presidential primary.
The national Green Party office is in the process of moving within Washington, D.C. The new physical location is 1711 18th St NW. The old physical location had been 1700 Connecticut Ave NW, #404.
The new office has street level access, its own kitchen and its own bathroom, and yet is less expensive than the old headquarters. The postal address remains unchanged (PO Box 57065, Washington DC 20037).
In some states, unqualified parties must circulate candidate petitions, to get themselves on the 2008 ballot. Many states permit unqualified parties to list stand-in candidates on the petition, for president and vice-president. That is useful, because it means the parties can be petitioning now for 2008, before they know whom their nominees will be. The Constitution Party has chosen Jim Clymer as its stand-in presidential candidate, and Chuck Baldwin as its stand-in vice-presidential candidate. These names can then be listed on candidate petitions. When the actual nominees are known, the stand-ins will withdraw and the actual nominees will be substituted.
John B. Anderson pioneered the use of stand-ins, in 1980, when he was an independent candidate for president. He was petitioning before he knew who his vice-presidential candidate would be. His v-p stand-in was Milton Eisenhower, older brother of former President Dwight Eisenhower. At the time, Milton Eisenhower was 91 years old. Anderson’s actual vice-presidential candidate, former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey, was chosen by Anderson on August 25, 1980, and almost every state let Anderson substitute. Anderson sued three states that refused to let him substitute, and won all three cases (Pennsylvania, Indiana and Florida).
The Libertarian Party pioneered presidential substitution during the early 1990’s. The party didn’t choose its 1996 ticket until July 4, 1996, but it did much petitioning before that date, using Ed Clark as a stand-in. All states permitted presidential stand-in in 1996 for the Libertarians except for Florida. The party sued Florida in 1996 in federal court and won the lawsuit. It was called Libertarian Party of Florida v Mortham and is not reported.
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Rogers v Cortez on Monday, September 24, 2007. This is the Court’s first day back from its summer vacation. Rogers v Cortes (which has also sometimes been known as Rogers v Corbett) is the case filed by the Green and Constitution Parties of Pennsylvania, and by activists of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, against the law that says even though a party is qualified (because it polled 2% of the vote in the last election), is should be treated as though it isn’t qualified for ballot access purposes, unless it has registration membership of 15% of the state total. If the Pennsylvania law existed in Utah, the Democratic Party would be off the ballot; if the Pennsylvania law existed in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts, the Republican Party would be off the ballot.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General has already waived his right to respond to the plaintiffs’ request that the Court hear the case. The Center for Competitive Democracy will be filing an amicus curiae brief in a few days, also asking the Court to hear the case. The Center for Competitive Democracy brief will point out that this case involves voters’ rights as well as the rights of candidates and parties. The CCD brief will contain evidence that write-in votes in some counties in Pennsylvania are routinely not counted. Printing for the CCD brief is paid for by COFOE (the Coalition for Free & Open Elections). COFOE thanks everyone who has contributed for this purpose.
