On the evening of June 4, Congressman Ron Paul was on “The Daily Show” with host Jon Stewart. Stewart asked Paul about his choice to run for president as a Republican instead of any alternate path. Paul said, “I ran in 1988 as a Libertarian candidate for President, but I’ve been in Congress for 10 terms always as a Republican, including currently…You don’t get in the debates when running outside the major parties. We’re overseas spreading the message of democracy, but here, if you’re in a third party, you can’t get on ballots…you spend all your time getting on ballots…you have to be a Ross Perot to get on all the ballots…The two parties are very much in control of the system, and they exclude individuals who aren’t in that mold.”

This post is being written on Tuesday morning, June 5. It will be interesting to see of any of the other Republican presidential contenders make reference to Paul’s remarks, in the Republican presidential debate tonight.

On June 4, the California Assembly Republican leader, Assemblyman Mike Villines, introduced ACA 4. It would provide that congressional and legislative district boundaries should be drawn by an independent Citizens Commission. The members would be selected randomly from the ranks of registered voters, although service would be voluntary. The Commission would consist of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 3 independent or minor party voters. Final maps would need approval from a majority of each of the three groups on the Commission. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

On Sunday, June 3, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed SB 83. It improves ballot access in two ways: (1) it lets qualified minor parties nominate someone even if that person has not been a member of that party in the past; (2) if a candidate for a district or county office is circulating a petition to get on a ballot, his or her circulators need not live in that district or county. SB 83 is an omnibus election law bill and it has many other unrelated provisions.

Colorado, Arkansas and Ohio seem to be the only states that have improved ballot access for minor parties or independent candidates this year, although there are still possibilities of improvements being made this year by the legislatures of Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, and New York.