In the Connecticut U.S. Senate race, both Senator Joseph Lieberman and Democratic nominee Ned Lamont have said they will participate in a 5-person debate. The other three nominees on the ballot are the Republican, Green and Constitution (Concerned Citizens) nominees. Thanks to Austin Cassidy for this news.
The Idaho League of Women Voters’ debate for Idaho’s First Congressional District will include the United Party nominee, as well as the Democratic and Republican nominees. It will be held on October 24.
On August 31, the Illinois State Bd. of Elections deadlocked along party lines, on whether to certify Socialist Equality Party candidate Joe Parnarauskis for the November ballot. He is running for state senate, 52nd district. He submitted 4,991 signatures. The law requires 5% of the last vote cast. However, the law isn’t clear about whether that means 5% of the vote for that particular office in the last election, or 5% of the number of people who put a ballot in the box (within that district) in the last election. Andrew Spiegel, attorney for Parnarauskis, presented evidence that the Board has been calculating the number of signatures incorrectly for the last decade or so. The Board voted to reconvene on September 7, after studying the matter.
Aside from the matter of the dispute on how to calculate the number of signatures, Parnarauskis would also be on the ballot if the Board would accept some petition sheets in which the candidate forgot to include “52nd State Senate district” in the Petition Heading. However, the body of the text includes “52nd State Senate district”. The four Republican Board members voted that the clerical error in the title of the petition is not fatal, but the four Democrats voted that it is fatal.
On August 29, a group of naturalized citizens, and several organizations that support them, sued in U.S. District Court to overturn an Ohio law passed last year. That law requires naturalized citizens to bring their naturalization papers with them when they vote at the polls, to avoid a challenge. The lawsuit points out that most naturalized citizens keep their papers in a safety deposit box, that if they are lost, it takes over a year to replace them, along with a $200 fee. Also, the lawsuit wonders why Ohio won’t be satisfied with a U.S. passport, as proof of citizenship. The case is Boustani v Blackwell.
On August 31, the Illinois Bd. of Elections unanimously certified the statewide Green Party petition. Also, in North Dakota, the Libertarian Party candidate for US Senate has 1,300 signatures, and since only 1,000 are needed, and since North Dakota has no voter registration, he is safely on the ballot. This means that every state that has statewide elections this year will have minor party or independent candidates on the statewide ballot, except Alabama, and with Pennsylvania and New Mexico still unsettled.
