On July 27, New York Supreme Court Judge Emily Goodman held a trial in McKay v Mandell, 109502-2006. The issue is whether the state leadership of the New York Independence Party may expel 94 of its members, on the grounds that they are allied with Lenora Fulani. New York state law permits political parties to expel members deemed to be disloyal to the party. Judge Goodman asked attorneys for the state party leadership why the bulk of their complaints about Fulani extend to remarks she made in 1989, before the Independence Party even existed. She also asked, if Fulani and her supporters have been so disloyal to the party’s principles for so long, why the party (which was formed in 1994) is only now trying to expel them.

The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) earnestly requests a donation from readers of this page. COFOE recently paid for the Oklahoma Libertarian Party appeal fees (this is the case in state court challenging the 5% petition for new parties, and the 10% vote test for old parties to remain on the ballot). COFOE also paid the fees to appeal the Ohio independent petition deadline to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, COFOE’s funds are almost depleted.

Anyone who donates at least $25 will receive a free sub to the paper version of Ballot Access News, which contains content not found on this web page. For example, the August 1 issue contains a humerous story about how the Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida (who is the wealthiest candidate in that race) “crashed” the recent Florida Democratic State Convention and addressed the crowd. That issue also contains a chart, showing how much money each political party received in state income tax donations, in the 13 states that permit such donations on state income tax forms. The chart contrasts the results with last year’s results.

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On July 27, Ohio Representative Jim Trakas introduced House Bill 638, which lets candidates who use the independent procedure choose a partisan label. Any short label that doesn’t mimic the name of a fully-qualified party is permitted. Thus, labels such as “Green” or “Libertarian” would be permitted. A slight majority of states already let candidates who use the independent petition method choose such a label.

Since the existing Ohio procedures for new parties are so difficult (none has qualified since 2000), minor party candidates in Ohio almost always use the independent procedure. But under the old law, their campaigns are handicapped because the appropriate party label is missing. For example, this year, both the Green Party and the Libertarian Party used the independent procedure to put their gubernatorial nominees on the November ballot. But both are stuck with the silly label “Other-party candidate”. If HB 638 passes, in the future they would have the proper label.

Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party’s lawsuit against the new party procedures is still pending in the 6th circuit. The hearing was on September 14, 2005. A decision could come at any time.