On August 22, the Sonoma County Republican Party appealed the California write-in case to the State Court of Appeals. The case is Sonoma County Republican Party v McPherson, co 53443. The issue is a state law that makes it almost impossible for parties to nominate write-in candidates in their own primaries.
On August 23, a U.S. District Court in Little Rock, Arkansas, issued an injunction putting the Green Party on the ballot, and declaring the law unconstitutional. The case is Green Party of Arkansas v Daniels, 4:06-cv-758. The sole issue is the constitutionality of the law requiring signatures of 3% of the last vote cast for Governor, which was approximately 24,000 signatures. The state will probably appeal. The decision is 11 pages long.
On August 22, the California State Senate passed AB 2948, the “National Popular Vote Plan” for electing the president. The California legislature is the first legislature to pass such a bill. No one knows if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign it. The vote was 23-14; no Republican Senators voted for it.
On August 21, John Hulett died at his home in Lowndes County, Alabama. He was one of the founders of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization in 1966. This was a political party that sought to elect African-Americans to county office. It appeared on the ballot under the logo of a black panther. The Alabama Democratic Party, which was then dominated by segregationists, used a rooster as its logo. The symbolism for the black panther was that a black panther could easily overcome a rooster. Hulett visited Oakland, California, in May 1966, and his party’s symbol was the inspiration for the formation of the Black Panther Party of northern California. The Black Panther Party in California never became ballot-qualified, but it helped the Peace & Freedom Party become qualified in California in late 1967.
The Lowndes County Freedom Organization polled between 46% and 41% of the vote for its countywide slate, in 1966. Later Hulett was elected sheriff, but as a Democrat. The county was so poor, the sheriff also had to be the cook for the inmates of the county jail. Hulett was a much loved figure during the years he was sheriff.
The Constitution Party of Oregon is a ballot-qualified minor party, so it nominates by convention. The party chooses delegates to its state convention at its various county conventions. Then, the state convention delegates choose the party’s statewide nominees. In June 2006, the party chose Mary Starrett for Governor. She is a well-known television and radio talk show host.
The Constitution Party followed Oregon state law, by running a legal notice in various newspapers, giving advance notice of its county conventions. The purpose of the legal ad is to notify all the party’s registrants that they are free to attend the county conventions and vote at those county conventions.
But the party did not run such ads prior to its state convention. It reasoned that since only delegates from the county conventions can vote at the state convention, there would be no purpose in the ads. The law requires that notice be given for party meetings in which all party members can vote, but is ambiguous about party meetings at which only delegates can vote.
An attorney associated with the Oregon Republican Party has filed a legal challenge to the party’s failure to run notices about the state convention. The Oregon Secretary of State says he will decide whether to remove Starrett from the ballot by September 7. Oregon’s Secretary of State has been hostile to minor party and independent candidates in recent years, and has already hinted that he will rule against the Constitution Party. If Starrett is removed from the ballot, the Constitution Party will have no statewide nominee on the ballot, and will be disqualified for failing to meet the 1% vote test. The law would also permit the party to remain on the ballot if its registration were equal to one-half of 1% of the registration, but the Constitution Party only has about one-eighth of 1% of the registration.
