Oklahoma Libertarian Ballot Access Case Delayed Again

Posted on by December 6, 2005
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The Libertarian Party’s ballot access lawsuit in Oklahoma was to have had a pretrial conference on November 30, 2005, but at the request of the state, it has been delayed again, until March 22, 2006. It is conceivable that the State Board of Elections will be asking the legislature to ease the law early next year, thus making the lawsuit moot. However, this is just speculation.

Oklahoma was the only state in the union in 2004 in which it was impossible for voters to vote for anyone for president except Bush and Kerry. One must go all the way back to 1972 to find a similar instance when it was impossible for anyone to vote for president, except to vote for the Democratic or Republican nominee.

Kentucky Now Tallying Some Minor Party Registrants

Posted on by December 6, 2005
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Effective November 15, 2005, Kentucky started tallying people who register as members of certain minor parties. Kentucky has always let people register in any group, since the voter registration form asking “party membership” has a blank line. But in the past, people who registered anything other than Republican or Democratic were coded as “other”. Now, a separate tally will be kept for “Independent status”, “Libertarian”, “Green”, “Constitution”, “Reform”, and “Socialist Workers”.

The new system only applies to voter registration forms filled out on or after November 15, 2005. So anyone who is already registered as a member of a minor party, and who wishes to be coded correctly, must re-register. It is likely that the number of registrants in each of these minor parties will be extremely small for some time to come.

Mass. Fusion Initiative Qualifies

Posted on by December 6, 2005
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The Massachusetts initiative to legalize fusion, and also to make it easier for a party to remain on the ballot, has enough valid signatures. Also, a bill to legalize fusion (House Bill 90) will be heard in a legislative committee on January 17, 2006.