On June 27, the Massachusetts Secretary of State said that the “fusion” initiative now has enough signatures and will be on the November 2006 ballot. The initiative would legalize fusion (the ability of two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate). It would also make it far easier for a party to remain on the ballot. The Working Families Party sponsored this initiative.
On June 23, Governor Kathleen Blanco signed SB 18, to restore closed primaries in Louisiana for congressional elections. The bill takes effect next year. This year’s congressional elections will still use the “top-two” system, with the first round in November, and any needed run-off in December.
On June 27, the national Voting Rights office of the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Arkansas, over the number of signatures needed for a new or minor party to get on the ballot. Green Party of Arkansas v Daniels, 4:06-cv-758. The statutory law says a new party needs a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote, which would be 24,171 signatures. However, in 1996, a federal court ruled that since Arkansas only requires 10,000 signatures for statewide independent candidates (for office other than president), there is no rational reason for Arkansas to require more than 10,000 signatures for new parties. The state filed an appeal in the 1996 case, but then dropped the appeal, yet refuses to recognize the existence of the 1996 ruling. The new lawsuit will request a court order, forcing the state to obey the 1996 ruling.
On June 27, the Arkansas Secretary of State ruled that independent gubernatorial Rod Bryan qualified for the November ballot. Bryan is the first independent candidate for Governor of Arkansas to be on the ballot since 1938. Back in 1938, an independent candidate for any office only needed 50 signatures. The current requirement is 10,000.
Bob Knight, former Mayor of Wichita, Kansas, will probably be an independent candidate for Governor of Kansas this year. He said on June 24 that he has supporters who want to collect the needed 5,000 signatures for him, and he has told them “go ahead”. Thanks to Politics1 for this news.
The number of states this year with independent or minor party candidates for Governor who have held fairly important elected or appointed office in the past, is unprecedented. These states include Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Texas.
