The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Lee v Frank, 23-901, at its April 12 conference. This is the case over Wyoming’s law that prohibits petitioning and other First Amendment activity on election day within 250 feet of the polls. Most states have a 100 foot limit.
As has been reported, the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., independent presidential petition in Nevada was circulated without a vice-presidential candidate listed.
The Nevada law says, “298.109. A person who desires to be an independent candidate for the office of President must file with the Secretary of State a declaration of candidacy and a petition of candidacy, in which the person must also designate a nominee for Vice President.”
The law also says the candidate must file a copy of the petition before the petition is circulated.
The Kennedy campaign filed a copy of their petition with the Secretary of State before it was circulated, and the Secretary of State’s office approved the petition even though it didn’t list anyone for vice-president. Then, in an abundance of caution, the campaign again asked the Secretary of State is a vice-presidential candidate was needed, and was told that it was not. The Secretary of State’s response is in writing.
It is possible to read the law to mean that the vice-presidential candidate’s name is required on the declaration but not the petition. The use of the word “in”, instead of “on”, suggests this idea.
Before 1993, the law said, “A person who desires to be an independent candidate for President must file with the Secretary of State a certificate of candidacy, in which he may also designate his nominee for Vice President. The certificate must be signed by the candidate for President, his nominee for Vice President if designated, and…” (the remainder of the sentence contains the number of signatures required).
In 1980, John Anderson’s Nevada petition did not list anyone for vice-president. Also in 1992, Ross Perot’s Nevada petition did not list anyone for vice-president. The Perot petition had a blank line for vice-president.
Congratulations to Libertarian Party of Oklahoma Chair Chris Powell for this outstanding, in my opinion, oped in opposition to the Top Two initiative that is currently circulating in Oklahoma.
Last month, the Hawaii Elections office determined that the We the People Party had enough valid signatures to be a qualified party. The party was formed by supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., because in Hawaii the petition for a new party requires far fewer signatures than the petition for independent presidential candidates.
Recently some Democratic Party officials challenged the validity of the party’s status. The challenge is not to the petition validity, but to the fact that in 2022, two of the officers of the We the People Party voted in the Democratic Party primary. The objectors say that this makes them Democrats, and that they are therefore not eligible to be officers of the We the People Party.
Hawaii does not have registration by party. Nothing in the election law supports the notion that if someone votes in a party primary, he or she is therefore trapped into being a party member for the infinite future. The challenge will face an administration hearing on March 28.
On March 26, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. held a campaign rally in Oakland, California, and introduced his vice-presidential running mate, Nicole Shanahan. Now that he has a vice-presidential running mate, it will be free to start petitioning in almost 20 more states.
Shanahan is 38 years old and lives in San Mateo County, California. Her ancestry is mixed; her father had Irish antecedents and her mother’s ancestors are from China.
