INDEPENDENT VOTERS
- SURGING INDEPENDENT SENTIMENT, LESSER EVILISM, AND TEA PARTY POLITICS (by Damon Eris, CAIVN)
OPEN PRIMARIES
- IL: Open primary a step toward reform (Daily Herald Editorial Board)
GOV RACES
- Chafee's independent RI governor bid no easy road (By MICHELLE R. SMITH (AP) Chafee is one of several high-profile independents running in a year of voter discontent, including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who's leading in the polls after leaving the Republican Party for his Senate run; Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill, a one-time Democrat running for governor; and Eliot Cutler, running for governor of Maine.
- Independent Nominee Cohen Visits Springfield (By Kevin Lee, Illinois Statehouse News, Fox News)
- Court Rules Against S.C. Green Party Candidate (By ANNIE YOUDERIAN, Courthouse News Service)
CALIFORNIA
- Repairing the initiative process - in CA and SF (Steve Hill, San Francisco Bay Guardian) Because of these dynamics, direct democracy in California has been captured by wealthy special interests. Proponents
- of Proposition 14, which was bankrolled by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and big business, outspent opponents by 50:1 to pass a "top two" primary that is deform masked as reform. Even when Big Money's measures lose — as PG&E's Proposition 16 did — they force everyone else to play defense. Ironically, this dynamic is the opposite of that envisioned by California Gov. Hiram Johnson, who in 1911 created the initiative to allow the people to counter powerful special interests like railroad tycoons.
- Fixing California (By Kevin Drum, Mother Jones) Bottom line: I don't know what to do. If Arnold is to be believed, our shiny new redistricting and open primary laws will change things starting in 2012. I can't wait.
- Your Morning Jolt (Jim Galloway, AJC/Political Insider) Mary Norwood this morning announced that she’s filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in an attempt to get her name on the ballot as an independent candidate for commission chairman.
- Mary Norwood files lawsuit to challenge Fulton County Elections Board, gain ballot access (Posted by Thomas Wheatley, Creative Loafing Atlanta)
- DA to investigate $10K loan to Independence Party chairman's wife (By DAVID SEIFMAN, NY Post)
- Missing: Voice, money of Golisano - Billionaire lowers profile in politics (By Tom Precious, Buffalo News) Golisano also created the State Independence Party, the tiny but influential ballot line that he has wielded with considerable influence in the past.
- Commentary: Wanda Warren Berry, director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting, writes about unaffiliated voters in New York (Syracuse Post Standard, By Wanda Warren Berry) An important primary election looms in September and we can expect the usual protests about the fact that New York holds “closed” primaries, allowing only members of a party to choose its candidates.
- Senate Democrats Send Cash To Debi Rose, Councilmember In DFS Lawsuit (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News)
- In New York, Civics Fans Can’t Fill the Seats (By CLYDE HABERMAN, NY Times) There were other matters at hand, but some of the more contentious ones seemed destined to be pushed aside. They included questions like whether municipal elections should be nonpartisan and whether runoff elections should be replaced by a process known as instant runoff voting. This procedure tends to be condensed to the acronym IRV, making it sound like someone’s old uncle. It refers to a system that lets voters rank candidates in order of preference.
- Commission Conundrum (LETTER Queens Tribune)
- Government By The People, Money Matters & A Poem (By MICHAEL SCHENKLER, Queens Tribune)
- Obama turns away from longtime Democratic supporters in N.Y. (By Jason Horowitz, Washington Post)
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