Political Reform: No Party Affiliation

KENTUCKY
Galbraith claims no allegiance to party (By HAWKINS TEAGUE, Murray Ledger & Times) The Lexington attorney has run for governor in the Democratic primary three times – 1991, 1995 and 2007 – and once in 1999 on the Reform Party ticket, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal… “I’m an independent candidate for governor,” Galbraith said during a stop at the Murray Ledger & Times office Tuesday. “My running mate and I have no party affiliation whatsoever. We don’t want one. The problem with Kentucky and the reason we’re dysfunctional as a state government in Kentucky is because both parties have their horns locked up like two bull elk fighting over territory while the business of the people lays dead in the dust.

CALIFORNIA

• Election 2012: On the trail of the moderates (CAPITOL WEEKLY, By John Howard) And in addition to the new strategies, there is uncertainty over the real impact of two new, voter-approved electoral features – the top-two primary and the boundaries drawn by an independent redistricting commission.
• Calif. gets look at political maps drawn by citizens panel set up by voters to reduce gridlock (JUDY LIN  Associated Press, Daily Journal) "I think a big factor in the low registration and low voting rates in California among some communities is disenchantment with the political process. And a big source of that disenchantment is the fact that people feel that politicians have chosen their voters instead of the other way around," said Maria Blanco, a commissioner from Los Angeles. "The measure of success will be whether we see more people ... willing to participate in the political process."

NEVADA
Nevada Bill Passes, Eliminates the Easy Method for a New Party to Qualify for the Ballot (Ballot Access News) AB 81 also tells parties that nominate by primary that they cannot invite independents to vote in their primary. Only the Democratic and Republican Parties nominate by primary in Nevada. They have not been letting independents vote in their primaries recently anyway, but previously, the law was silent on whether independents can vote in primaries. AB 81 bars a party from inviting independents to vote in its primary.