Hankster News of the Day for Independent Voters - July 31

NATIONAL
Political parties turn to independent voters for edge in November (By Jim Angle, FoxNews.com) David Winston, a Republican strategist, said such independents made up 22 percent of voters in 2002. "In 2010, they had grown to make up about 29 percent of the electorate," he said. "So clearly as the exit polls have shown, they've grown quite a bit." And a Gallup poll recently reported that independents account for 35 percent or more of voters in most recent elections.



ARIZONA
Opponents ask court to toss out initiative on Arizona open primaries (Howard Fischer, Arizona Daily Star) A judge will hear arguments next week on whether Arizona voters get to decide if they want to scrap the current system of partisan primaries. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain will consider claims by foes of the open-primary initiative that it unconstitutionally asks voters to make too many changes in the law with a single vote.

FLORIDA

• Florida voter registrations: a rising tide of independence (By Christine Stapleton, Palm Beach Post) The number of independent voters has climbed steadily in Florida since 1972 — when Democrats had an overwhelming majority with 68.5 percent of voters, Republicans had 28.2 percent and independents, only 3.4 percent. But since since the infamous November 2000 election, the number of independent voters in the state has swelled more than 75 percent, from 1.5 million in 2000 to 2.7 million today, making up 23.8 percent of the statewide voting electorate.
• All voters should elect leaders (EDITORIAL News Chief) In Miami-Dade County two voters have gone to federal court in an attempt to force the Democratic primary for state attorney to be open to all voters. In their lawsuit, Republican Armando Lacasa and independent Vincent Mazilli claim that close to 700,000 Republicans, independents and third-party voters should have say in the election, not just the county's 525,890 registered Democrats. We hope they win -- and that the ruling comes down before the Aug. 14 primary.
• Judge Rules SAO Race Will Be A Closed Primary (CBS Local) A federal judge has ruled that only Democrats will be able to cast ballots in the Miami-Dade State Attorney race in the August primary. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Zloch denied a motion from two voters who sought to open up the election by becoming “write in” candidates, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.
• Write-ins used to close Florida primary elections (Written by BILL KACZOR, South Florida Times) If the winner of a Democratic or Republican primary in Florida won't face opposition in the general election, then that primary is open to all voters without regard to party registration under a state constitutional amendment passed overwhelmingly in 1998.

COLORADO
Former state Rep. Kathleen Curry makes HD 61 ballot as an unaffiliated candidate (By Tim Hoover, The Denver Post) Former state Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison, who famously bolted from the Democratic party in 2009 to become unaffiliated, has made the ballot for House District 61, a seat that sprawls across several mountain counties, as an unaffiliated candidate.

OHIO
Redistricting overhaul would ensure that each vote counts (BY MARILOU JOHANEK, Toledo Blade) To stop the remapping by Republicans in Ohio, who gamed the system to their advantage, a coalition of nonpartisan organizations, known as Voters First Ohio, came up with a sane solution. It's a constitutional amendment that would put district mapmaking in the hands of a 12-person citizen commission.