Gary Allen: Idaho Could Move to "Top Two" Primary Like Washington or California

IDAHO CLOSED PRIMARY SNAFU

• Closed primary legislation hits snag in Idaho House (Betsy Z. Russell The Spokesman-Review) Allen said there are plenty of other options for complying with the court decision without requiring party registration. Idaho could move to a “top two” primary, like Washington. Or it could let parties that want to close their process hold conventions or caucuses at their own expense.
• One major bill that still needs to be heard in the House is the closed primary bill (By KATHERINE WUTZ, Idaho Mountain Express) Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, said she voted against the bill when it came before the Senate on the grounds that it undermines the political process.

LOCAL INDEPENDENT RUNS

• Independent Ogilvie is surprise aldermanic victor in St.Louis (By DAVID HUNN, St. Louis Dispatch) Ogilvie, a freelance graphic designer and Big Shark bike shop worker, promised change, responsiveness and transparency, voters said Tuesday. He is one of a few independents ever elected in the city.
• Jesse Ventura To Run For Vice President? (contactmusic.com) Jesse Ventura's publicist has confirmed that the 59-year-old former professional wrestler is considering entering the race for the 2012 Presidential elections as Ron Paul's running mate, reports Fox News.

REDISTRICTING

• Asian Immigrants In Queens Prepare For Redistricting Battle (By Cristina DC Pastor, Feet in 2 Worlds - Telling the Stories of Today's Immigrants) In New York’s case, redistricting is conducted by the state legislature, though Governor Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Ed Koch are among those trying to change the rules and establish a non-partisan independent redistricting commission. Mollenkopf noted how in the borough of Queens — specifically the Jackson Heights/Corona area — Asians tend to be juxtaposed between white and black neighborhoods and other ethnic communities. In an arrangement like this, he warned, Asians will be “manipulated by the [redistricting] process and played off against each other.”
• Advocates bring out the snakes to slam Va. politicians’ redistricting plans (By Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post/Virginia Politics) “If we look at the lines, we’re seeing donkeys and elephants, drawing dragons and snakes,” said Doug Smith, head of the Redistricting Coalition that is urging a bipartisan redistricting commission.
• Koch Expands On Senate Republicans’ “Dishonorable Act” With Redistricting Reform (By Allen Houston, City Hall News) “After the Republicans win a majority, they decide that they’re going to renege on the promise. I went to Albany and Skelos saw me and I said, ‘Are you walking away from this bill?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He was honest. He said, ‘We’re going to do a constitutional amendment instead.’ A constitutional amendment is ridiculous.”

Idaho: Disenfranchising voters is never a good thing.

IDAHO - TIME FOR "TOP TWO" PRIMARY
Has time come for a ‘top two’ primary system? (Bonner County Daily Bee)  Disenfranchising voters is never a good thing. Which is why it’s time to end Idaho’s rigid party system, which favors the Republican and Democrat parties. Instead, let’s switch to a “top two” primary system like that adopted by Washington voters in 2004 and which has successfully run in Louisiana for years. A similar system, through Proposition 14, was adopted recently in California.

California Top Two Open Primary Builds Support in Idaho

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Editorial, Other Views: Open primaries: What about will of the people? (EDITORIAL The Californian.com) Last June, California voters approved Proposition 14, which promised to promote competition in state politics by listing all candidates for a given office on a single primary ballot, regardless of party affiliation. The top-two vote-getters would advance to the November runoff — an arrangement that proponents believe will benefit more moderate candidates and help create a less polarized, more stalemate-resistant Legislature.
• Candidate's Request to Suspend Election Rules Denied; Certified List of 16 - U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II denies request to suspend new election rules in upcoming 36th Congressional District contest. (By Paul Chavez, HERMOSA BEACH PATCH)
• Has time come for a ‘top two’ primary system? (EDITORIAL Bonner County Daily Bee) Disenfranchising voters is never a good thing. Which is why it’s time to end Idaho’s rigid party system, which favors the Republican and Democrat parties. Instead, let’s switch to a “top two” primary system like that adopted by Washington voters in 2004 and which has successfully run in Louisiana for years. A similar system, through Proposition 14, was adopted recently in California.
• First GOP presidential debate opening. (South Carolina SC) A group of independent voters, party members of black tea and state legislators have joined in the fight against the trial.
• Senate approves new primary plan with party registration (By Brad Iverson-Long, Idaho Reporter) “This is not a closed primary bill – it provides options,” said Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg. “It’s a constitutional primary bill.” The new primary system follows a successful lawsuit by the Idaho Republican Party striking down Idaho’s existing open primary election system.

MIDDLE AMERICA, THIRD PARTIES, INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES

• King: Great middle of America has no place to call home (By BILL KING, Chron/Viewpoints, Outlook) Still, it is not easy to break the Democratic/Republican partisan oligarchy. The two dominant political parties have laced the elections statutes with provisions that stack the deck against third-party or independent candidates. For example, in Texas an independent candidate must collect about 50,000 signatures to get on the November ballot and the petitioners cannot have voted in the primary, a daunting task to say the least.
• Former independent candidate for governor forms moderate political action committee (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, The Republic - Columbus Indiana) Former Maine independent candidate for governor Eliot Cutler has formed a new political action committee for moderates.

LAST WORD

• PPP sells to left, polls down middle (By MOLLY BALL, Politico) The company’s revenue comes not from the polls featured in news stories but from paying clients: Democratic candidates and progressive advocacy groups such as unions, abortion rights groups and environmentalists. The liberal website Daily Kos, with sponsorship from the Service Employees International Union, has commissioned more than 100 PPP polls to be conducted and published over the course of the 2012 election cycle. But that’s the exception, not the rule, to how the company usually makes its money.

Independents Continue Fight to Preserve Idaho Open Primary

Idaho Voters Consider Themselves Independent

• Closed primary bill moves on to full Senate (Associated  Press, Magic Valley Times News) Winmill's ruling is being appealed by the New York-based Committee for a United Independent Party. The group's lawyer Gary Allen warned the public record provision could infringe on constitutional privacy rights. Citing a recent Boise State University survey showing the majority of Idaho voters view themselves as independents, Allen cautioned lawmakers against setting rules that could keep independents home on primary election day.
• Closed Primaries Upset Independents (Posted by DFO, Spokesman Review/Huckleberries Online) Gary Allen, attorney for a group of independent voters, told the Senate State Affairs Committee, “I'm here on my 50th birthday, and I can't think of any better way to spend it than talking about democracy.”
• ‘Poke independent voters in the eye’ (Posted by Betsy, Spokesman Review/Eye On Boise) “In our view, this is an unnecessary intrusion on voters' privacy,” Allen said. “Frankly, our clients do not want to do this, and we've seen no evidence that other independents in Idaho want to do this either. At a time when Republican Party identification in Idaho is falling like a stone … I would not think that the Republican Party would want to poke independent voters in the eye.”
• Trillhaase: GOP Moderates Surrender (Posted by DFO,  Spokesman Review) Already under siege from the ideological faction that gave you bills to nullify the U.S. Constitution and put a gun in every college student's hand, Idaho's moderate Republicans lost the war earlier this month. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said the party apparatchiks could close the state's GOP primary to all but card-carrying Republican voters
• ‘Keep known political operatives from participating in another party’s primary’ (Posted by Betsy, Spokesman Review/Eye On Boise) Senate Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, asked why party-affiliated people would have to switch their party affiliation by the end of the filing period in March or not at all for that year's primary, under the bill. “You may not even know what the roster is at that date,” said Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum.

Independent Voters Decide Elections; Idaho Republicans Move to Close Primaries

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Among Independents, Poll Favors Obama Over Congress (By MEGAN THEE-BRENAN, NY Times/The Caucus) Independent voters make up an influential voting bloc that frequently decides elections, but they are an unpredictable bunch. In 2008, just over half of independent voters threw their support behind Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats, yet by the election of 2010, they had swung back to supporting Republicans for Congress. Now, just a few months into the new Congress’s term, more than twice as many independents approve of the job the president is doing than they do of the job Congress is doing, according to the latest CBS News poll.
• Moderates vs. Independents Part I (Introduction, 2010 chart) (by: DGM, Swing State Project) Savvy political analysists have long understood that the number of truly Independent voters is a lot smaller than the self-identification numbers suggest, but that doesn't stop even the most savvy of political analysists from assuming that Independent = Moderate. 

IDAHO REPUBS GET BACKING FROM COURT TO CLOSE PRIMARY
Introduce measure in legislature

• Elias: State GOP shoots self in foot once again (Thomas D. Elias, Ventura County Star) The latest self-destructive move came at the party's late-winter state convention, where activist delegates voted to stage an end-run around the "top-two" open primary election system that now allows all voters to cast ballots for any candidates they like, regardless of party. That system gets its first large scale test in the statewide primary set for next spring.
• Idaho starts down road to closing GOP primary, state to pay legal fees to Republican party (Associated Press, Magic Valley Times News) Under Monday's measure, Republicans would vote in GOP primary races, while Democrats would vote in Democratic primaries.

NOTE: Lots of local coverage using this AP piece

2012

• The Donald, debunked (By Chris Cillizza, Washington Post/The Fix) And, don’t forget that in 1999 Trump formally registered with New York’s Independence Party as he weighed a run for president on the Reform Party line. He might have a hard time explaining that move to GOP caucus and primary voters.

CALIFORNIA PROP 14 ELECTION

• Steve Collett Announces Candidacy for Congress - Candidate Claims "Marijuana Will Be Legal in 2012" Steve Collett for Congress (PRESS RELEASE Bradenton.com) Running as a Libertarian, Steve Collett is on the ballot in what is likely to be an 18-way race. The official list will be certified on March 30th, but the list includes Mr. Collett, five democrats, six Republicans, one Peace and Freedom candidate and five others who will be listed on the ballot as "No Party Preference." Heavyweights Janice Hahn and "Kit" Bobko are likely to make a large splash in a race already in controversy. The Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, is also in the race, making for a very complicated transition to the new election rules passed by voters with Proposition 14 last year.

EDUCATION REFORM

• Poverty the biggest challenge of all in education reform (Central Jersey.com/Courier News Editorials) A good education is perhaps the most important factor in breaking the cycle of poverty. Education not only teaches skills, but it also broadens a student's horizons and introduces them to opportunities that otherwise they would never know. An education gives them a chance to succeed and break the bounds of poverty.

Independent Voters Lead National Election Reform Campaign

National Conference Call for Independents.  Every six weeks, CUIP president Jacqueline Salit hosts America's largest ongoing national call for independents. She provides updates about what independents are doing around the country and how the movement is growing. Get connected, hear updates.
Next call: Monday, March 28 - TODAY
Title: They Want Our Votes. But Do They Want to Listen to Us? A Campaign for Congressional Hearings into the Second Class Status of Independent Voters
Sign up here.



PROP 14
State GOP tries to craft its own mail-in primary before Prop 14. takes effect (By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times) After a contentious battle, Republicans settle on a strategy to blunt the effect of new open-primary law. They'll survey all GOP voters by mail and the top vote-getter will be the party's official candidate.

SHOULD VOTERS PAY FOR INTERNAL PARTY ELECTIONS?
Tighter ballot can bring big savings (Erica Felci, The Desert Sun) In 2008, 53 percent of the candidates on Riverside County's June ballot were central committee candidates. They comprised 40 percent of the county's primary ballot last year, according to an analysis published last week in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Now an effort is starting, led by the San Diego registrar, to take such candidates off the regular ballot and instead create a separate selection process.

IDAHO CLOSED PRIMARY RULING
Judge rules Idaho Republicans have right to close primary (By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian) But closing the primary in Idaho is more complicated than it is in Oregon, where voters register by party (or declare themselves non-affiliated).  In Idaho, as in Washington, voters don't register by party and voters have long been accustomed to simply choosing whether to cast a Republican or Democratic primary ballot.
NOTE: Independents will appeal the ruling in Idaho

Independent Voters File Appeal in Idaho Closed Primary Ruling

Picture this:  For 38 years nobody asked you if you had a party preference when you went to vote in the state of Idaho.  Enter a faction of the Idaho Republican Party, which won a court case presided over by Judge B. Lynn Winmill who decided that political parties can dictate who votes in the determining first round of public elections.  Desperate move by historically failing institutions?  You betcha.  And it hits at the core of democracy and citizen involvement.  As political parties and a deadly Party-Uber-Alles mentality grips our nation, independents are fighting back for the good of the country.

Appeal Filed in Closed Primary Ruling

POSTED BY GEORGE PRENTICE ON WED, MAR 23, 2011 AT 2:07 PM

Boise Weekly/City Desk

A group of independent Idaho voters have filed an appeal, challenging a federal judge's decision to throw out Idaho's open primary system.

"A third of Idaho voters have lost their right to vote in the state's primaries as a result of this decision," said Harry Kresky, co-counsel for a group calling itself the American Independent Movement of Idaho. "As a result of our invention in the litigation, independents are able to take the necessary legal steps to protect their interests, regardless of what the State of Idaho decides to do in the courts or in the legislature in response to the decision."

On March 2, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill ruled against the open primary system, saying past primaries were influenced by crossover voting by Democrats and Independents.

Meanwhile, Republican Idaho legislators are working behind closed doors this week, crafting new procedures that would limit GOP primaries to only registered Republicans. House Speaker Lawerence Denney said he expected a bill to surface by Friday. One sticking point will be to determine how long a voter must prove party registration before being eligible to participate in a primary. One proposal suggests two months. Another suggests 180 days.

Idaho GOP leaders near closed primary deal

March 23, 2011, 12:29 pm

Moscow Pullman Daily News

BOISE — As Republicans near a legislative deal to close their primary elections, an independent voter group is appealing a federal court ruling from earlier this month that threw out the 38-year-old open primary law in Idaho. 

The New York-based Committee for a United Independent Party announced on Wednesday it was lodging an appeal of the decision made by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill. 

Gary Allen, the lawyer in Boise for the group, said the Republican primary in Idaho is often the only election that counts, so independents should be able to participate. 

Idaho GOP conservatives aim to limit who can vote in their primary because they suspect crossover voting has produced GOP candidates who fail to hew closely enough to the party line. 

House Speaker Lawerence Denney expects a bill to close the primary to be introduced by Friday. 

Independent Voters Appeal U.S. District Court Decision Ruling Idaho’s Open Primary System Unconstitutional

Independents take independent steps to defend Idaho open primaries

New York, NY—Independents have taken an appeal from the decision of U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruling Idaho’s open primary system unconstitutional.

In August of 2008, a group of 11 independent Idaho voters and two organizations representing independents—theAmerican Independent Movement of Idaho founded by Mitch Campbell of Twin Falls and the New York-based CUIP (d/b/a IndependentVoting.org)—a national association of independents—were granted the right to participate in the case as intervenors-defendants. As such, the independents have standing to appeal.

“A third of Idaho voters have lost their right to vote in the state’s primaries as a result of this decision,” said Harry Kresky, general counsel for CUIP and co-counsel for the intervenors. “As a result of our intervention in the litigation, independents are able to take the necessary legal steps to protect their interests, regardless of what the State of Idaho decides to do in the courts or in the legislature in response to the decision.”

The notice of appeal was filed by attorney Gary Allen of Boise, who stated: "I look forward to representing independent voters' interests on the appeal. It is important for independents to have a voice in this matter.  In Idaho, the Republican primary is often the only election that counts, and independents who wish to affiliate with the Republican Party for purposes of that primary should be able to do so. Partisan interests should not take precedence when it comes to participation in the democratic process.” 

Victory for Independents in South Carolina: They Will Have a Say in Closed Primary Hearlings

Some light in what has been a dark week for indies with the losses in Idaho and Massachusetts. Attorney Harry Kresky and former Democratic state legislator Fletcher Smith pushed for independents and had a court grant them a hearing to discuss closed primaries. They argued on the grounds that the GOP does not have the right to require voters to join a party.

SOUTH CAROLINA GRANTS INDEPENDENTS A SAY IN HEARING ON CLOSED PRIMARY

GOP gets expedited hearing on primary (BY ERIC CONNOR, Greenville Online) The independents – represented by New York lawyer Harry Kresky and former Greenville Democratic state legislator Fletcher Smith – said in court filings that the Republicans don't have the right to require voters to join a party or “declare themselves non-aligned.” The independents cite “the new, but growing, phenomena of significant numbers of Americans self-identifying as independents ... and the pivotal role they played in the recent presidential primaries.”

IDAHO CLOSING PRIMARIES

Idaho GOP May Allow Independents To Vote In Primaries (Jessica Robinson, KUOW.org) There's still a chance Idaho could maintain its open primary, if the state appeals. Alternatively, a coalition of independent voters says it may pursue a top-two system.

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Lobbyists join redistricting in N.Y. (By: Maggie Haberman, Politico) This year, there’s more pressure than usual for an open and nonpartisan process, after former Mayor Ed Koch’s group solicited signed pledges from an overwhelming number of state lawmakers and a promise from Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make it happen. Cuomo has introduced a bill to create an independent redistricting commission, though state Senate Republicans have so far given signals that they may not be on board, adding to the uncertainty.

Another Blow to Indies as Massachusetts Independent Redistricting Goes Down

The losses continue for Independents as the Democrats in Massachusetts vote down a proposal for an independent redistricting commission. This ruling comes in the wake of the removal of open primary voting in Idaho by a federal judge.

UTAH CLOSED PRIMARIES BLOG TALK

• Sis: GOP Solons Will Close Primaries (Spokesman Review/Huckleberries Online)

• Federal Court Declares Open Republican Primary Unconstitutional (Submitted by Sisyphus, 43rd State Blues blog)

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• Mass. Redistricting panel rejected - Democrats vote down GOP plan (By John J. Monahan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE) House Democrats today killed a GOP proposal for an independent redistricting commission to redraw state and federal legislative district boundaries in advance of the 2012 elections, sticking to earlier plans to have a committee of state legislators produce the new redistricting maps.
• Independent Redistricting Commission off to a rocky start (By Barbara McCullough-Jones, Arizona Progress) According to a recent article by Jason R. Jurjevich and Michael Burnham 33 states allow their Legislatures to draw district lines while the rest, like Arizona, utilize an independent redistricting model.
• Former N.Y.C. Mayor Ed Koch sets sights on Senate GOP (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) Redistricting, done every 10 years after the census, is the highly charged political process that sets district boundaries, and has the potential to seal the fate of a political party's power for a decade. State legislative races are rarely competitive, in part because districts tend to contain an overwhelming number of voters in one party.
• Capps: ‘I’m Running’ (by JERRY ROBERTS, Santa Barbara Independent) The unusually early maneuvering by Capps, reelected just four months ago, and by Maldonado, a longtime GOP fixture who was beaten out for Lieutenant Governor by Democrat Gavin Newsom last November, reflects a dramatically new political dynamic confronting all California candidates. For the first time, an independent citizen’s commission is in charge of the every-10-years task of redrawing the maps for congressional and legislative districts, based on the 2010 Census; simultaneously, the state’s election rules have substantially changed after voters approved a ballot initiative last June aimed at boosting the chances of moderate candidates in primary races, dominated in recent years by members of the right and left wings of the two major parties who’ve been able to run in gerrymandered districts.

COLORADO

• Colorado Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case over Discriminatory Contribution Limits (Ballot Access News) The name of the case in both courts is Riddle v Ritter. The first-named plaintiff, Joelle Riddle, is someone who wanted to contribute $400 to the candidate-plaintiff, Kathleen Curry. All the briefs in the Colorado Supreme Court are due by late April 2011.

Idaho: Full Participation and Democratic Openness v. Narrow Partisan Interests

Yesterday attorney Harry Kresky reported on his recent trip to Idaho to help defend independents there facing attack from a faction of the Idaho Republican Party hoping to close the primaries in order to control the electorate. Idaho does not have partisan registration, so closing the current open primary system in Idaho would require voters to declare a party.

Today Kresky and Idaho attorney Gary Allen filed this post-trial brief commenting on this important case.

Here's the conclusion of the brief and you can read the whole thing below.

The State of Idaho has adopted a primary system that protects important interests, including full participation and democratic openness. The State has determined these considerations are more important than narrow partisan interests. Idaho has a political culture that allows people to function not as Democrats or Republicans, but as citizens seeking to elect the best possible candidates to public office. The evidence shows that this system is working, and virtually all voters are voting sincerely for the person they believe is the best candidate, or at least one who is acceptable. The IRP [Idaho Republican Party] in Government dominates the Idaho legislature, but it has not voted to change the current system. The State's post-trial brief will speak to the substantial administrative burdens and expense of implementing the relief sought by the IRP Organization.

As a final point, Defendant-Intervenors emphasize that, should the IRP Organization prevail, independent voters, now twenty-eight percent of the electorate, would be barred from participating in the election that very often is the only one that counts.

Post Trial Brief Kresky Allen Idaho Case 1-08-Cv-00165-BLW

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Idaho Repubs vs. independents in court on Feb. 18 over open primary
  
• California voters should go for open primaries referendum
• The strange land of Louisiana politics - can a porn star get elected?
• New York Independence Party tangled up in blue...

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Transpartisan Alliance is building for its February 12 Denver conference

Unaffiliated voters dropping support of Obama's economic stimulus package according to Rasmussen as told to us in the conservative press

Open primaries proposals among 60 election law changes to be considered by Oklahoma legislature

Idaho Republicans still trying to close primaries

National Republican Party seeks "diversity" with Michael Steele at helm

Repubs need to get online

Who's running the New York Independence Party?

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• CUIP Wins the Right to Intervene in Idaho Republican Case (Ballot Access News) Independents have legal standing as defendants in effort to exclude independents from primary
• Democrats gain ground, but GOP still rules in AZ (Arizona Star) And the number and share of those not interested in affiliating with any of the recognized parties went up by nearly 94,000. They now total more than 27.1 percent of eligible voters, and they will be eligible to vote in Tuesday's primary, under a state law that allows them to select which party's primary they want to participate in.

REFORM
Gerrymandering a key culprit in California budget mess-Proposition 11, which would strip the Legislature of its power to draw state Senate and Assembly district lines, is desperately needed. (George Skelton, Capitol Journal, LA Times)


THIRD PARTY NEWS

• Alaskan Independence Party Does Well in Blanket Primary (Ballot Access News)
• What happened to Pat in 2000?-Third Partyism (NorCal Council of Concervative Citizens) Russ Verney once chaired the New Hampshire Democratic Party and secretary Jim Mangia was a (albeit fairly moderate and low-key) gay-rights activist..... He also should have not have gotten involved with Lenora Fulani.
• Fuuniest News of the Election Season (Riley Dad's Weblog) In 1988, the Democratic and Republican Parties missed a similar Indiana deadline. Lenora Fulani sued the State Election Board to force the Board to enforce the deadline.... This year, the Texas Libertarian Party and Bob Barr are the only ballot-listed presidential candidates on the Texas ballot, so the Texas Libertarian Party could, if it wished, bring a lawsuit. However, the result of the lawsuit would probably be to get the deadline declared unconstitutional; no court would order that Obama and McCain be kept off the ballot.

CAMPAIGN
Golisano Goes National, Backs Obama (NY Daily News/Daily Politics)

It's a Media Affair

The MSM is all abuzz with speculation on Barack Obama's VP pick, which is supposed to be announced "at any minute"...



It's going to be a text message.



This gives the MSM more time to speculate so that the MSM can continue to speculate.



Hmmmm....



I was invited to a party tonight, so I suspect I might miss the announcement.



However, I'm sure that Sen. Obama will make the right choice for his campaign, given the available choices.



In the meantime, independent voters will be celebrating the first legal win as standing in the Idaho primary litigation....



Everyone: Carry on!

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Independents to intervene in Idaho primary lawsuit (The Olympian) [This AP article by John Miller also appeared in the Magic Valley Times News]
• Should we Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine? (Political Lore.com) Independents say leave the internet alone!

REFORM

• EDITORIAL: Voters Won in State's First ‘Top Two' Primary (Kitsap Sun) On Tuesday, voters in Kitsap and other counties participated in the state's first "top two" primary election. It marked a return to a much-beloved (by voters) and much-despised (by parties) primary election in which voters could pick candidates freely in each race, regardless of their political party.
• Voting for the person, not the party (The Oregonian) Party leaders abhor this idea, but Washington state voters clearly love it. They voted overwhelmingly to adopt the system, and in Tuesday's otherwise ho-hum primary they turned out by the biggest percentage since 1972 when the electorate was enflamed over the Vietnam War.
• Open Primaries in Oregon? An Initiative for Open Primaries Will Be on the November Ballot (Associated Content) Sources: Brad Cain, "Oregon voters to tackle open primary issue", KATU; Oregon Open Primary Supporters, Oneballot.com; "Editorial: It's time to approve an open primary", The Gazette Times; Dave Mazza, "Independent's Way", The Willamette Week

CAMPAIGN
Obama Suffers Big Mac Attack (Black Voices/Blogs) Independent Voters prefer Obama 47 percent to 36 percent.

THIRD PARTY NEWS
Ron Paul 2008: Quest for the Vice Presidency (Reason Magazine) VA Ind. Green Party chair: I've been talking with all three of the major minors, and what I've suggested is that they call new conventions to nominate this ticket. Mike Bloomberg-Ron Paul in 2008??

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM

• Idaho Repub chief Norm Semanko interview with comments on open/closed primaries (BOISE WEEKLY)
• If Idaho is a bellwether, Democrats are looking good (Idaho Mountain Express) Key fight within Repub Party over open primaries, inclusion of independents

CAMPAIGN

• Provincial Progressives: The New Yorker Magazine and Why Obama May Lose (Huffington Post) Progressives, Democrats and all those independent voters like me who long to turn the page on the Bush catastrophe -- get a grip!
• Obama on a pedestal could be worse than an absurd caricature (Politics In Color) I'm not satisfied with the complaints that the New Yorker gave comfort to right-wing nuts. It may be better to see this over-the-top image now as independent voters assess the Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois rather than October when the undecided are about to make up their minds on which candidate they will chose at the polls.
• Obama holds 9-point lead over McCain, poll shows (by Staten Island Advance)
• Women, Blacks Give Obama 9 - Point Lead Over McCain (Quinnipiac University)
• Obama Moves Right? Pundits Cheer (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) Analysis of media coverage

THIRD PARTY NEWS

• Barkley joins Senate race-WIth Jesse Ventura announcing that he wouldn't run, Barkley, a longtime adviser to the former governor, put his hat in the ring. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Barkley enters U.S. Senate race (Pioneer Press)
• Editorial: Barkley: IP gets a serious candidate (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Jesse the Diva gives way to bravado-lite Barkley (Minneapolis Post)

Idaho independents file intervention in closed primary lawsuit

Idaho Statesman
07/02/08

Eleven voters from Idaho who aren’t affiliated with a political party said they filed paperwork in federal court hoping to help the state of Idaho fend off efforts by the Republican Party to close the state’s GOP primary elections.

The residents, as well as two groups, the American Independent Movement of Idaho and the Committee for a Unified Independent Party, argue they’ll be deprived of their right to vote if the Republican Party wins its lawsuit against Idaho in U.S. District Court.

A judge still must decide whether to allow them to intervene.

Mitch Campbell, founder of the American Independent Movement of Idaho, says he’s “looking for free choice” and believes every person should have the right to vote for the candidate of his or her choice in every election.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Idaho independents file intervention in closed primary lawsuit (Associated Press - KTVB)
• Committee for a United Independent Party Asks to Intervene in Idaho Republican Closed Primary Lawsuit (Ballot Access News)
• Shifting Stands: Is That Real Change? (LETTER NY Times) Independent activist Fran Miller in response to Krugman oped
• Independent voters can lead (LETTER Florida Times Union Jacksonville) doesn't want Democrats in office
• Joe not the boost McCain needs in state (Connecticut Post) Strikingly, Lieberman appears to hurt McCain among independent voters in the state.
• Joe Lieberman's Potential 2012 Dilemma (NY Observer/Politicker)
• Catholic voters: A somewhat contradictory statistical look (The Tidings) The CARA study of 1,007 Catholic voters found 41 percent unaffiliated with either the Democratic Party or Republican Party
• Voter registration surges in Georgia, North Carolina (Southern Sudies/Facing South) Democrats have gone from 44.8% to 45.3%, and unaffiliated voters from 20.9% to 21.4% since January.

CAMPAIGN * Obama's Move to the Center (Examiner.com)

PARTY BUSINESS

• Minnesota Independence party enlists Mayor Bloomberg (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Bloomberg brings taste of Big Apple to Independence Party fundraiser (Associated Press - Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Rochester Billionaire Targets Silver With New PAC (NY Sun)
  

Idaho: Score one for independent voters!

Idaho GOP reverses course, votes to keep primary open, from Seattle Post Intelligencer: SANDPOINT, Idaho -- Republicans at their state convention voted to recommend keeping the GOP primary open to all voters, a reversal of efforts the last two years to close the party primary.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

IDAHO INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION

• Idaho independents to intervene in closed primary lawsuit (Fort Mill Times) Either way, American Independent Movement organizer Mitch Campbell said, all the talk about closed primaries has helped the state's independent voters coalesce.
• Idaho Independents to intervene in closed primary lawsuit (Local News 8) and (Fox 12 News KTRV) The attorney, Harry Kresky, says closing the primary would effectively bar any Independent voters from participating in the primary process.
• Beck withdraws from GOP chairman race, endorses Semanko over Sullivan (Idaho Statesman) Sullivan supports open primaries. But after the failure in the Legislature, he finally filed a lawsuit challenging the law, as directed by the Central Committee.

CONROY V. STATE COMMITTEE/MASTER V. POHANKA

• lTop NY court says state party committees have authority (NY Newsday) Elected Local county organizations lose to state committee in court
• FINDLAW: Daily Opinion Summaries for New York Court of Appeals (lennyesq blog)

CAMPAIGN
Poll Shows Obama Leading McCain in New York (City Room/New York Times) Most New York State Democrats in the new survey said that Mr. Obama should pick Mrs. Clinton as his running mate (53 percent to 35 percent), while Republican voters resoundingly opposed the idea (62 percent to 27 percent), as did most independent voters (53 percent to 41 percent).

REFORM

• Politicians are picking voters, instead of the other way around (PennLive/The Patriot News) Redistricting
• Politics with pancakes, the same day (Sioux City Journal/Politically Speaking) Same Day Voter Registration
• Hometown Democracy Filing Federal Suit (WMBB TV Panama City FL) Supporters of the FHD Petition, including national ballot-access expert Gary Sinawski, are optimistic that the federal court will object to what the State and its allies in the development industry have been doing to the citizens' right to petition their government through the initiative process, and will redress the balance in favor of the citizens being able to access the ballot with FHD sooner rather than later.
• Fla. planning amendment sponsors sue (Forbes)
• Notice of Appeal Filed in North Carolina Ballot Access Case (Ballot Access News)
• New York's campaign-finance system blasted (Ithaca Journal)