Partisans All in a Fight About Redistricting Lines

PARTISAN REDISTRICTING BATTLEFIELDS

• Redistricting Roundup: Stormy tension continues as bipartisan continuity drying up (Edited by Geoff Pallay, Ballot News)
• Our watchdog role in redistricting (By Dorothy Shaw, Atlanta Journal Constitution) A few states use an independent commission, an approach we strongly advocate. In 2006, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Independent Redistricting Task Force made a similar recommendation to put the line drawing in the hands of a citizens’ redistricting commission, but unfortunately the Legislature ignored the recommendation.
• Arizona sues over Voting Rights Act (by Alia Beard Rau, The Arizona Republic) Arizona is the first state to challenge the constitutionality of sections of the federal law that forbid states from enacting a law or process that denies or limits someone's right to vote based on their race or color.

Partisan Legislatures Challenged by Independent Movement

Charter review in Tiffin Ohio brings nonpartisan elections into relief in a partisan city council culture... New York's partisan ever-lasting ever-failing Reform Albany quest (a high-priority partisan campaign issue of any state-wide election) is failing again... Independents attempt to intervene in South Carolina Repub lawsuit to exclude voters...

OHIO

• Elections last step in review of charter (By Nick Dutro, Tiffin Advertiser Tribune) Commission members decided candidates could not declare themselves as "independent," but had to either choose party affiliation or run non-partisan.

NEW YORK

• Redistricting bill quickly bottled up (By Erik Engquist and Jeremy Smerd, Crain's New York) A rule change made by Senate Democrats when they controlled the chamber makes it possible for the minority party to bring bills up without the leadership's consent. But that does not apply to legislation assigned directly to the Rules Committee, which is where Senate Republicans have sent Mr. Cuomo's independent redistricting bill.

SOUTH CAROLINA

• Independent Voting Asks to Intervene in South Carolina Republican Party Lawsuit to Close Primaries (Ballot Access News) On February 4, IndependentVoting.org filed a request with a U.S. District Court in South Carolina, asking that it be allowed to intervene in the lawsuit called Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee, and South Carolina Republican Party, et al., v State of South Carolina, 6:10-cv-01407.

Education Reform, Open Primaries, Nonpartisan Redistricting -- What Independent Voters Want

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Voices & Viewpoints Fridays at 1 p.m. & 6 p.m. (Denise Franklin, NPR WFDD 88.5) Dr. Omar Ali describes the internal and cultural struggles of Muslim Americans post 911 through observation and personal experiences. In addition, CNN, Telemundo, C-Span 2 and other news outlets frequently seek Dr. Omar Ali as a national expert about the growing movement of people choosing to be Independent voters.
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• Obama Makes Beeline For Independent Voters (FRANK JAMES, NPR) The White House push is on for the hearts and minds of independent voters.
• You've Got Them All Wrong, Mr. President - Obama's misguided view of the independent voter. (John B. Judis, The New Republic)

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Idaho Open Primary: The People v. The Parties (The Moderate Voice) 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.
• Phil Power: Open primary would offer advantages (Livingston Daily)

ELECTION REFORM

• Drawing the lines (Salt Lake City Tribune) The best way to avoid political gerrymandering would be for Utah to create an independent redistricting commission, but Utah legislators have rejected repeated attempts to do that. An initiative petition by a group called the Fair Boundaries Coalition failed this year to get enough signatures to put its proposal for an independent commission before the voters.

BLOOMBERG 2012

• Michael Bloomberg: Independent can't win White House (By DAN HIRSCHHORN, Politico) On Monday, The Huffington Post's Howard Fineman floated the possibility that Bloomberg and MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough, who is also a POLITICO contributor, could form an independent ticket for the White House.
• Bloomberg Denies Presidential Rumors. Again. (By Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal/Metropolis)

COLORADO

• Curry concedes to Wilson in HD-61 race (by Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News)

NEW YORK

• WE ARE ALL MUMIA! (By Betsey Piette, Workers World) Abu-Jamal’s supporters included a delegation from the Transport Workers Union Local 100; Charles Barron, the New York Freedom Party gubernatorial candidate; Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC; International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; and the International Action Center.
• The Godfather - With the UWS-WFP-NYT axis dominating local politics, this is Jerry Nadler’s New York (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall News)

EDUCATION REFORM

• A to-do list for N.Y.C. Schools Chancellor Cathie Black: Eva Moskowitz lays out her priorities (BY EVA MOSKOWITZ, Daily News)

LAST WORD

• Soros: Obama shouldn't compromise (By KENNETH P. VOGEL, Politico)

California and Florida Voters: We Will Have Nonpartisan Redistricting!

California continues to lead the way in political reform. Back in June, passage of Prop 14, the Top Two Open Primary referendum, enfranchised 3.4 million independent decline-to-state voters in the state in the first round of voting.

And now, as Committee for a Unified Independent Party (IndependentVoting.org) Chief of Staff John Opdycke reported last week, voters in Florida are speaking out on the need for political reform:

Proposition 20-which expanded the California Redistricting Commission's mandate to include Congressional districts-passed by 20 points.  In addition, Proposition 27, a bi-partisan ploy to dismantle the Commission, was defeated by a similar margin.

And in Florida, the voters passed Amendment 5 by a 25 point margin. Its passage establishes clear, non-partisan guidelines for the drawing of legislative districts.

Opdycke goes on to point out the significance of these votes:

While the big story yesterday was the new Republican Congressional majority, the victory for redistricting reform in California and Florida was an important subtext.  The Democratic and Republican Parties have mastered the non-developmental game of capturing and recapturing the approximately 60 competitive Congressional districts.  But this back and forth blood sport-while making for good copy-does not provide the American people the opportunity to fully express their desire for change.  When voters have the opportunity to speak directly, as they did in Florida and California, without being filtered by the political parties, reform passes overwhelmingly.

REFORM

• Voters make right call on redistricting (LA Daily Breeze) itizen redistricting will be a huge improvement over Legislature-drawn districts, which were so gerrymandered in 2001 that it's almost impossible for any seat to change hands from one party to the other.

MIDTERMS

• What really happened in the 2010 election (By E.J. Dionne, Washington Post) Incumbent Democrats suffered a genuine backlash of voter discontent due to a weak economy with considerable concerns about job creation, deep skepticism among independents, poor turnout among key base groups, and strong enthusiasm among energized conservatives.
• Can the Tea Party endure? (CNN International) The midterm elections dealt a powerful blow to President Obama and the Democratic Party as the country appeared to shift decisively to the right, moved by mass anger, "due to a combination of two kinds of fear," historian Michael Kazin told CNN.

COLORADO

• Curry's write-in campaign creates confusion in HD 61 vote tally - Democratic officials call for recount (By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post)

BLOOMBERG

• Bloomberg to America: Lay Off The Chinese (By Peter Stein, Wall Street Journal/Metropolis)

NEW YORK

• Working Families Party To Row D? We'll See... (By Celeste Katz, Daily News/Daily Politics)
• Working Families Party Looks To Better Ballot Placement (By David Freedlander, NY Observers)
  Howie Hawkins Saves Green Party, loads trucks (By Nick Rizzo, Capital)
• New York Working Families Party Likely to Have Received More Votes for Governor than Independence Party (Ballot Access News)
• Schumer Passes On Leadership Speculation, Warns Against Independent Redistricting For Congress (By Edward-Isaac Dovere, City Hall)
• Charter Commissioner Launching Effort To Take Third Term Away From Electeds Grandfathered In (By Chris Bragg, City Hall)

Want to Fix Broken Government? Independents Say Structural Political Reform

Everyone wants to know what independents want. The short answer is structural political reform. Some of this weeks top stories below:

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• CNN's Don Lemon with Independents Omar Ali, Joe Gandelman and Nicole Kurokawa on Broken Government VIDEO on The Hankster and The Moderate Voice and link on Independent Political Report
• Bennet waits on reform stance - The Colorado senator wants to see how today's summit goes. (By PETER ROPER, THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN) LIVE-STREAM FROM HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON CNN HERE
• Outsider Image So Hot Even Ex-Insiders Want It (By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, NY Times)
• Rossi paying attention to short-attention-span voters (By Joni Balter, Seattle Times) Watch this movement twist and turn. When an Asotin County Tea Party-ite called for Murray to be hung, that shameful outburst had potential to be transformative. Independent voters do not want to be pals with anyone who talks like that!

CALIFORNIA PROP 14 "TOP TWO" OPEN PRIMARY

• MAJORITY OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS FEEL OPEN PRIMARY IS AN IMPORTANT REFORM OPTION (by Ryan Jaroncyk, CAIVN)
• OPEN PRIMARY INITIATIVE (CAIVN)
• Why Independents are Better Off With More Than Two Choices on the November Ballot (By Richard Winger, The Hankster) NOTE: This oped is a result of conversations between The Hankster and the noted ballot access expert Richard Winger. The Hankster SUPPORTS open primaries and Prop 14, but has decided to provide a forum for other opinions by independents and minor party spokespeople on this important California referendum.
• Will Prop. 14 kill third parties? (By JOHN SEILER, Cal Watchdog)
• Voters Undecided On Solutions To California’s Economic Problems (By Raul Furlong, Fox and Hounds Daily)
• California Ballot Pamphlet Arguments on Propositions Now On-Line (Ballot Access News)

FAIR ELECTIONS NOW ACT

• Paul Silver (Austin Centrist) recommends that independents get behind the "bipartisan" Fair Elections Now bill. The Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752 and H.R. 1826) was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and in the House of Representatives by Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones, Jr. (R-N.C.). The bill would allow federal candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions, big money bundlers, or donations from lobbyists, and would be freed from the constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities want. SEE ALSO: Last week's cover story for The Nation by Change Congress's Lawrence Lessig "How to Get Our Democracy Back"...

REDISTRICTING

• Do Gerrymanders Come in Shades of Red and Blue? (By: Emily Badger, Miller-McCune)

COLORADO

• Panel OKs unaffiliated candidate bill (by Joe Hanel, Durango Herald Denver Bureau)
• Unaffiliated lawmaker wants to change Colo. ballot rules - Rep. Kathleen Curry, a rancher from Gunnison, wants to make it easier for other independent candidates to get on the ballot (COLLEEN SLEVIN, Vail Daily)
• Curry teams with Riddle in lawsuit-Neither unaffiliate can get on ballot (by Joe Hanel, Durango Herald Denver Bureau)

PENNSYLVANIA

• Term limits a start to reforming county government (PAUL GOLIAS, Citizens Voice Wilkes Barre PA)

RHODE ISLAND

• Brown poll: Chafee easily wins governor’s race (By JIM TARICANI, Channel 10 Providence)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

LOCAL NEWS OF INTEREST

• Voter apathy, confusion led to Jefferson's loss, expert says (By Frank Donze and Michelle Krupa, Times Picayune) Nearly half the decline came in the heavily black areas of the district, the review shows. Given that those precincts are Jefferson's base of support, the huge decrease in these areas prevented him from winning his 10th term, Chervenak said.
• The Blog Watch (Sacramento Bee) Welcome to the Capitol – now get out: It's not Republican legislators he needs to court – it is Republican voters, constituents of Republican legislators. They're the ones who can force the obstructionists to give way to common sense and dire economic necessity.
• Orange County's Vietnamese American political scene comes of age (By My-Thuan Tran, LA Times) Vietnamese have historically voted largely Republican, identifying with the party's historic anti-Communist stance, Vo said, though the number of Vietnamese Democrats and voters who decline to state parties has increased.
• Other views: Good idea out of California (Joplin Globe) The 2008 election was largely an election of reform, and much of the outrage this year has been focused on Washington earmarks. But gerrymandering, too, deserves more attention throughout the union. The practice is used unashamedly by both parties.
• How much will race be a factor? (by Staten Island Advance) Still, as the only borough in New York City without a minority representative on any level of government, the diversity of this field speaks to a new sense of possibility here, observers say.
• Viola Plummer Joins Assemblywoman Inez Barron's Staff (posted by Mary Alice Miller, Room Eight) Elected officials in attendance at the events were Judge Geraldine Picket, Assembly members Annette Robinson, Karim Camara, and Michael Gianaris, State Senators Eric Adams and Bill Perkins, Council members Letitia James, Bill DiBlasio, and Eric Gioia. Others who came to witness Ms. Barron's oath were family members and a variety of community leaders: Dr. James McIntosh, Faye Moore (Local 371 Public Sector Social Service Workers), David Galarza (CSEA Local 1000), Ms. Ollie McClean, Dr. Ron Daniels and his wife Mary France, Sam Anderson, Kevin Powell, Stan Kinard and his wife Tulani (candidate for the 41st Council seat), Bob Law, Dr. Lenora Fulani, and Brenda Walker.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Congressional scandal-Nation nearly unanimous in loathing the legislative branch (Augusta Chronicle) The most startling and telling breakout fact from the Rasmussen poll is that among independent voters, only 3 percent think this Congress is doing a good job.... This is the most serious indictment of Congress in memory. Making it an even more spectacular insult is the fact that no discernible scandal was necessary to bring on this sweeping censure.
• Congressional Approval Falls to 9% (Donklephant) Independent voters lead the pack

REFORM:

Washington "Top Two" open primary;

California redistricting with nonpartisan commission

• WA: Parties should accept primary system that voters clearly prefer (The Daily News)
• CA: Experts Expound (Capitol Weekly Readers) It's back: A ballot initiative to take redistricting away from the Legislature and turn it over to an independent commission.
• WA: Restoring Primary Power to the People (Kitsap Sun Editorial) That's the bottom line in Washington state's historic "top two" primary election, to be held Aug. 19.

CAMPAIGN

• Dems follow Obama down centrist path (The Hill) Democrats have decided to focus on economic and security issues designed to appeal to a wide range of voters, especially independents who are concerned about soaring gas prices and the slumping stock and housing markets.
• What to do about Iraq? Obama's getting a lot of advice (Minneapolis Post)
• The Stand That Obama Can't Fudge (By E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post)
• The Three Party System - The New Political Party is Conservative Democrats (American Chronicle)

LOCAL INDEPENDENT POLITICS
KY: Laurel resident running for Congress (Times-Tribune) Independent candidate Jim Holbert files for Congressional run saying, "We've got to stop 'politics as usual' and start bringing common sense to our regional and national problems.

THIRD PARTY POLITICS

• Characters provides 3rd option (The Hill) Dr. Death, Jesse the Body and the Peace Mom. Oh, my.
• Minnesota's Ventura May Bid to Pin Down Senate Seat (CQ Politics)
• Cynthia McKinney Names V-P Running Mate (Ballot Access News) Zentronix blog [SEE BELOW] says that the McKinney-Clemente ticket would be the first in U.S. history of two women of color. However, in 1992, the New Alliance Party ticket was Lenora Fulani and Maria Elizabeth Munoz.
• Green Party Taps Hip-Hop Activist Rosa Clemente For VP (Zentronix) This is an interesting read on current Green Party politics viz Ralph Nader