TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM

• California redesigns voter registration card (San Jose Mercury News)
• Disenfranchisement of black voters (Hudson Valley Press)
• Ballot proposal worries Dems-Lawmakers' concerns grow over their party's role in controversial state reform initiative. (Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau)
• Michigan Power Grab (Wall Street Journal)
• Proposition 11 supporters gather money, poll backing (Politicker CA)

THIRD PARTY NEWS
Third-party candidates face deadline for WV ballot (West Virginia Public Radio) Bob Barr on the ballot in 48 states

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

INDEPENDENT VOTERS AND POLLS:

• NJ Dems worry over fallout from protracted presidential primary (Newsday) Independents going for Obama over Clinton, running even with McCain
• Obama, Clinton vs McCain: Uniquely (by Mark Silva, Baltimore Sun/The Swamp)
• Obama, Clinton Leverage Different Groups vs. McCain-Obama has strength among independents, Clinton among core Democrats (Gallup)
• Doug Clark: Independents get more choice, and less (Greensboro, NC News Record)

CAMPAIGN/REGISTRATION SHIFTS:

• Senate ‘super-surrogates’ preview election strategies (The Hill)
• OR: Election offices report rising Democratic voter registration (KGW - Portland)
• OR: Democratic lawmakers make stand for Obama-Group includes Sen. Gordly, who switches parties (Statesman Journal)
• PA: Primary spurs Montco voter registration-New Democrats outnumber Republicans (The Morning Call)
• NC: Rev It Up-REGISTER TO VOTE (Charlotte Observer) Deadlines and rules
• WV: Voter registration deadline is April 22 (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)
• NC: Obama camp signs up new voters-More than 200 register within last week (Hickory Record)
• Why the Democratic race could end in North Carolina (By Susan Page, USA TODAY)
• CT: Candidates can galvanize voter participation (The Advocate)
• NC: NC registration 'unprecedented' (msnbc's First Read)
• WV: Dems prepare for big voter turnout (Charleston Gazette)

OPEN PRIMARIES:

• IN: Bringing the barrage to Indiana (Bluffton News Banner)
• NJ: Democrats need not convene (Daily Record - Morris County)
• ID: Idaho Senate votes 20-15 on primary bill (The Oregonian)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Colorado: Shooting from the political wings-Bill Hammons talks up his third-party candidacy for the 2nd CD (Boulder Daily Camera)
• 2 bills seek to change how Colorado's electoral districts are drawn (THE GAZETTE) would force parties to appeal to unaffiliated voters
• Official predicts Connecticut voter registration could reach 2 million (Newsday) 8000 new unaffiliated voters
• North Carolina is shaping up as vital for Clinton, Obama (Times-News) During January and February, 42,791 people statewide registered to vote as Democrats, compared to 30,681 who registered as unaffiliated voters and 26,873 people who registered as Republicans.

Arizona Independents Win Ballot Reform

by Robert B. Winn
March 1, 2008

The Secretary of State just came out with a new version of the Arizona voter registration form that has the following change. Instead of just a space designated Specify Party Preference, there is now a space designated Specify Party Preference, with a little check box at the bottom labeled None.

I do not know for certain exactly what did the trick, but I wrote the Secretary a letter in January. I sent a copy of Republican State Committee member Bill Bridwell's original comments about how the Republican Party had stopped independent voter registration in Arizona by getting legislation passed that removed the check box marked No Party Preference from the voter registration form. So I suggested to the Secretary of State that she check voter registration statistics for Democratic Party voter registration since 2005 and to see if she could tell where the people who had been registering independent had gone. Then I told her that one of the bits of information we had obtained from an Assistant Attorney General by registering a recall petition to recall the Attorney General was that the Attorney General had said that he had nothing to do with voter registration and that the Secretary of State was empowered by state law to make out the voter registration form any way she decided to do it as long as it complied with state and federal laws.

Evidently the Secretary of State looked up some laws and decided that now that the Christmas season was over, her party did not need to be giving expensive presents to the other party.

In any event, we are back on the voter registration form, thanks to the support from the grassroots.

We are going to continue to tell the Secretary of State that we liked the original voter registration form better, the one that had a check box marked No Party Preference, but this latest one is definitely an improvement.


NOTE: Last year, Robert B. Winn filed an initiative with the Arizona Sec. of State Jan Brewer protesting a change in the voter registration form removing the check box marked No Party Preference, leaving only a space marked Specify Party Preference. The initiative required 373,581 signatures to make the ballot.

Independents Facing America

The Hankster went on the street yesterday to talk to independents about what's important about being an independent voter, favorite candidates in the presidential election, open primaries for president and open debates. Thanks to Sheryl, Lynette and Scott for their thoughts. And look for more interviews coming up!

You can view this video and others on YouTube at HanksterTube!

Michael Bloomberg's Independence

"I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our City," -- Michael Bloomberg said yesterday...

Don't miss the back story on Bloomberg's independence in Jackie Salit's The Bloomberg Story. Salit ran the Mayor's Independence Party campaign in 2001 and 2005. She says:

The media assumes that if Mike decides to seek the presidency that he will automatically have the support of independents. My view is that nothing is automatic. Even a billionaire has to prove himself to independents. [AND WE MIGHT ADD, EVEN AN INDEPENDENT HAS TO PROVE HIMSELF TO INDEPENDENTS!]
I helped Mike do this in New York City twice, as I ran both of his mayoral campaigns on the Independence Party line. He ran twice as a fusion candidate—on the Republican and Independence Party tickets. In his first run in 2001 independent voters provided his margin of victory—the 59,000 votes on the Independence Party line put him over the top. In his second run, in 2005, he polled 59% of the total vote. Independents and black voters (an astonishing 47% of African American voters broke with the Democratic Party) were key to that landslide.

Obama campaign expects to register new voters

Obama's campaign seen natural to register voters, By Brian DeBose: Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign could spur record voter registration among black voters the same way the Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaign did in 1984 -- though new registrants won't just "miraculously appear," political analysts say. Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat, will have to build a strong grass-roots movement designed to operate simultaneously with his campaign, registering new voters everywhere he goes, particularly young and independent voters, said political consultant Donna Brazile... (Washington Times)