California Court Upholds Labels for Ballot Status Parties in Top Two Elections; Arizona Independents Want Fair Access to Primaries

This ruling upholds a distinction between ballot status parties and other parties or candidates in how candidates are listed on the new Top Two election ballots in California. This distinction is a dubious one for third party advocates like Richard Winger, the country's leading ballot access expert. At a time when parties are losing favor among the electorate, at least part of the controversy over California's new open primary system seems to rest on the listing of party labels.

Where do you line up on my little survey?

A. Listing a party is important because it indicates the ideological position on a left-right political spectrum.
B. I don't like parties, I vote for the candidate.
C. What's ballot status and who benefits from that?
D. Other ________ (Tell me what you *really* think!)

Let me know what you think!

PROP 14
U.S. District Judge Upholds California’s Discriminatory Ballot Label Law (Ballot Access News) The opinion says that California has an interest in maintaining the distinction between qualified parties and unqualified parties, and cites various opinions from systems in which parties nominate candidates.

And meanwhile.....
OPEN PRIMARIES 
Tucson Independent voters in danger of being left out of Primary (Fox 11 AZ) It wasn't clear that the Independent voters needed to request a ballot.  So, yes we did make a mistake in that," said city spokesman Michael Graham. That mistake has since been corrected. The city says it mailed Independent voters a postcard on May 16 warning them they'd have to pick a party to vote in the primary.

An Independent Independence Day Fourth of July Celebration!

Have a great independents day wherever you are!

And when you get a chance, check out these very independent blogs:
The Moderate Voice
Mirror On America
Poli-Tea
the Field Negro
Free Citizen
THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST (Jack Jodell)
Donklephant
yellowarmadellos
Legal Briefs

And one last thing:
Congrats to Richard Winger for publishing an online version of the print version of Ballot Access News!

Something that caught my eye:

HB 1271 only passed because of two courageous Colorado politicians. One is Joelle Riddle, an incumbent member of the La Plata County Commission, who switched her registration from "Democrat" to "independent" on August 21, 2009. That made her ineligible to run for re-election in 2010, because the law required her to switch by June 2009.

The other is state legislator Kathleen Curry, who switched her registration from "Democrat" to "independent" on December 28, 2009. Curry had been the Speaker Pro Tem, the second highest position in the House. Also she had been chair of the Agriculture Committee. She was forced to give up both positions because of her party switch. She authored HB 1271. Both Riddle and Curry live in the underpopulated part of Colorado that is west of the continental divide.

GO COLORADO INDEPENDENTS!!!

-NH

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Queens Repubs cry uncle on Bloomberg endorsement ...
  
• John Mecurio says Repubs are not dead yet
  

h/t to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News -- ever a keen eye to the independent and third party movement, he called me yesterday to let me know that I had mistakenly identified a town in Connecticut (Redding) as being in Pennsylvania (Reading) in a report about Mike D'Agostino's petition drive to create a third party there. Thanks, Richard!

CNN False Report on Reform Party Endorsement

I just heard Wolf Blitzer "report" (i.e. apparently READ the AP "report" today) that the "Reform Party" has endorsed John McCain. See Rich Winger's statement on Ballot Access News: Associated Press Story on McCain Endorsement by Reform Party is Misleading The comments on this article, presumably from local Reform Party activists, are pretty vocal about resisting this postision. Here's one: The Reform Party does not endorse McCain for President. The AP should be ashamed of themselves for printing what someone said instead of checking out the facts.

CNN should do a FACT CHECK on their FACT CHECKERS!! Ha ha! One never knows what one is reading in the newspaper, does one???

The report that the Reform Party endorses John McCain is not credible. -- NH

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

In New Hampshire, independent voters turn to alternative media: NH-CIV speaks! (Christian Science Monitor) And speaking of alternative media, check out the video at the top of The Hankster to hear New Hampshire Committee for an Independent Voice's Betty Ward talk about what independents can do to build independent politics!

• California commentator Tom Elias reminds the parties: "During the four years since the last presidential primary voting, Democratic voter rolls in California have dropped 124,000, while Republicans lost 224,000. Both parties are down about one percentage point in their portion of the state's voters - roughly 43 percent for Democrats today and about 34 percent for Republicans. But decline-to-state voters are up by 496,000, now amounting to almost 20 percent of all California voters, compared with 16 percent four years ago... (Long Beach Press Telegram)
• Paul B. Hertneky compares the records of Clinton and Obama in "doing for others" (Union Leader)
• Ron Paul says he's not running as an independent but WaPo says he Won't Rule Out Run as Independent (Washington Post The Talk)
• 5th Circuit Expedites Mississippi Democratic Party Open Primary Case (Ballot Access News)
• University of Arkansas Law Review Publishes Election Law Issue (Ballot Access News)

Candidates Set for a Marathon -GOP Primary Is Seen as Lengthening (NY Sun): ...A delayed nomination fight on either side could also complicate the entry of a potential independent candidate like Mayor Bloomberg, who is likely waiting for the two major party choices to be determined before deciding on a White House race. Mr. Bloomberg would face state filing deadlines as early as May and June to qualify for the November ballot, and the still-unlikely possibility of an contested party convention could flummox his plans altogether.

Although fund-raising would not be an issue for the billionaire mayor, more than 100,000 signatures are needed to qualify for the ballot in states like Florida and California that would be key to Mr. Bloomberg's chances. In New York, 15,000 are required. Though petitioning has historically been both time- and ground-intensive, the hurdles are far from insurmountable. "It's not as hard as people think," the editor of the newsletter Ballot Access News, Richard Winger, said.
A candidate must petition for the ballot in Texas by May 8 — the earliest such date in the nation. But the vast majority of state deadlines are not until July, August, and September. And the potential to organize supporters on the Internet may make the process much easier. "The Internet has taken all bets off," the interim dean of Boston University's College of Communication, Tobe Berkovitz, said. 'You can build an almost instant cyber-community."...

• A Date To Watch Out For-March 5 key date for any would-be independent presidential candidate (Daily Politics)

New York Independence Party Court of Appeals Case

If you read The Hankster or Ballot Access News, you may have noticed that the New York State Court of Appeals in an unusual move has agreed to hear a case between the New York City organization of the New York Independence Party and State Chair Frank MacKay [Conroy et al v State Committee The Independence Party et al]. MacKay has been on a two-year campaign to take control of locally elected county organizations in the city of New York and to overrule county committee members' choices for county endorsements.

The Court has also agreed to hear Master v Pohanka. This case concerns a dispute between the state organization of the Working Families Party, and the Suffolk County Working Families Party. The issue is whether a state party may have a bylaw taking power over nominations away from the county party and placing it in the hands of the state party.

Here's an interesting item today's Newsday's Spin Cycle saying that Anthony Manetta, head of Roosevelt Strategies, who switched from Conservative to Independence last week, "raised $80,000 for the Independence Party this year, which never before raised more than $25,000 annually — thus allowing MacKay to draw a $70,000-a-year salary...."

pq

Conversations on Rock The Debates!

Checking in on Rock The Debates. You may have been on a much deserved vacation and missed this wonderful collection of video catching the candidates on camera. Go there now! Do not delay!

In "The Question" A Registered Independent says "every voter in America should see" Rock the Debates... "I couldn't believe the responses that I heard from the candidates. I found them appalling...."

Ballot Access News also took note that Rock the Debates Now Has Responses from 7 Major Party Presidential Candidates as did Third Party Watch, which has a "review" of candidate responses worth taking a look at...

The Hankster is a Big Fan of Rock the Debates (as well as A Registered Independent, Ballot Access News and Third Party Watch...) and commented most recently in Conversations on Political Insanity

Wingnuts & Moonbats (very interesting blog.....) also covered this gem, as did On The Wilder Side.... (also very nice blog who "have a commitment to voter choice and grassroots democracy. That commitment manifests as support of ballot access; supporting third party, independent and outsider candidates; and believing in the need for write-ins and “none of the above” as choices on the ballot"....)

Greens for Greens posted this link to On The Wilder Side... and where did it all begin? Paulie Cannoli tells his story: "Several LNC members, including Chuck Moulton,who gave me a ride down to Orlando, are involved with starting Rock The Debates..."

So go! What're ya waitin' for???

New Idaho Bill to Close Primaries

(Ballot Access News) On March 26, the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee introduced S1244, the newest attempt to close Idaho’s primaries. Existing law lets voters choose a party’s primary ballot in the privacy of the voting booth on primary election day. S1244 would provide for partisan registration. If enacted, registered members of a party could only vote in that party’s primary, but independent voters could choose any party’s primary ballot. Parties would not have the discretion to bar independents from voting in their primary.
Although the Secretary of State supports this bill, the County Recorders (who administer elections) do not. No one yet knows if the bill will pass this year.
Since most voters are not likely to go to the bother of re-registering (assuming they are already registered to vote), the bill provides that they can choose their party affiliation at the polls, in the May 2008 primary.

Election Law challenges slow going

Some Election Law Cases from 2002 are Still Pending (Ballot Access News) There are at least two election law cases filed in 2002 by minor parties or independent candidates that are still pending. One is the Alabama case filed by an independent candidate against Alabama’s 3% (of the last vote cast) petition. That has a hearing in the 11th circuit in Atlanta on March 20.
The other is the Arizona Libertarian Party’s case against a state law that forces the party to let independent voters vote in its primary. That case is still in U.S. District Court. Both sides have been waiting for over a year for the Judge to issue his opinion.