Hankster News for Independent Voters - January 26

The Top Two open primary system implemented for the first time in 2011is helping people leave the parties in California... Illinois struggles with a closed partisan primary system and Bill Daley (cand for Gov?) promotes top two... University of New Hampshire study of voter attitudes about climate change classifies independents as weather-sensitive... (really?) Read on!

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Abel Maldonado, author of California's Top Two

• Elias: Voter registrations show parties just don't get it (Thomas D. Elias, Ventura County Star) All of which explains why changes like the "top two" primary system, adopted via ballot initiative in 2010 and used for the first time last year, are so popular. Anything depriving the major parties of some influence or promising more independent politicians will draw significant, often majority, support here.
• Md. voters favor assault weapons ban (DelmarvaNow.com) Slightly more than half of Democrats say stricter gun laws will do more to reduce school violence, and the same 52 percent of Republicans say armed guards are the better option. Independent voters slightly favor stricter laws.

OPEN PRIMARIES
Why Daley's Primary Plan Would Violate Federal Law (By Edward McClelland, NBC Chicago) Bill Daley’s plan to do away with partisan primaries could potentially create three election days in Illinois. Daley said Illinois should consider a system similar to that used in Chicago’s municipal elections -- any candidate who gets 50 percent of the vote in the primary avoids a runoff in the general election. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, the top two candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election.

LAST WORD

• Climate Change Beliefs of Independent Voters Shift With the Weather (Science Daily) "We find that over 10 surveys, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart and firm in their beliefs about climate change. Independents fall in between these extremes, but their beliefs appear weakly held -- literally blowing in the wind. Interviewed on unseasonably warm days, independents tend to agree with the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. On unseasonably cool days, they tend not to," Hamilton and Stampone say.
• Among Independent voters, belief in climate change actually shifts with the weather (Robert T. Gonzalez, ion "We come from the future") Temperature effects concentrate among one subgroup, however: individuals who identify themselves as Independent, rather than aligned with a political party. Interviewed on unseasonably warm days, Independents tend to agree with the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic climate change. On unseasonably cool days, they tend not to.

Illinois and South Carolina: Open Primaries Attract Independent Voters

OPEN PRIMARIES

• House Freshmen Emerge as G.O.P. Power Brokers (By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, NY Times) Mr. Scott brings something else to the table: he is one of only two black Republicans in Congress right now, which candidates also see as a boon. “We hear all the time, ‘How are you going to reach out to the African-American vote?’ ” Mr. Connelly said. “I always tell people two words: Tim Scott. He has proved that conservatives have principles that are attractive to black Americans.” … While Mr. Perry and Mitt Romney are beginning to build their operations, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former governor of Utah, has the deepest and most professional infrastructure in the state, where he is hoping that the open primary system will attract more moderate voters to his cause. He was Mr. Scott’s first town hall guest, back in May.
• Illinois Activist Launches Initiative to Convert Illinois Open Primary to a Secret Open Primary (Ballot Access News) Bill Clutter, a private investigator in Springfield, Illinois, is launching an initiative to change the Illinois open primary, from one in which primary voters must ask for one particular party’s primary ballot, to one in which primary voters in the secrecy of the voting booth choose one party’s primary ballot.

Illinois State Senate Candidate Bill Clutter Initiates Open Primary Petition Drive

OPEN PRIMARIES

• STATE SENATE CANDIDATE BILL CLUTTER ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR OPEN PRIMARY AMENDMENT - 48th District includes most of Macon County. (Decatur Tribune) “The secret ballot is a right that should be enjoyed by all citizens of Illinois, that includes the right to keep party affiliation secret”, said Clutter.
• State senate candidate Clutter starts petition drive for open primary (By BERNARD SCHOENBURG, THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER) Rutan became the first signer of the petition at the news conference. Clutter said more than 298,000 signatures will be needed statewide. The Illinois Constitution allows amendments through citizen initiative only of the legislative article, so Clutter’s proposed amendment applies only to primary elections to choose General Assembly candidates.

Education Reform: we have to get better faster than we ever have in education

EDUCATION REFORM

• Solving the Education Crisis in America: Let's Pretend (Fred Newman PhD and Lenora Fulani PhD, East Side Institute) As referenced earlier, the more privileged of America’s youth, even by a very early age, have had a host of developmental cultural experiences, which leave them to varying degrees and in varying ways, open to learning. Our lower performing children have not, and moreover, have grown up within cultures which often relate negatively or conflictedly to learning. These children must be helped to grow (develop) if they are ever to begin the learning process and to function in the same classroom environment as the more developed children. The remedy cannot be “education” pure and simple. A system which presumes that classroom learning can substitute for, or override, a lack of development has failed to deliver. Does this have racial connotations? Of course. There is nothing in American life and culture that doesn’t. And a significant proportion of kids failing in the classroom are in inner-city areas and are Black and Latino. But that does not mean it cannot be remedied. However, the remedy cannot be remediation. It must be development.
• Illinois Bill Exemplifies Groundbreaking Education Reform - State Shows How Collaboration Can Lead to Change (By Cynthia G. Brown, Theodora Chang, Center for American Progress) The bill, S.B. 7, ties tenure and dismissal to performance in the classroom, rather than experience, and makes it more difficult for teachers to strike.
• Education Secretary Duncan: U.S. schools need to get 'better faster' (Princeton University) "If you look at (education) as a civil rights issue, as an economic imperative, as an issue of national security -- I look at it through all three of those lenses -- we have to get better faster than we ever have in education," Duncan said during a speech Wednesday, April 20, in Richardson Auditorium of Alexander Hall. "Somehow, we have a 19th-century model for a 21st-century economy."
• Gov. Deval Patrick Opens Up About Educating Kids of Color for The Root (by Jamilah King, ColorLines News for Action) Patrick: "Yet for all the five years we’ve had these extraordinary achievement results, we have had at the same time a persistent achievement gap. Stuck in that gap are poor kids and kids who have special needs or speak English as a second language. A disproportionate number are kids of color. It’s an economic and educational issue to have an achievement gap at all, but to let it go for the years and years, decades or more that we had here [in Massachusetts], that’s a moral question. Now we have some tools to reach that part of our family as well."
• Newark's Underperforming Schools Almost Have A New Leader (Joy Resmovits, Huffington Post) "With that investment, if things don't work out in Newark, ... it would have a chilling impact on other philanthropists and on those rising-star politicians who may want to latch onto the education issue," said Kevin Chavous, a former Washington, DC city councilman and current national chairman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. Zuckerberg's donation, however, represents only one tenth of the budget of a system that White Bradley says has a "base level of distress." And working with that high-profile money will put Newark's new superintendent under closer scrutiny.

Illinois Limits Potential Independent Candidacies

ILLINOIS LIMITS POTENTIAL INDEPENDENT CANDIDACIES
Illinois Bill Advances, Would Limit Who can Be an Independent Candidate (Ballot Access News) If you run in a partisan primary, you could not run in the general as an independent

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS 8/9/10

OPEN PRIMARIES

• State primary system needs to change (BY ROCHELLE RILEY, DETROIT FREE PRESS) For frustrated independent voters, Tuesday's primary forced them to temporarily join parties they didn't want to belong to in the first place... It's time to put people's rights above parties' rights. 

COLORADO

• Colorado Independents Can Still Vote in Primary Election (Brian Larson, NPR - KUNC) This voting bloc helped Democrats elect Barack Obama in 2008....  Dumm says the law allows unaffiliated voters to sign up with a party, even on primary election day, cast a ballot - and then switch back to their independent status. Nearly a third of Colorado voters are unaffiliated with either of the major political parties.
• Lawsuit challenges contribution limits for third-party and unaffiliated candidates in Colorado (By Jessica Fender, The Denver Post)
• Curry embodies the real spirit of democracy (LETTER Glenwood Springs Post Independent)
• Curry Files Lawsuit Over Campaign Finance Rules (CBS4 Denver)

ILLINOIS

• Our Opinion: Time is not right for citizen initiative (THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER) His amendment would allow voters to propose bills related to ethics and campaign finance.

NEW YORK

• Dem leader John Sampson gets a nasty earful from disgruntled LGBT activists (ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, NY Daily News) Former Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer is reigniting an old fight against his former nemesis, Mayor Bloomberg, saying the mayor is again pushing nonpartisan elections so he can handpick his successor.
• Ex-Independence Party Officer Frank Morano Files Scathing Elections Complaint (BY CELESTE KATZ, NY Daily News/Daily Politics)

NYC CHARTER REVISION

• No Easy Answers In Charter Review (By DOMENICK RAFTER, Queens Tribune) On non-partisan elections, most commissioners agreed that the current process is unfair to most voters. Commissioner Fiala said that there were more than three quarters of a million voters in New York City not registered in a party, thus meaning they could not vote in partisan primaries, which is where most elections in the city are decided.
• Kresky: Race Relations, Nonpartisan Elections, and … (Written by jamiemoffett, LINK at You May Not Spit On Black People in 2010)

LAST WORD

• America Goes Dark (By PAUL KRUGMAN, NY Times) In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation’s foundations to crumble — literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education — they’re choosing the latter.

I'm an Independent Voter - Can I Vote in the Primary in Kansas, Illinois, Connecticut, or Arizona??

KANSAS -- Yes you can!
From the De Soto Explorer:
Voters affiliated with a political party who want to participate in another party’s primary must change their affiliation by Monday. But independent voters can change their affiliation on Election Day. Independent voters can also participate in the Democratic primary without changing their affiliation.

*****

ILLINOIS -- Uhhh, well yes, but then you become one of them, but then you can unaffiliate... but then everyone knows what ballot you chose...

From FairVote

"Must vote in primary of same party as last primary the voter participated in. Loosely enforced.  Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus." 

The big hoopla going on right now in Illinois re: the gov race is that voters feel their jobs can be threatened if they don't vote in the primary according to the party in power. Gov Pat Quinn just used his veto power to set up an open primary (we'll see what the legislature does with that). Quinn's independent challenger Scott Cohen also supports open primaries. 

Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn says: "Under Illinois' system, voters effectively register their affiliations when they ask for party ballots. But either way, the information becomes known to the world — or at least to the party operatives who use it to target direct-mail campaigns, get-out-the-vote efforts and so on."  Read more Zorn here.

*****

CONNECTICUT -- No!

From Damon Eris at Poli-Tea

Connecticut has closed primaries. Thus, almost half of all registered voters will be ineligible to vote in the major party primaries, whose nominees will therefore be decided by a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of registered voters.... 

Rather than open the primary system, however, Connecticut's political establishment has instead chosen to begin brow beating voters to register with the Democratic and Republican parties. Late last week, Democratic Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz held a press conference (.pdf) with leaders of the state's Democratic and Republican party establishment to demand that voters give up their independent affiliations and enroll in the Democratic and Republican parties ahead of the primaries. From the press release:

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today urged unaffiliated voters across the state to enroll with the Democrat or Republican Party by August 9th at 12:00 p.m. so they can vote in the statewide primaries Tuesday August 10, 2010. Connecticut's closed party system does not allow unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in the primaries, therefore unaffiliated voters must enroll as either Democrats or Republicans to cast a ballot in the primaries....

*****

ARIZONA -- Yes you can (at the state level)!

From Arizona Republic

In Arizona, independent voters can choose to participate in a partisan primary.... One of three Arizona voters is registered as independent. That large swath of Arizonans shouldn't be silent when their voices can make a difference. Unfortunately, many independent voters mistakenly believe that they're shut out of party primaries. They used to be. But 12 years ago, Arizona voters approved an open-primary system that lets independents participate in all but presidential primaries. (Parties set up their own presidential-preference systems.)
NOTE: Arizona independents are not allowed to vote in partisan primaries for President.
From OpenPrimaries.org
In February, Democratic Party legislators introduced HB 2579, which provides that a voter who is registered as independent, or as “no party preference,” may vote in any eligible party’s presidential primary, unless that party tells the Secretary of State otherwise at least 85 days in advance of the primary.

Demand for Open Primaries Picks Up Steam

KENTUCKY

• Senate passes bill to allow independents to vote in primaries (By RONNIE ELLIS, McCreary County Record)
• Kentucky Senate Passes Bill to Require Parties to Let Independents Vote in their Primaries (Ballot Access News)
• Bill to open primaries to Independents passes KY Senate (By Elizabeth Donatelli, WAVE 3 Frankfurt)
•  NOTE: VIDEO includes interview of Michael Lewis
• Senate OKs Independent Voters In Primaries (Jessica Noll, KY Post) SB 53
• Ky. Senate Approves Open Primaries-Measure Expected To Die In Democratic House (WLWT Cincinnati)
• Senate Votes to Open KY Primaries to Independents (WBKO)
• Pushing for the Independent Vote (WTVQ ABC News 36 Lexington) Michael Lewis wants to overturn the state’s closed primary system...

ILLINOIS

• Tribal wins blunt democracy in Illinois feudal election (By Burt Constable | Daily Herald Columnist) "I understand the premise of primary elections - to determine a candidate for a party - but for independent voters such as myself, who frequently cross party lines during elections, we are effectively being discriminated against and not able to vote freely and fairly."
• Low voter turnout likely played role in election turmoil-Close races for Illinois governor nominees have yet to be decided (By JOHN SHARP AND KAREN McDONALD, Peoria Journal Star) "In my opinion, it will depend . . . on whether they are taking stances that will appeal to independents and some Democratic leaners," Hall said. "If (the Republican candidates) insist on a hard line, really conservative position, I think they make that prophecy harder to come to a realization."
• Our Opinion: Open primary would boost participation (THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER)
• Quinn declares victory but Hynes won't concede in Democratic governor's race (Chicago Tribune/Clout Street)

COLORADO

• Bill seeks easier path to ballot for independent candidates-Lawmaker who broke with Democratic Party says measure allows parties to set own deadlines (by Katie Burford, Durango Herald Staff Writer)
• Curry's re-election hopes tied to lawsuit in La Plata County (John Colson, Aspen Times)
• Colorado Bill to Legalize Fusion (Ballot Access News)

FLORIDA

• Maurice Ferre pushing poll results-2010 U.S. Senate race, Kendrick Meek, Maurice Ferre (jim stratton, Orlando Sentinel/Central Florida Political Pulse)

MASSACHUSETTS

• Mass. Republicans Eager To Follow In Brown’s Footsteps (By FRED THYS, WBUR NPR )

RHODE ISLAND

• Raptakis Proposes Ban on Closed Primaries (Chris Boardman, ABC 6) Raptakis said that no political party in the state should expect taxpayers to pay the bill for a party primary which shuts out 335,288 unaffiliated voters.

PENNSYLVANIA

• We, not party bosses, deserve the right to choose candidates (LETTER Allentown Morning Call)