1,792 votes cast, Jill Stein received 1,223 of them, or 68%. Roseanne Barr, who had just entered the race in the last week, picked up 526 votes, or 29%. There were 35 votes for Kent Mesplay, and 8 votes for Harley Mikkelson

GPW reports that Roseanne Barr is very active on Twitter, and had tweeted a challenge to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to have both herself and Jill Stein on their programs.

They also report that Jill Stein is actively fundraising, has hired at least 3 staff onto the campaign, and has campaigned so far in California, Colorado, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, and other additional states as well.

Jill Stein issued a short statement saying “It is great to have Roseanne Barr on the Green Party team. Let’s bring down the house!” Barr has similarly already made positive statements regarding Stein’s candidacy.

An email from the Stein campaign says that

Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, begins a three day tour of Indiana and Ohio today with a visit to the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, accompanied by Cleveland City Councilman and Green Party elected official Brian Cummins and County Executive candidate David Ellison.

Saturday at 11:30am, Dr. Stein addresses the Green Party of Ohio Presidential Nominating Convention in Columbus.

This Sunday, as part of Indianapolis’ Occupy the Super Bowl protests, she rallies with supporters at the state capitol against anti-labor legislation such as “Right to Work for Less.”

The full itinerary of public events is viewable here: http://www.jillstein.org/events

Dr. Stein is especially interested in the Evergreen Cooperatives for providing one successful model, among many, for how economic democracy can provide employment and prosperity for stressed communities. In her recent People’s State of the Union address, Dr. Stein called for a Green New Deal providing for full employment and an immediate transition to a sustainable, more democratic economy. The Evergreen Cooperatives “are pioneering innovative models of job creation, wealth building, and sustainability,” and are, “employee-owned, for-profit companies are based locally and hire locally.”

On Occupy Super Bowl Sunday, at noon, Dr. Stein will rally with supporters and other labor movement advocates at the Indiana statehouse in Indianapolis. Dr. Stein is not only strongly opposed to so-called Right-to-Work legislation (RTW), her Green New Deal includes a “program of immediate creation of 25 million, publicly useful, sustainable, well-paying jobs,” according to a prepared statement. Stein will be joined at the rally by lifelong labor organizer Anthony Prince, and student activist Erika Wolf, both newly hired members of the Jill Stein for President campaign staff.

The Green Party has put out a press release welcoming Stein and Barr to the presidential race:

The Green Party of the United States welcomes two candidates into the race for the 2012 Green presidential nomination, Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr. Ms. Barr and Dr. Stein submitted paperwork to meet the Green Party’s requirements as of the evening of the Feb. 1 deadline.

“We are thrilled to have two strong women running for President as Greens,” said Darryl Moch, national co-chair of the Green Party. “We look forward to a race based on Green ideas and values, and to showing the Democrats and Republicans how to run without the corrupting influence of fat corporate campaign checks and corporate-funded attack ads.”

“Anyone hopeful about the Occupy Wall Street’s challenge to the status quo or disappointed by the Obama Administration’s broken promises of change now has a pair of candidates to watch. Anyone bored or irritated with the Mitt Versus Newt Show by now will be relieved by the breath of fresh air — maybe a Green gale force of righteousness — that’s about to come,” said Tamar Yager, also a national co-chair of the Green Party.

For more information about the candidates, visit the following sites:

Jill Stein: http://www.jillstein.org

Roseanne Barr: http://www.roseanneforpresident.com

2012 Press Information for Green Candidates http://www.gp.org/candidates/index.php

The nominee will be chosen at the Green Party’s national convention, July 12-15, in Baltimore, Maryland (http://www.gpconvention2012.com)

State Green Parties in California, Arizona, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and possibly Ohio are participating in primary elections. Other state Green Parties will choose the nominee they support and apportion delegates during statewide Green conventions. The Green Party currently has ballot access in 17 states. Greens expect to have the presidential nominee and other candidates on the ballot in at least 46 states and the District of Columbia on Election Day 2012.

Past Green Party convention sites and nominees:

2000: Denver, Colorado; Ralph Nader

2004: Milwaukee, Wisconsin; David Cobb

2008: Chicago, Illinois; Cynthia McKinney

“We consider it important to have strong women candidates at a time when women’s reproductive rights are under assult, from the Obama Administration’s decision on the morning-after pill to the Komen Foundation’s withdrawal of funding for breast cancer screening from Planned Parenthood. We’re proud that our presidential nominee in 2008 was a woman,” said Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green and member of the Green Party’s International Committee.

132 Greens hold public office in the United States, including five mayors. The largest city with a Green mayor is Richmond, California, with Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. The Green Party and its candidates accept no money from corporate PACs.

Many Green candidates are promoting the “Green New Deal” in their campaigns (http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2010/08/11/62-green-candidates-endorse-green-new-deal). Greens have been active participants in the Occupy Movement; both Ms. Barr and Dr. Stein have appeared and spoken publicly at Occupy rallies.

Ballot Access News reports that the Associated Press has this story about Roseanne Barr’s announcement that she is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination; here is a Los Angeles Times story about Barr’s candidacy.

Kent Mesplay was featured in the Bloomington Alternative (H/T Green Party Watch).

This article at Green Party Watch has biographical information about four candidates (Stein, Barr, Mesplay and Mikkelson).

Green Party Watch also reports that Cindy Sheehan wrote

In the last election, I supported the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney and her running mate, Rosa Clemente. Unfortunately, the Party is not entirely functional (which party is?), even if many of us do support its 10 Key Principles.
I have also been impressed by the other woman seeking the nomination, Jill Stein–she is bright, articulate, well-informed, truly progressive and dedicated to public service–but if push came to shove, I would support Roseanne.

Barr was a supporter of Sheehan in her race for Congress.

“If Newt Gingrich thinks it’s difficult to get on the Republican primary ballot in Virginia, he ought to try getting a new party or unaffiliated candidate on the ballot in North Carolina. Then he’d understand how the major parties limit voter choice by imposing restrictive ballot access laws.

“Speaker Gingrich said that only a ‘failed system’ excludes four out of the six major candidates and that ‘voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender.’ He’s absolutely right. It is a failed system which limits voter choice in any way. But as a historian, he should also know that what he called a ‘cumbersome’ process is working exactly as his own Republican Party – operating with the full cooperation of the Democratic Party – have designed it.

“Texas Gov. Rick Perry also failed to qualify for the primary. That’s poetic justice, since he’s one of only two governors to veto a ballot access reform bill in the last 60 years. In May 2003, Perry vetoed a bill to abolish the need for petitioners to read a 93-word statement to every voter they approach, according to Ballot Access News. So it’s disingenuous for him to say he’d ‘review the facts’ and possibly ‘challenge’ the decision – by his own party.

“Now that they know first-hand how restrictive ballot access laws are, perhaps Speaker Gingrich and Governor Perry will join the effort to reform these laws and restore competition and true free choice to our elections.”

-30-

Free the Vote North Carolina
For more information:
Brian Irving, Press Secretary
birving@freethevotenc.com
919.538.4548

And, although it wasn’t on TV, the following is an appeal from Rocky Anderson regarding the Justice Party’s current effort in California to get on the ballot for 2012 by registering about 103,000 “Justice Party” voters:

Last night, Ballot Access News appealed for donations and/or pledges to COFOE (the Coalition for Free & Open Elections) for the purpose of making it possible for the Vermont ballot access lawsuit to go forward. In only 12 hours, $615 has been pledged. No money that has been pledged will necessarily be donated unless the goal of $2,000 has been met. Please consider e-mailing richardwinger@yahoo.com with a pledge. Small amounts do help.

Click here to read Ballot Access News comments on this article

Related Articles:

November 11, 2011: COFOE Hopes to Help Vermont Independent Candidate Lawsuit, but Needs Funds
July 26, 2011: Lower Vermont State Court Upholds June Petition Deadline
July 15, 2011: Burlington Free Press Article Describes Court Hearing on Vermont June Petition Deadline
July 13, 2011: Burlington Free Press Mentions Trial on June Petition Deadline

Since the Occupy Wall Street protests began in downtown Manhattan on September 17th, I have noted on a number of occasions that there is an inspiring amount of independent and third party activity and organizing taking place at the demonstrations.  Members of the Green, Libertarian, Socialist and Reform parties, among others, have been involved in the movement from the very beginning, in addition to legions of Independents. 

Much of the organizing work being accomplished at Occupy Wall Street is being done within autonomous working groups and caucuses.  There are working groups devoted to everything from media and internet to outreach, direct action and reform.  There are a number of groups, of which I’m aware, that should be of special interest to independents, third party advocates and opponents of the two-party state.  Over the next couple days, I’m going to provide some info on these various groups and relay portions of the documents and proposals they have been working on, all of which can be found through the New York City General Assembly’s website for Occupy Wall Street.

Today, the focus will be the Politics and Electoral Reform group – in which I have been active for a number of weeks.  The group is working on a proposal recommending electoral reforms that could be implemented by states and localities to level the playing field for those who have been marginalized, and whose interests are not represented, by the Republican-Democrat two-party state. Numerous reforms are being considered by the group, which is collaborating on a working draft document for the proposal.  Here is an excerpt from the section of the document specifically devoted to the recommendations for reform:

• Alternative voting methods. Our voting systems should promote honest participatory democracy.  There are alternatives to plurality voting, such as instant runoff voting, ranked choice voting, approval voting and range voting, liquid democracy and so on.

• Independent, nonpartisan redistricting. Voters should choose their representatives, lawmakers should not choose their voters.

• Smaller and more localized districts.  Expansion of the number of representatives in local and state government and in the House of Representatives. This will ensure a closer relationship between the people and their elected officials, putting the latter on a shorter leash.

• Proportional representation. Winner-take-all, single member district plurality voting has allowed narrow political factions to wield disproportionate influence within our system of government. There are alternatives.

• Expansion of franchise. Those who are denied of the right to vote because they have, for example, served time in prison, should be re-enfranchised.

• Term limits. Election to public office is not a lifetime appointment. Term limits should be imposed by law or by the people at the ballot box.

• Ballot access reform. All should be equal before the law regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof.  Ballot access laws that favor the major parties and discriminate against independent and third party candidates should be repealed and replaced with fair and reasonable alternatives. The default state of the ballot should be open.

• Primary election reform. A publicly funded election should be open to the public.  If parties desire to hold closed primary elections, they can provide for their own caucuses and conventions.

• Initiatives and referenda. The people retain the right to originate ballot initiatives and referenda.

• Vote counting. The reintroduction of hand counted, paper ballots, or the introduction of significant controls to protect against the rigging of electronic voting machines, which are produced, operated and serviced by corporations with significant ties to powerful political factions.

• Weekend or holiday voting. Voting should be encouraged not discouraged.

• Fusion voting. Parties should be able to nominate the candidates of their choice across party lines.

• Campaign finance. Publicly funded election campaigns, or matching fund systems that allow candidates who refuse to accept corporate donations to compete on a level playing field with candidates who are heavily financed by corporate interests.

• Combination and synthesis. A liquid democratic primary with an IRV runoff between the top four candidates from the primary. Countless other possibilities.

(Note: the proposal is a living document, and any of the above could and probably will be changed by the group at some point.)  I’m relaying this excerpt because many readers here at Politea have thought long and hard about a lot of these issues, and could provide some interesting suggestions that could be taken up by the group.  So what say you, folks?  What do you think of the recommendations as they stand?  Should any be amended? or dropped? or edited?  Are there any important potential reforms that are missing from the list?

Cross-posted at Politea.

At Ballot Access News:

Americans Elect Web Page Posts New National Ballot Access Petition Count

The Americans Elect web page now says the group has obtained 1,903,444 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot, so far. This contrasts with the figure of three weeks ago, which was 1,829,264.

Elliot Ackerman, A Leader of Americans Elect, Publishes Criticism of Electoral College

Elliot Ackerman, Chief Operating Officer for Americans Elect, has this Huffington Post piece, criticizing the Electoral College. The piece also criticizes the presidential primary process used by the two major parties.

Doyle McManus Op-Ed on Americans Elect in Los Angeles Times

Doyle McManus has this fairly lengthy op-ed about Americans Elect in the Los Angeles Times. Although there is not a great deal of new information in the piece, it does have a more expanded list of potential presidential candidates that Americans Elect might possibly nominate. Also, at the end, it suggests that Americans Elect might very well jump into congressional races in 2014.

Americans Elect Kicks Off Publicity Campaign

Americans Elect has announced a series of press conferences around the nation, to increase its own visibility, and to make its nomination process clearer to the public. The first event is at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on November 2. Four more events in November are at these locations: (1) Harvard University, Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School, on November 7; (2) University of Denver on November 10; (3) University of Southern California’s Unruh School of Politics on November 16; (4) Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee) on November 28.

Americans Elect Submits Party Petition in Utah

On October 24, Americans Elect submitted its party petition to Utah elections officials. See this story. Utah requires 2,000 valid signatures, and Americans Elect turned in approximately 4,000.

At Irregular Times:

Americans Elect Names 10 New Leaders, Drawing Heavily Again from Financial Sector

Guest Post: Americans Elect: The ‘Little Big Man’ of Astroturf? (see comment thread)

Americans Elect Orlando and Occupy Orlando: an Updated Comparison between “Grassroots” and Grassroots

e

The Ohio Secretary of State is pondering whether to put Americans Elect on the ballot.

The September 2011 Ballot Access News lists Americans Elect as having already qualified in Alaska and Arizona, finished petitioning in California, Unsettled in Florida (since then settled in favor of Americans Elect), finished petitioning in Hawaii, already on in Kansas and Michigan, finished petitioning in Missouri, already on in Nevada, and above the legal requirement and working on padding in Utah (in a telephone conversation, Richard Winger says he believes they have since then finished Utah). Idaho is shown with an asterisk, which usually means either that petitioning has started but no signatures have been reported yet, or that the legal period for collecting signatures has started but the drive itself hasn’t.

It is possible that Americans Elect could pass the Green and Constitution parties in number of states with ballot access for 2012 by the end of 2011.

Voters can now register to vote as Americans Elect in Kansas and will soon have that option in California and Nevada.

Ballot Access News also reports that

Americans Elect does not wish to participate in any government-sponsored presidential primaries, because it has its own national on-line presidential primary. However, chances are it would be eligible for government presidential primaries in Arizona, California, Delaware, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah, and possibly a few other states, if it wished.

and

Americans Elect’s webpage regularly updates the number of signatures that have been collected on ballot access petitions. The current total, posted early this week, is 1,844,938, which is higher by 15,674 signatures than the total posted two weeks ago.

and

By mid-October of 1995, the Reform Party had only begun ballot access petitioning or registration activity in California, so Americans Elect is ahead of the Reform Party, for this point in the cycle. However, the Reform Party had the advantage that it would soon be recognized in Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Virginia, without having to petition, based on already-qualified state parties in those four states that were about to affiliate with the national Reform Party.

The same article notes that Americans Elect submitted 1,621,627 signatures in California.

Meanwhile, at Irregular Times:

Americans Elect Drops November 6 Activation Date from its Briefing Book

It’s unclear whether this change reflects a delay in Americans Elect’s schedule to roll out its candidate and draft campaign capabilities, or an intention by Americans Elect to introduce such capabilities earlier than previously scheduled.

Americans Elect wants you to know Americans are not really as Angry with Wall Street as you might Think

Americans Elect’s “leaders” include:

Chairman Peter Ackerman, Founder and Managing Partner, Rockport Capital

Jacqueline Adams, Senior Counselor, Burson-Marteller corporate public relations

David Albertson, agribusiness, venture capital and real estate investment

Gerald W. Blakeley Jr., President, Blakeley Investment Company

Arturo Brillembourg, President, Farmington Asset Management hedge fund

Hilda Ochoa Brillembourg, President and CEO, Strategic Investment Group hedge fund and private equity group

John H. Burbank III, Founder, Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer of Passport Capital hedge fund

W. Bowman Cutter, Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Policy Initiative, Roosevelt Institute and Managing Director, The Cedars Capital Partners

Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, CEO, E.L. Rothschild private investment firm

Les Francis, Principal/Senior Advisor, Washington Media Group corporate public relations firm

Carla Hills, Chairman & CEO, Hills & Company corporate advocacy firm on international trade

Roderick M. Hills, Principal, Hills & Company corporate advocacy firm on international trade and Partner, Hills, Stern & Morley, LLP private equity and investment law firm

Philip K. Howard, Partner, Covington & Burling corporate law firm, specializing in mergers and acquisitions

Dale E. Jones, Vice Chairman, Heidrick & Struggles executive search and corporate consulting firm

W. David Lawson IV, Managing Director, JP Morgan Chase & Co. Investment Bank

Lee Lowenstein, Managing Director, Lionstone Capital Management firm for private wealth investment

Rafael Mayer, Managing Partner, Khronos LLC hedge fund management firm

Mark McKinnon, Global Vice Chair, Hill and Knowlton Public Relations corporation

Morton H. Meyerson, Chairman, Alsbridge outsourcing corporation

Nancy E. Roman, President, G7 Group corporate political analysis firm

Kirk T. Rostron, Managing Partner, The Mount Vernon Group private investment firm

Americans Elect Leader Douglas Schoen Uses Dubious Poll to Label Pro-Reform (Occupy Wall Street -p) Protest as Dangerous, Out of Touch, Radical, Extremist and even Violent

Americans Elect Pollster takes to Media and Praises Herman Cain, Violating Neutrality Policy in Bylaws

How to use the Americans Elect Rules to Eject the Americans Elect Corporate Board (?)

Grassroots vs. “Grassroots”: Americans Elect Orlando and Occupy Orlando

Confirmed: While Douglas Schoen Adopted Pose of Discovering Americans Elect, he was Working for It

Americans Elect posts Draft Rules and Candidate Handbook

“Getting Involved”: Americans Elect vs. the October 2011 DC Occupation

2nd Mystery Reference to Rules Americans Elect has not Publicly Released

Americans Elect Field Director Fibs about Candidate Censoring Committee on Public Radio

Older Stories

On October 7, the very last day for an appeal to be filed in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, the Ohio legislature filed papers to intervene in the case, and to appeal to the 6th circuit. The Secretary of State doesn’t want to appeal, but the legislature does. First the legislature will need to persuade the court to let it intervene. If the legislature is permitted to appeal, then it will ask the 6th circuit to overturn the U.S. District Court order of September 7 that put the party on the 2012 ballot.

The legislature’s action is especially surprising, given that the law passed by the legislature in 2011, HB 194, is now suspended. With HB 194 not in effect, and with the primary set for March instead of May, the statutory deadline for new parties to submit a petition to be on the ballot in 2012 is November 2011, the very same deadline held unconstitutional in 2006 by the 6th circuit. Even if HB 194 weren’t suspended, the deadline would be in December 2011, almost as bad. Furthermore, due process would seem to provide that even if December 2011 were constitutional on its face, such a deadline can’t be imposed on such short notice.

HB 194 is suspended because a referendum petition was recently filed. When new laws are subject to a referendum, they can’t go into effect until the voters vote on the new law. Assuming the referendum petition has enough valid signatures, that vote on HB 194 would be in November 2012.

Followup post:

As noted earlier, on October 7, the Ohio legislature asked to intervene in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, the ballot access case. Here is the state legislature’s brief, asking the U.S. District Court to let it intervene so that it may appeal the Libertarian Party’s September 7 victory. The legislature says it wants to intervene because the Secretary of State is not appealing.

Here is the Libertarian Party’s response, filed on October 8. The party argues that the U.S. District Court should not permit the legislature to intervene, mostly because the legislature waited an entire month after the party won injunctive relief. As the party’s brief notes, the Ohio Secretary of State had told the press on September 8 that he was not appealing. The party says it wouldn’t be fair to let the legislature intervene now, because the deadline for individual Libertarians to petition onto the Libertarian primary ballot is December 7, 2011. Anyone running in the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate, or for President, needs 1,000 signatures. Presidential primary candidates cannot begin to petition until they have chosen a slate of delegates.

They are also petitioning in Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, and Arkansas (the last one may already be finished), Ohio, and possibly in other states.

The September 2011 Ballot Access News lists Americans Elect as having already qualified in Alaska and Arizona, finished petitioning in California, Unsettled in Florida (since then settled in favor of Americans Elect), finished petitioning in Hawaii, already on in Kansas and Michigan, finished petitioning in Missouri, already on in Nevada, and above the legal requirement and working on padding in Utah (in a telephone conversation, Richard Winger says he believes they have since then finished Utah). Idaho is shown with an asterisk, which usually means either that petitioning has started but no signatures have been reported yet, or that the legal period for collecting signatures has started but the drive itself hasn’t.

It is possible that Americans Elect could pass the Green and Constitution parties in number of states with ballot access for 2012 by the end of 2011.

* RJ Harris Liberty Team collected nearly 400 signatures on an afternoon at a Oklahoma Sooner football game. RJ Harris and his team had a great time tailgating with fans of the #1 Ranked NCAA Football Team in the Nation.

* Recent donors include Adam Kokesh, who called Harris “the most presidential candidate the LP has had in years.”

Here is a link to the above video at Youtube.

The above video was created by Pennsylvania ballot access activists to show people how they can act as constituents and prepare a meeting with their local legislator to discuss the Voter’s Choice Act. In Pennsylvania, candidates have been fined $80,000 for seeking a place on the Ballot. The difficult requirements and the high fines have resulted in no statewide candidates, other than Democrats or Republicans, being allowed on the ballot in Pennsylvania in the last two Governor’s Election Years.

You can find more information on the Voter’s Choice Act at Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition.

Related Video:

Candidates seeking the Green imprimatur must attend monthly membership meetings and present their platforms. The members then vote on whether the candidates can carry the banner.

For the November election, the party has given its blessing to Cheri Honkala for sheriff and Richie Antipuna for city commissioner.

The third Green candidate, Brian Rudnick, is running for Council in the Eighth District without an endorsement.

Rudnick, a lawyer, librarian, and activist, is registered to vote as a Green, and he ran with the party’s backing in 2007. He was going to run a write-in campaign in the fall, but he decided a few weeks ago to get on the ballot officially after the Greens showed little enthusiasm for his write-in effort.

“After they sort of dissed my campaign, I put on my website, ‘Rudnick goes rogue,’ ” he said. “That really offended people.”

Carol McLean, the Green Party membership secretary, said Rudnick circumvented the nominating process.

“I think we’re going to have to take a look at this situation and decide what we’re going to do,” she said.

The Libertarian and Green parties regained their official status on election ballots Tuesday after retired Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Eugene Lerner found they had collected enough signatures on petitions.

Read more: http://marylandreporter.com/2011/06/22/libertarians-greens-get-back-on-the-ballot/#ixzz1QToay573
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

********************************

Read the rest of the article, with comments, here.

At the end of May 2011, the Socialist Party launched a petition drive to get itself on the Michigan ballot. Probably 2,000 signatures have been collected so far. The law requires 32,261 valid signatures. However, the law also required already-qualified parties to poll only 16,083 votes in November 2010 in order to stay on the ballot.

The Socialist Party believes it can at least get 16,083 valid signatures by the petition deadline, July 19, 2012. If so, it plans to file a lawsuit, alleging that the existing law discriminates against new parties, and in favor of old parties, by requiring twice as much support for a newly qualifying party to get on the ballot as it requires an old party to remain on. The U.S. Supreme Court 1968 decision Williams v Rhodes suggested that states cannot discriminate against old parties. Also, the four concurring justices in Communist Party of Indiana v Whitcomb, in 1974, said, “In Williams v Rhodes, this Court held that a discriminatory preference for established parties can justified only by a ‘compelling state interest’.” The Indiana ruling struck down an Indiana loyalty oath for political parties, but Indiana exempted the old parties from the oath. The concurring justices said the Indiana oath was unconstitutional because the law exempted old parties. The other five justices struck down the Indiana oath on First Amendment grounds.

Read the original article here.

Redlich v. NY Board of Elections

I am sorry to advise that on June 15, 2011, Albany County Supreme Court Justice Richard Platkin granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the Article 78 (mandamus) challenge to the Board’s final determination of Warren Redlich’s vote total six months earlier on purely procedural grounds.

Both Warren and I felt strongly that that the confusion created by placing more than one party’s candidate for the same office in the same column, the intentional and/or negligent undercounting of military and absentee ballots and the likelihood that various local county boards of election failed to count every vote cast after the results were known warranted review by the judiciary; unfortunately Justice Platkin chose not to consider any of our arguments on the merits of the lawsuit.

On the other hand, I am immensely proud of the terrific results which the Redlich campaign did achieve, from the overwhelming petition submission last August, to Warren’s fine performance in the televised debate with six other candidates for the New York Governor’s race, to achieving far more votes for Governor than any other Libertarian candidate in the history of the New York LP.

We are all disappointed to have missed the statists’ arbitrary line in the sand by only 1,600 votes, but know that we will surpass the 50,000 votes needed for party status in 2014.

Mark Axinn
Chair, LPNY

Background story from Ballot Access News:

New York State Court Dismisses Libertarian Lawsuit on 2010 Gubernatorial Tally
Ballot Access News / June 25th, 2011

On June 15, a New York Supreme Court Judge in Albany dismissed the lawsuit Redlich v New York State Board of Canvassers, 1623-11, on procedural grounds. This is the lawsuit in which the Libertarian Party argued that its gubernatorial nominee in 2010, Warren Redlich, might very well have received 50,000 votes if the Libertarian Party had not been squeezed into a party column with another party. The lawsuit also argued that not all absentee votes had been counted and if they had been, the party might have been credited with at least 50,000 votes. If the party had received 50,000 votes, it would now be a qualified party. Instead it was credited with 48,386 votes.

The case was dismissed on the grounds that it should have been filed within 30 days of the official canvass of votes.

The New York Libertarian Party has another election lawsuit pending in federal court, on a different issue. That case, Credico v New York State Board of Elections, challenges the state law that says if a candidate is nominated by two unqualified parties, he or she can only be listed once on the ballot. By contrast, if a candidate is nominated by a qualified party and an unqualified party, or by two qualified parties, he or she is listed twice. That case is undergoing discovery.

Another similar case, Conservative Party of New York v New York State Board of Elections, is also pending in federal court. That case challenges the state policy on how to count votes when a voter casts two votes in a single race, for the same person but on two different party lines. The state gives the vote to the party that is higher on the ballot than the other party.

]]> http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/chair-of-lpny-gives-update-on-warren-redlichs-vote-tally-lawsuit/feed/ 7 http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/ballot-access-news-nevada-bill-passes-eliminates-the-easy-method-for-a-new-party-to-qualify-for-the-ballot/ http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/ballot-access-news-nevada-bill-passes-eliminates-the-easy-method-for-a-new-party-to-qualify-for-the-ballot/#comments Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:41:24 +0000 MarcMontoni http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/?p=26888 From an article posted on June 9, 201, on BallotAccess.org:

On May 30, the Nevada legislature passed AB 81. It injures major political parties, new political parties, and independent voters. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 11-10, with all Democrats voting “yes” and all Republicans voting “no.” Governor Brian Sandoval is a Republican and it is possible he will veto it.

The bill, one of the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bills, deletes the easier method for new or previously unqualified parties to get on the ballot. Existing law gives groups two choices to get on the ballot: (1) a petition signed by 1% of the last US House vote throughout the state, which required 9,083 signatures for the 2010 election; or (2) a petition for each candidate of that party, which requires 250 signatures for a statewide nominee and 100 for a U.S. House nominee. The bill deletes the second, easier method. However, the bill does not affect presidential elections, because the old easy method does not apply to presidential nominees.

Oddly, the bill does not disturb the easy requirements for non-presidential independent candidates. They can still get on the ballot with 250 signatures, if running for statewide office, or 100 for U.S. House.

AB 81 also moves the petition deadline for new parties from May to April, even though in 1986 a U.S. District Court in Nevada struck down the old April petition deadline for new parties, in Libertarian Party of Nevada v Swackhamer, 638 F.Supp. 565.

AB 81 also tells parties that nominate by primary that they cannot invite independents to vote in their primary. Only the Democratic and Republican Parties nominate by primary in Nevada. They have not been letting independents vote in their primaries recently anyway, but previously, the law was silent on whether independents can vote in primaries. AB 81 bars a party from inviting independents to vote in its primary. That part of the bill would be unconstitutional under Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut, but only the Democratic and Republican Parties would have standing to bring a lawsuit against the restriction. In Nevada, smaller qualified parties nominate by convention. The only qualified minor parties currently in Nevada are the Independent American (Constitution) and Libertarian Parties. They, of course, are free to decide for themselves who votes at their state nominating conventions.

If you wish to ask Governor Brian Sandoval to veto the bill, his fax is 775-684-5683. His postal address is Capitol, 101 N. Carson St., Carson City Nv 89701.

Read the original article here.

]]> http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/ballot-access-news-nevada-bill-passes-eliminates-the-easy-method-for-a-new-party-to-qualify-for-the-ballot/feed/ 2 http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/n-c-house-passes-bill-to-lower-ballot-access-barriers/ http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/06/n-c-house-passes-bill-to-lower-ballot-access-barriers/#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:40:18 +0000 Brian Irving http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/?p=26790 CHARLOTTE (June 7) – In a bipartisan 67-50 vote, the state House of Representatives approved a bill to dramatically lower the threshold for a new political party to gain and maintain ballot access in North Carolina. The bill lowers the number of signatures a new party must obtain to 0.25 percent of registered voters. That party could then retain ballot status by getting 0.25 percent of the votes for president, governor or any council of state office, whichever is lower.

Rep. Stephen LaRoque (R-Lenoir) introduced H.B. 32, the Electoral Freedom Act of 2011, with both Republicans and Democrats as primary sponsors. “There’s a wide-variety of membership in support of this bill who have come together for the idea that it is too difficult under present law for those citizens who want to create a small party to get on the ballot,” said Rep. Paul Luebke (D-Durham), a primary sponsor.

The House vote reflected bipartisan support with 38 Democrats and 29 Republicans voting in favor. The measure also has backing from a broad spectrum of groups from across the political spectrum, including the Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties, Democracy NC, the John Locke Foundation and the N.C. League of Women Voters.

“When political parties and public policy groups with such divergent views unite in a common cause it clearly attests to the fact that ballot access reform is not a partisan or special-interest group issue, but a question of fundamental freedom that transcends political and ideological differences,” said Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D-Edgecombe, Wilson), another primary sponsor.

Only representative to speak against the measure. “This bill will just give credibility to fringe factions,” said Rep. Edgar Starnes (D-Caldwell). “I think the potential exists for a lot of people to get on the ballot who have clearly not demonstrated an ability to win an election.”

The bill will now go to the Senate. Supporters hope to have the bill passed in time to be effective for the 2012 election. But that may not be possible considering the short time left in this session and the number of bills the Republican majority is trying to pass.

The bill also lowers the petition signature requirements for unaffiliated statewide candidates to 0.25 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial or presidential race. For district offices, including the state legislature, U.S. House, and local office, the bill lowers the signature requirement for unaffiliated candidates to 1 percent of the registered voters in that district.

Political parties with less than 10 percent of the registered voters may also opt out of the state’s primary system and nominate their candidates in convention. If these parties choose to hold primaries, only one primary will be held with the winner determined by a plurality vote.

North Carolina has the second most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation. Under current law, a new party must get signatures equal to two percent of the most recent vote for governor or president to qualify for the ballot. That’s equivalent to 85,379 signatures. Based on voter registration as of January 1, the new law would put that figure at about 15,000.

The bill has the support of the Free the Vote Coalition, an alliance of alternate political parties and election law reform groups organized by Free the Vote North Carolina. Coalition members include the Conservative, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Modern Whig, and Reform parties, Ballot Access News, the N.C. Campaign for Liberty, the N.C. Center for Voter Education, N.C. Common Cause, Democracy NC, FairVote, Free the Vote NC, the Free and Equal Foundation, the John Locke Foundation, and the Republican Liberty Caucus of N.C.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union of N.C., the State Bar Association, and the N.C. League of Women Voters have expressed support. Tim Johnson, former vice chairman of the N.C. Republican Party, also has endorsed the bill.

Free the Vote North Carolina

For more information:
Brian Irving, Press Secretary
birving@freethevotenc.com
919.538.4548

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