DE: State's Purge of Minor Parties from Ballot a Blow to "Basic Rights"

In the opinion pages at Delaware Online, Michael Tucker writes:

Delaware has dealt another blow to the basic right of any citizen to run for office. Congratulations. It has joined the rest of the country by keeping smaller third parties off the register for elections . . . There are a number of other political parties beside the big two, Republican and Democrat . . . All of them have every right to run for political office in this country. Just because a party is smaller or less popular than the bigger parties doesn’t negate its right to participate in the electoral process . . . But if you truly believe in the cause or message of a third party, then you are not throwing away your vote. You are voting for who you think will best run this state or nation.

DE: New Law Will Purge Minor Parties from Ballot

In a lengthy article for The News Journal at Delaware Online, J.L. Miller reports on the effects of a new law that doubled the number of registered voters a party must have to remain on the ballot in the state:

A little-noticed change to Delaware's election laws that threatens to keep several minor parties off the ballot in November could prompt a legal challenge from one of the parties.  House Bill 245, which was signed into law Feb. 1, effectively doubled the number of registered voters a party must have to be on the ballot.  And it did so two months before voters are restricted from changing their party, when it was difficult, if not impossible, for the smaller parties to meet the new threshold of 612 voters.  "What is one of the major responsibilities that our government has? Wouldn't that be an open access so the people can select who they want to run?" asked Pell Sherman, chairman of the Constitution Party of Delaware.

DE: Libertarians Nominate Six Candidates for Office

From WGMD:

On Saturday, March 6, the Libertarian Party of Delaware held its State Convention at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.  There were about 45 Libertarians in attendance. The LPD has four candidates running for the Delaware General Assembly.  They are:

Scott Gesty – 7th Representative District
James Edward Christina – 12th Representative District
George Barnett – 15th Representative District
Will McVay – 32nd Representative District
Brent Wangen (of Millsboro) is the LPD’s candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives.  Jim Rash (of Dover) is the LPD’s candidate for the U.S.
Senate.