AZ: Green Party Mayoral Primary in Tucson

From Tucson Weekly:

It appears we’ve got a Green Party mayoral primary on our hands in Tucson. Mary DeCamp, who ran for the Ward 3 City Council seat two years ago, jumped into the race for the Green Party nomination last week against Dave Croteau, who ran for mayor four years ago. But don’t expect a lot of negative campaigning between the candidates. Croteau says they’re the best of friends and sees this as an opportunity to get the media to cover a regular series of debates . . .

Constitution Party Drafts Resolution in Opposition to Top Two Style Primary

From the Constitution Party of Missouri:

Whereas, popular dissatisfaction with the Democrat and Republican parties has never been higher and demand for more political change has never been greater, and

Whereas, in a Top Two election system all candidates for an office run against each other in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round are nominated to move on to the final election, and in the final election between two candidates, the candidate with the most votes wins, and

Whereas, calls for Top Two election methods claim election efficiency and more representative candidates, but implementation of such systems has effectively limited choices for voters, therefore be it

Resolved, that the Constitution Party stands opposed to all Top Two election systems which result in limiting the choices for voters in general elections, and be it further
Resolved, the Constitution Party stands in unity with the principles espoused by The Free and Equal Elections Foundation and other like minded groups in opposing implementation of Top Two election systems and be it further

Resolved, the Constitution Party supports legal, legislative, and political action to repeal and rescind California and Washington “Top Two” election laws.

AZ: Republicans Allegedly Seeking to Hijack Green Party Primary

From Ballot Access News:

This year, the ballot-qualified Arizona Green Party, which is required under state law to nominate by primary, has in influx of candidates who are apparently not bona fide Greens, and who have refused to meet with Green Party activists and leaders.  There is evidence that political consultants who are associated with Republicans recruited these candidates.  See this blog post.

OR: Analysis of Independent Party's Experiment in Online Primary Voting

From Jeff Mapes at Oregon Live:

It's an open question what the Independent Party of Oregon accomplished with the primary election that concluded Friday.  The leadership of the party skews to the left, but conservatives won several of the nominations.

Linda Williams, the party's chairwoman, said she hopes that the nominees - most of whom actually belong to other parties - will take up the Independent Party's call for election and campaign-finance reform.  But she acknowledged that it's too soon to know if that will happen.

But the primary did show off some of the advantages of online voting.  It's the first such election I saw, and - on the surface at least - it was impressive.

OR: Low Turnout for Independent Party Primary

From the Statesman Journal:

The results are in from Oregon’s first online primary election: Fewer than 2,300 of the 57,000 members of the Independent Party voted. That’s turnout of 4 percent, far less than the two major parties get in their primaries. Independent Party leaders said Friday that’s also far more people than usually participate in conventions for other minor parties. 

The Independent Party has grown explosively since it was formed in 2007. Skeptics contend that’s a result of a quirk in the state’s registration law and most members mistakenly registered as Independents when they meant to be in no party at all.

The party conducted its primary election beginning July 8. Passcodes were mailed to party members, and the results were tallied by a San Diego company, Everyone Counts, whose representatives decrypted and processed the results in about an hour Friday at a downtown Portland law office.

Party leaders called it a success. “We put it out to the members, and the members spoke,” said Dan Meek, who along with Linda Williams is among the founders. Williams said the primary cost $17,000, including money she lent it.

AL: Major Party Leaders Conspire to Close Primaries,

From the Gadsden Times:

Joe Turnham, Alabama’s Democratic Party chairman, and House Minority Leader Mike Hubbard, the GOP chairman, have had preliminary discussions about revisions to election laws and primary rules. They plan to talk again after the general election in November to see if they can formulate a plan both parties can sign off on. . . .

Turnham and Hubbard are talking about the one step that would put a stop to crossover voting — party registration, already required by 29 states and the District of Columbia. That would be a significant change in Alabama where primaries often have served as de facto general elections, especially in local races.

With party registration, Democrats and Republicans could only vote in their respective primaries and runoffs. Voters who don’t choose a party affiliation — there would have to be an “independent” category — would be left out of primaries and runoffs and could only vote in general or nonpartisan elections. . . .

The party registration idea is worth exploring. It would restore primaries to their intended purpose — a method by which parties choose general election candidates — and could invigorate the parties in this state by making voters take them more seriously. It also would allow those who brag about “not holding allegiance to any party” to put that on record, officially. [Emphasis added.]

Closed primaries are not going to make voters take the parties more seriously. The reason for this is simple: they are a joke, sometimes pathetic, sometimes sad, sometimes even funny, but a joke nonetheless. Of course, it seemingly never occurs to Republicans and Democrats and their mouthpieces in the media that one might do away with the primary system altogether. Why should all taxpayers have to foot the bill for the Democrats and Republicans to make their own internal party decisions?

LA: Libertarians to Hold Historic Primary Election

From NOLA:

The Libertarian Party will hold its first-ever Louisiana primary next month, when Anthony "Tony G" Gentile faces Randall Todd Hayes in the race for the U.S. Senate. It also will be the last one unless lawmakers change their minds on how federal elections should be held in the state.

FL: Historic Libertarian Primary in the Sunshine State

From News 13:

Central Florida voters are going to see a new name at this year's primary election. Seminole, Volusia and Orange Counties will be the first in Florida to have a Libertarian party primary. It's making history for the state and could be a sign of where politics are heading. We're accustomed to deciding who we want to represent us. Just pick your party. Democrat or Republican.


This year take a look at the first ever Florida candidates from a minor party and make it to the ballot to fight over the chair to be a state representative. The supervisor of elections in Seminole county says the new blood is a good thing. "It's historic, it's great," said Mike Ertel / Supervisor of Election in Seminole County. "It's going to be a good test on voter turnout and it's just great for democracy to have folks that are in a smaller party, you know we may have a smaller political party here but we want to choose who our candidates are going to be."

It's the race between Franklin Perez and Ellen Paul that's making headlines and history.  It's also a sign voters may be looking for a change, a chance to vote for someone other than a right or left wing party.

OR: Independent Party to Hold Primary Over Internet

From Ballot Access News:

Because the Independent Party has so many members, it is not nominating by convention or caucus this year.  Instead, it is holding its own primary, at its own expense, via the internet.  The party is sending a postal letter to every member, giving him or her a unique ID number.  That number can then be used by that voter to vote in the party’s on-line primary during July.  For more information about the process, see the party’s web page at http://indparty.com.

Because Oregon legalized fusion last year, the party has many contested primaries.  For Governor, the party has a 3-candidate race:   two members of the Independent Party (Jerry Wilson and Richard Esterman), and the Democratic nominee, John Kitzhaber.  For U.S. House in the 3rd district, the Independent Party primary is between the Green Party nominee and the Libertarian Party nominee.  For the 4th and 5th districts, the Independent Party primary is between the Democratic and Republican nominees.  For all state and federal offices combined, there are 77 candidates in the party’s primary.

OH Exclusive: Socialist Candidate for US Senate Makes Appeal to Progressive Voters Following Brunner's Defeat in Dem Primary

At The Examiner, John Michael Spinelli sums up the results for the Democratic Party's primary for the US Senate race in Ohio:

At the end of Tuesday, in the wee hours of Wednesday, the live unofficial election results at the Ohio Secretary of State's office showed Lee Fisher with 55.3 percent and 339,479 votes compared to the 44.7 percent and 274,616 votes going to Jennifer Brunner, an opponent who hoped to become the first woman U.S. Senator from Ohio, he congratulated in a statement for running a hard-fought and substantive campaign.

Spinelli reports on an open letter by Socialist Party candidate for US Senate, Dan La Botz, to Fisher following her defeat:

The Socialist Party . . . candidate, Dan La Botz of Cincinnati . . . saw the rancor that brewed between Fisher and Brunner over the months and threw a Hail Mary pass for support in November in an open letter to Brunner, who he asked to swing her voters his way based on La Botz's belief his position and those of Brunner were in close alignment, and that Fisher won't fight for them but he will.

La Botz has now written an open letter to Brunner's supporters, urging them "not to give up the fight for [their] principles." Here is the text of La Botz's letter, in full, a TPID exclusive:

An Open Letter to Supporters of Jennifer Brunner from Dan La Botz

Dear Friends,

Jennifer Brunners’s defeat in the Democratic Party primary election is a sad commentary on the Democratic Party, where progressive candidates so often go down to defeat before others with a patronage machine or more money. Yet, even though Brunner won’t be on the ballot, you don’t have to give up the fight for your principles.

Your principles are important to you. You supported Jennifer Brunner because you saw her as the progressive candidate who supported single payer health care, who wanted to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who wanted to address the environmental issues.

You supported her because you could see that Lee Fisher represented a more or less standard Democratic Party politician, and because Rob Portman, the Republican candidate and George W. Bush’s “free trade” man who has courted the Tea Party, was politically repugnant to you.

And you’re right. Brunner was the more progressive candidate. The Democratic Party, however, didn’t want her. And the conservative PACs, corporate executives, and the very wealthy made it clear by donations of millions of dollars to Portman and to Fisher, that they didn’t want her either.

So what are your choices? Rob Portman, the economic conservative who flirts with the Tea Party. Or Fisher, the typical Democrat, the guy you didn’t like, didn’t want, and still really don’t? Don’t vote for what you don’t believe in. Don’t waste your vote on a Democrat who won’t fight for Medicare for all. Who won’t fight to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Who won’t fight against oil, coal and nuclear power. And who won’t fight for marriage equality. When you vote for people you don’t really want, you can be sure you won’t be happy with the result.

We need to move American politics to the left. Send the Democrats and Republicans a message. Make your vote count. Let them know that you want progressive politics in Congress. Both the Republicans and the Democrats, representing as they do the corporations and their agenda, can’t also represent the American working people and a progressive agenda. We need to build an independent political party in this country and we need to build a social movement as the foundation of that party. Join me in doing that.

Go to my website, DanLaBotz.com, and look at my statements on the issues. If you were a Jennifer Brunner supporter, you will be pleased to find that there is still a candidate on the ballot who supports all the things that are important to you. And has spent his life fighting for them.

Most important, when you go to the polls in November, don’t waste your vote on Republican or Democratic Party candidates who won’t fight for the progressive agenda you believe in. Vote for Dan La Botz, Ohio Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate. I believe in and will fight for the issues you care about.

Dan La Botz

IN: Libertarians Slam Democratic-Republican Primary Process, Why Should Tax Payers Foot the Bill for "Private, Partisan Party Business"?

From the Hamilton County Libertarian Party:

Some Libertarians may be tempted to vote on the Republican or Democratic ballot, for a variety of reasons. Be advised of this: If you pull a partisan ballot, you are making a legal statement. Pulling a partisan ballot legally commits you to vote for a majority of that same party's candidates in the General Election in November.

So, if you take a Republican Primary Ballot in May, and you vote straight ticket Libertarian in November, you will be guilty of perjury, by law.

Also, if someone at the polling place recognizes you as a Libertarian, and you are asking for a partisan 'R' or 'D' ballot, and they challenge your affiliation, you may be barred from taking that partisan ballot, or reduced to casting a provisional vote. Only a member of that party can challenge you, but they can in the interest of protecting their party's private business.

See: Indiana Code 3-10-1-9.

Why is the challenge possible? Why can't people just vote however they like? Some think it is merely rhetorical when Libertarians declare the Primaries to be largely private, partisan political party business. This law is the proof that it is not mere rhetoric. Republicans and Democrats see fit to foist the cost of their business onto all of the taxpayers. They wrote it into the law as a bi-partisan effort.

There is no Libertarian ballot. We conducted our business at our county convention, at our expense. The law also dictates that, but as a matter of principle, that's the way we think it should be done.

OH: Sec. of State Demands Pledge from "Crossover" Voters in Primary

From The Plain Dealer:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - All voters who switch parties for the May 4 primary must sign a form supporting their new party's principles under a controversial directive Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner issued on Friday. Boards of Elections around the state had varied in their approach to so-called "crossover" voters. Cuyahoga County, for example, required only voters switching parties at the polls to fill out allegiance forms during the 2008 primary. Franklin County, which includes Columbus, didn't force any voters to sign the forms in 2008 . . .  Brunner's directive does not affect voters requesting the ballot of a minor party, such as the Libertarian Party or the Green Party, for the first time.

OH: Six Parties to Appear on 2010 Primary Ballots

From wnewsj:

 For the first time in recent history, voters will have the option to request a third-party ballot for a partisan primary election as the result of a directive issued in December by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.  The recognized third parties in Ohio are the Constitution Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and the Socialist Party USA.

Each party’s certified candidates will appear on the ballot in all 88 Ohio counties for the May 4 primary election. These parties previously appeared on the 2008 general election ballot in Ohio, but have not appeared on a primary election ballot until this election, according to a media release from the Clinton County Board of Elections.

Voters Abandoning Democratic and Republican Party Primaries, Taxpayers Continue Funding the Charade

From USA Today, via The Whig:

Since 1962, the percentage of eligible voters picking Democratic and Republican nominees for governor and U.S. Senate has been declining to less than 10% per party. The percentages are even lower for U.S. House and state legislature primaries, Gans says.

As noted in an excerpt from the Michigan Messenger yesterday: "we spend millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to have the state run the nomination votes for the two major parties."  And then no one  even votes in them!

MI: Michigan Messenger Questions Primary Process

The Michigan Messenger argues in favor of the secret ballot and writes:

For that matter, why does the government run the primary elections — only for the two major parties? The Republican and Democratic parties are private organizations. Who they nominate to put on the general election ballot and how they pick those candidates has nothing at all to do with the state.

The state doesn’t run the nominating conventions for the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Constitution Party or any other political party. Yet we spend millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to have the state run the nomination votes for the two major parties, just one of the innumerable ways the government privileges those two parties against any rivals.

It’s time to get the government out of this business altogether. They should run the general elections, not the nominating process for any political party. And they should keep the ballots cast by voters entirely private and protected from the eyes of those who profit from having them.

Free and Equal Elections Foundation launches "No on Prop 14" website opposing top two primary in California

Free and Equal today launched a website opposing Prop 14, which would create a top two primary system in California. They also have backing from groups and individuals ranging from Ralph Nader to the ACLU to the Libertarian Party. Their press release for the event:

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation today launched a Web site that will be the central hub for mounting opposition to California's Proposition 14, an initiative set to appear on the state's election ballots in June.

The site, www.stoptoptwo.org, urges Californians to vote "no" on the "Top Two Primaries Act" proposition. The act would narrow a voter's choices in General Election legislative and Congressional races to the two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, who receive the most votes in an open primary held in June. Free & Equal believes the act would further protect incumbents while greatly reducing the influence of minority parties on the state's political establishment.

Free & Equal Founder and Chair Christina Tobin pointed to four key ways Proposition 14 would hurt voting rights: (1) it increases the requirements for minor parties to remain ballot-qualified; (2) it abolishes write-in voting for Congress and state office in November; (3) it treats candidates unequally by permitting candidates of qualified parties to use their party affiliation on the ballot while not allowing the same for small parties; and (4) it makes it virtually impossible for minor party and independent candidates to appear on the November ballot for Congress and statewide office.

Ballot-access advocate Ralph Nader said, “Unless defeated, Proposition 14 would establish a two-party tyranny that prevents other candidate choices for California voters from the November election ballot. In short, Proposition 14 wants to shut you up if you disagree with the arrogant, big, two-party politicians. I am pleased that Tobin is taking the lead on stopping this legislation with the Stop Top Two website.

A story on www.stoptoptwo.org quotes national ballot-access expert Richard Winger on the problems with similar laws in other states. “We ve seen it in action in Washington State and Louisiana," he said. “In the 35 years Louisiana has had such a system, not a single minor-party candidate has passed the gauntlet of the primary to make it onto the General Election ballot."

Winger continues, “Washington State s first election under its new top-two candidate system was in 2008. But for the first time since it became a state in 1889, no minor parties or independent candidates were on the ballot for Congress or statewide state office.

The proposition's most high-profile backer has been California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has secured a slew of support from big business. Some of the donors include Hewlett Packard, Blue Shield of California, Pacific Life Insurance Co., Burlington Northern and the California Business PAC, which is run by the state chamber of commerce.

Among the big-name opponents are the California Green Party, Libertarian Party, Peace and Freedom Party, American Civil Liberties Union, and the League of Women Voters all of which oppose corporate control over electoral politics.

“The list of mega-corporations lining up to buy this election compared to the list of grassroots democracy groups working to Stop Top Two demonstrates to the people of California that big business wants to maintain the two-party status quo," Tobin said.