| This issue was originally printed on white paper. |
On November 7, more than 210,000 voters in 17 cities voted for president in a "straw poll". 21 presidential candidates and potential candidates were listed. The candidates who were listed as Democrats polled 92,869 votes; the candidates who were listed as Independents or as third party candidates polled 59,675 votes; the candidates listed as Republicans polled 56,892 votes. See below for a chart, giving the vote by city for each candidate.
Candidate totals, with the exact label that appeared on the ballot for each, were:
The totals above are unofficial and incomplete. The final totals will probably be 5% greater. Generally speaking, the mainstream media didn't report these results, although they do report various straw polls held at major party state conventions with far fewer voters.
It is ironic, of course, that Colin Powell placed second, because the day after the election, he announced that he would not be a candidate. He was listed as an Independent on CityVote ballots because at the time the list of candidates was drawn up, he had not made his party affiliation public. He lives in Virginia, a state in which voters do not indicate a partisan affiliation on voter registration forms. On November 8, for the first time, he stated he is a Republican.
On October 31, the U.S. Justice Department told Alabama that its new ballot access law cannot be approved without more information.
The new Alabama ballot access law for new parties and non-presidential independent candidates is a petition of 3% of the last gubernatorial vote cast. The old law was a 1% petition.
The Justice Department said that it will not approve the new law unless the state provides this information within the next sixty days (the text below is quoted from the Justice Department's letter):
1. A detailed explanation of the reasons for increasing the number of petition signatures required to qualify as an independent or "minor" party candidate.
2. A detailed, chronological description of the process leading to the adoption of the changes, including a description of comments or suggestions provided by minority legislators or other members of the minority community. Include a description of any discussions as to whether the increase in the number of petition signatures for independent and "minor" party candidates would disproportionately affect black voters who seek to qualify as an independent or "minor" party candidate.
3. For each general election contest held from 1986 to the present, for statewide, state legislative, and county office, in which an independent and/or a "minor" party candidate participated, provide a listing of the names and race of all candidates; indicate the party affiliation of all candidates and indicate those candidates that ran as an independent; indicate the number of votes each candidate received; and identify any independent or "minor" party candidate who had run unsuccessfully for the same office in the same election year in a primary election. Also, for each independent or "minor" party candidate, indicate the number of signatures the person was required to submit to qualify, and (if available) report the number of valid signatures submitted by the candidate.
4. An assessment of whether the increase in the number of petition signatures for independent and "minor" party candidates would disproportionately affect black voters who seek to place such candidates on the ballot, or black candidates who seek to qualify as an independent or "minor" party candidate.
Jesse Jackson, for the Rainbow Coalition, had written the Justice Department, complaining about the new Alabama ballot access bill. The press in Alabama noted this letter.
The new Alabama law cannot go into effect until sixty days have elapsed, after the state responds. If the state takes two months to respond, then the new law won't go into effect until March 1, 1996.
Third party activists are hoping, of course, that the Justice Department will ultimately veto the bill; but even if it is eventually approved, the delay means that third parties now have an opportunity to complete their 1996 petitions under the old, more lenient law (12,000 signatures instead of 36,000).
October 1995 was a history-making month for third parties. For the first time ever, a new party qualified by registration in Arizona; and two new parties qualified by registration in California, the sixth and seventh such instances in state history.
The Reform Party (created by Ross Perot) and the Natural Law Party each qualified in California, and the Libertarian Party qualified in Arizona. Arizona, California and Delaware are the only states in which a new party has ever qualified by registration. Arizona requires two-thirds of 1% of the voters to join the new party; California requires 1% of the last gubernatorial vote (which is about six-tenths of 1% of the total number of registered voters). Delaware requires one-twentieth of 1%.
The success of the Reform Party in California was particularly historic, since it was carried out in only 18 days (California still hasn't released final registration data). In Arizona, the Libertarian Party needed 14,037 registrants and obtained 18,615.
On October 26, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) introduced HR 2545, which would let states use proportional representation in U.S. House elections. The bill would amend existing law, passed by Congress in 1967, which says that states must use single-member districts for House elections.
Co-sponsors are: James Clyburn of South Carolina, Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania, Nydia Velazquez of New York, and Mel Watt of North Carolina (all are Democrats). On November 8, McKinney wrote a "Dear Colleague" letter to all other members of the House, asking for co-sponsorship, so the number of co-sponsors will increase.
HR 2545 is the only bill pending in Congress which would help third parties. Bills to outlaw restrictive ballot access in federal elections, and providing for third party presidential candidates to be invited into general election debates, have not been re-introduced in this Congress.
(See also this update.)
On November 7, the Illinois Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit in federal court to force the state to let it nominate candidates for the U.S. House by primary. The state already agrees that the party is qualified for its own primary for president and U.S. Senator, but says the party is not qualified for other offices. Libertarian Party of Illinois v Illinois State Election Board, no. 95C-6456.
This lawsuit is the first to argue that the U.S. Supreme Court's 1995 decision in U.S. Term Limits v Thornton has an impact on ballot access requirements. Although that decision acknowledged that states have the authority to have ballot access restrictions, it implied that such restrictions can only exist for the purpose of guaranteeing that the election process is handled in an orderly manner. States cannot use ballot access laws for other, "social-engineering" purposes, such as "fostering stability" or "ensuring that the winner will receive a majority vote". States cannot discriminate against a "class of candidates" (for Congress).
In Illinois, Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. House only need several hundred signatures to place themselves on primary ballots. Libertarian candidates for the U.S. House need approximately 7,000 signatures in presidential years, and approximately 12,000 in non-presidential years. Since the state has already acknowledged that the Libertarian Party has sufficient support to be qualified for the statewide ballot, it is difficult to know how the state can justify the disparate treatment.
The case was assigned to Judge Charles Kocoras, a Carter appointee who has never had a ballot access lawsuit before.
The case also argues that the 5% petitions for third party and independent candidates for Congress are unconstitutional, because in years after reapportionment, only 5,000 signatures are required, and since in those years the ballot is not overly crowded, there can be no state interest in requiring up to 12,000 in other years.
On October 25, U.S. District Court Judge Gene Carter refused to issue an injunction to prevent the state from printing state income tax forms which list the Democratic and Republican Parties, but not the Green Party. Maine state income tax forms are supposed to list all the qualified parties, to enable taxpayers to send $1 to the taxpayer's favorite party. Maine Green Party v Diamond, no. 95-318PC.
On November 8, the First Circuit refused to issue the injunction either (no. 95-2201). As a result, only the Democratic and Republican Parties will be listed on the 1994 state income tax forms, even though the Green Party polled over 5% of the gubernatorial vote in 1994 and thereby became Maine's third qualified party.
The state argues that the Green Party won't be a "party" until after it has held county organizing meetings in every county. The Green Party responds that it has already done so. The state counters that those meetings don't matter because they were not held in the spring of an even-numbered year (Maine law says that is the only time such meetings can be held).
Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 in Eu v San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee that a party is free to set its own meeting dates, the judges ignored this point.
If the Maine law is not overcome eventually in court, the Green Party will be unable to hold its presidential primary on March 5, 1996, since the law doesn't permit the party to be "recognized" until April 1996, when the meetings can be held again.
The First Circuit judges who refused to issue the injunction were Juan Torruella and Bruce Selya, Reagan appointees, and Conrad Cyr, a Bush appointee. In 1993, in a different lawsuit brought by the Libertarian Party, the same three judges had upheld Maine law which makes it virtually impossible for a small qualified party to nominate candidates in its own primary.
On November 2, a group of Republican voters in New York state filed a lawsuit in federal court against New York ballot access procedures. Rockefeller v Powers, Eastern District no. 95-cv-4478.
The lawsuit attacks the formula for determining the number of signatures needed to get a candidate for congress, or a candidate for delegate to the national convention, on the Republican primary ballot. That formula is: 5% of the number of Republican voters, or 1,250 signatures, whichever is less. In the New York state Republican presidential primary, each congressional district elects its own delegates; there is no statewide vote.
The lawsuit charges that Republicans who live in districts with a substantial number of registered Republicans are discriminated against, relative to Republicans who live in districts with very few registered Republicans. The signature of a registered Republican in a district with many Republicans counts for less, than the signature of a Republican who lives in a district with few Republicans.
This is an original attack, in the state that has the most restrictive ballot access procedures in the nation for Republicans and Democrats who are seeking a spot on a primary ballot.
On October 12, Iowa's Secretary of State ruled that unqualified political parties may use a stand-in presidential candidate on a petition. Later, the stand-in can withdraw, and the actual candidate can be substituted on the November ballot.
The Tennessee election code does not state a deadline for the new party petition to be submitted. On November 3 the State Election Department tentatively ruled that the deadline should be 120 days before the August primary. For 1996, this will be April 3, 1996. No party has qualified in Tennessee since 1968, but the Reform Party will try there.
1. Alaska (1): (See also this update.) the hearing in the State Supreme Court in O'Callaghan v Ulmer on October 19 went well for the Republican Party. The issue is whether the state can force a party to participate in a blanket primary. The Republican Party wishes to hold a primary in which members of other parties are not permitted to participate. However, state law provides that all voters may vote for any candidates of any parties in the primary.
Although the State Supreme Court had been thought to be partial to the blanket primary, the questions asked by the Justices seemed to show that they do appreciate the rights of a political party to prevent outsiders from choosing a party's candidates.
Alaska (2): on October 26, the 9th circuit ruled against Joni Whitmore, Green Party candidate for Congress in 1994. She had charged that the U.S. Constitution implicitly bans out-of-state contributions to candidates for Congress. The judges not only rejected this theory, they branded it "frivolous". Whitmore v FEC, no. 94-36236.
2. Arizona: Republican presidential contender Malcolm (Steve) Forbes will probably sue the Arizona Secretary of State, over the state's ballot access law for presidential primaries. There is no means for a candidate to obtain a spot on the ballot unless he or she qualifies for federal matching funds, but Forbes is financing his own campaign and has no intention of filing for matching funds. Forbes has the same problem with Colorado's law, and a lawsuit is likely there as well.
3. Arkansas: any day now, there will be a ruling as to whether the Independent Party should be restored to the ballot, as a result of the party's lawsuit in federal court.
4. California: (See also this update.) On October 19, federal judge Claudia Wilken refused to enter an injunction against California's term limits law for legislators. However, she indicated that the question of constitutionality of state legislative term limits is a close one, which will be adjudicated later in the case. Bates v Jones, C95-2638.
She stated that precedents upholding term limits for Governors, do not apply to the issue of term limits for state legislators, since "the greater concentration of power in the chief executive makes abuse of long term incumbency more likely".
5. Florida: a hearing was held on October 25 in the State Court of Appeals in Libertarian Party of Fla. v Smith, no. 95-547. The issue is state law which rebates 53% of filing fees back to the candidate's party, if the party has registration of at least 5% of the state total. Florida filing fees are huge (over $10,000 for Congress, for example) so the stakes are high. The judges appeared interested in the case but didn't reveal any clues as to how they will rule.
6. Louisiana: a hearing was held in federal court on October 23 in Love v Edwards, no. 95-788-B, over whether Louisiana is violating federal law by holding its congressional elections in October. The state argues that it is in compliance with federal law because if no one gets 50% of the vote in October, then a run-off is held in November.
7. Michigan: On October 30, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Covington v Newaygo, no. 95-363, over whether a candidate can be kept off the ballot because he is delinquent in his city taxes. The lower court had upheld the city's action.
6. Texas: the lawsuit Ybarra v Rains has been dismissed. It was a challenge to Texas' May petition deadline for new parties, and it had been pending in State District Court in Travis County since 1988. It was dismissed because the plaintiff (a supporter of the New Alliance Party) had failed to prosecute the case.
| STATE | REQUIREMENTS | SIGNATURES COLLECTED | DEADLINES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FULL PARTY | CAND. | LIBT | REFORM | NATL LAW | TAXPAYR | PARTY | CAND. | |
| Alabama | 11,991 | 5,000 | already on | 0 | 200 | 0 | Sep 2 | Sep 2 |
| Alaska | 2,586 | 2,586 | *2,900 | maybe on | *1,500 | 0 | in doubt | in doubt |
| Arizona | 15,062 | (es) 8,000 | *already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 21 | Jun 30 |
| Arkansas | 21,506 | 0 | 0 | in court | 0 | 0 | Jan 2 | Sep 15 |
| California | (reg) 89,007 | 147,238 | already on | *already on | *already on | already on | Oct 24 95 | Aug 9 |
| Colorado | no procedure | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Jul 16 |
| Connecticut | no procedure | 7,500 | can't start | maybe on | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 7 |
| Delaware | *(reg.) 187 | *3,739 | already on | maybe on | (reg) *35 | already on | Aug 17 | Jul 15 |
| D.C. | no procedure | (es) 3,500 | can't start | can't start | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 20 |
| Florida | 196,788 | 65,596 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jul 16 | Jul 15 |
| Georgia | 30,036 | 30,036 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jul 9 | Jul 9 |
| Hawaii | 4,889 | 3,829 | already on | maybe on | *1,800 | 0 | Apr 24 | Sep 6 |
| Idaho | 9,644 | 4,822 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Aug 31 | Aug 26 |
| Illinois | no procedure | 25,000 | already on | can't start | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 5 |
| Indiana | no procedure | 29,822 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Jul 15 |
| Iowa | no procedure | 1,500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Aug 16 |
| Kansas | 16,418 | 5,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jun 1 | Aug 6 |
| Kentucky | no procedure | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Aug 29 |
| Louisiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | maybe on | 0 | 0 | Jun 30 | Aug 29 |
| Maine | 25,551 | 4,000 | 0 | *15,000 | 0 | 0 | De 14 95 | Jun 4 |
| Maryland | 10,000 | (es) 75,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | *2,000 | Aug 5 | Aug 5 |
| Massachsts. | (reg) 34,000 | 10,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jul 1 | Jul 30 |
| Michigan | 30,891 | 30,891 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jul 18 | Jul 18 |
| Minnesota | 89,731 | 2,000 | can't start | maybe on | can't start | can't start | May 1 | Sep 10 |
| Mississippi | just be org. | 1,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | already on | Apr 1 | Sep 6 |
| Missouri | 10,000 | 10,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Aug 5 | Aug 5 |
| Montana | 10,471 | 10,471 | already on | 0 | *6,000 | 0 | Mar 14 | Jul 31 |
| Nebraska | 5,741 | 2,500 | 5,100 | 0 | *800 | 0 | Aug 1 | Aug 27 |
| Nevada | 3,761 | 3,761 | already on | 0 | already on | already on | Jul 11 | Jul 11 |
| New Hampshire | no procedure | 3,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Aug 7 |
| New Jersey | no procedure | 800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Jul 29 |
| New Mexico | 2,339 | 14,029 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jul 9 | Sep 10 |
| New York | no procedure | 15,000 | can't start | maybe on | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 20 |
| North Carolina | 51,904 | (es) 80,000 | 2,200 | 0 | 0 | *1,500 | in doubt | Jun 28 |
| North Dakota | 7,000 | 4,000 | *1,200 | 0 | *100 | 0 | De 29 95 | Sep 6 |
| Ohio | 33,463 | 5,000 | *0 | *finished | *finished | *0 | Nv 20 95 | Aug 22 |
| Oklahoma | 49,751 | 41,711 | *25,500 | 0 | 0 | *6,100 | May 31 | Jul 15 |
| Oregon | 18,316 | 14,601 | already on | maybe on | 0 | 0 | Aug 27 | Aug 27 |
| Penn. | no procedure | *(es) 24,500 | can't start | can't start | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 1 |
| Rhode Island | 18,069 | 1,000 | can't start | maybe on | can't start | can't start | Aug 1 | Sep 6 |
| South Carolina | 10,000 | 10,000 | already on | maybe on | 0 | already on | May 5 | Aug 1 |
| South Dakota | 7,792 | 3,117 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | Apr 2 | Aug 6 |
| Tennessee | 37,179 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | *Apr 3 | Aug 20 |
| Texas | 43,963 | 61,541 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 27 | May 13 |
| Utah | 500 | 300 | already on | maybe on | *finished | *10 | Mar 1 | Sep 1 |
| Vermont | just be org. | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | already on | 0 | Sep 19 | Sep 19 |
| Virginia | no procedure | (es) 16,000 | can't start | in dispute | can't start | can't start | -- | Aug 23 |
| Washington | no procedure | 200 | can't start | can't start | can't start | can't start | -- | Jul 6 |
| West Virginia | no procedure | 6,837 | *2,400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | Aug 1 |
| Wisconsin | 10,000 | 2,000 | already on | 0 | 0 | already on | Jun 1 | Sep 3 |
| Wyoming | 8,000 | 9,810 | already on | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 1 | Aug 25 |
Green on in Ak, Ca, Me, NM, Or, and has 3,500 in Hi. Socialist: *2,000 in Or. Prohibition: 100 in Ut. Other nationally-organized parties on: Grassroots in Vt.; New Party in Wis.; Workers World in Mi; Prohibition in Tn. "FULL PARTY REQ." is a procedure by which a new party can qualify before it chooses candidates; not every state has such a procedure. "Maybe On" in Reform Party column means there is a qualified party which may join. In some states it is possible to start the full party procedure now, but not the candidate procedure; for these states, the entry refers to the more commonly-used method. * entry changed since last issue.
| CLINTON | POWELL | DOLE | FORBES | PEROT | BUCHANAN | GRAMM | BRADLEY | JACKSON | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder, Co | 44.30 | 24.04 | 7.96 | 1.81 | 2.71 | 1.58 | 1.91 | 4.74 | 2.62 |
| Burlington, Vt | 44.86 | 16.50 | 5.64 | 1.16 | 2.60 | 1.45 | 1.30 | 5.07 | 9.55 |
| Coeur d'Alene, Id | 39.46 | 10.68 | 27.24 | .83 | 2.04 | 7.21 | 1.93 | 4.95 | .33 |
| Fayette, Mo | 33.90 | 14.53 | 10.54 | 3.42 | 5.41 | 2.56 | 1.71 | 1.42 | .57 |
| Greenburgh, NY | 25.81 | 27.96 | 18.28 | 2.69 | 3.76 | 1.61 | .00 | 13.98 | .54 |
| Lacey, Wa | 35.46 | 23.81 | 14.85 | 4.75 | 6.17 | 3.02 | 2.61 | 2.26 | .71 |
| Minneapolis, Mn | 53.79 | 13.52 | 9.17 | 1.90 | 2.63 | 2.29 | 2.98 | 3.12 | 4.29 |
| Moscow, Id | 35.74 | 20.65 | 20.16 | 2.03 | .00 | 4.98 | 3.01 | 3.24 | 2.32 |
| New Britain, Ct | 59.43 | 16.83 | 9.35 | .39 | 4.42 | 1.98 | .27 | 2.33 | 1.90 |
| Olympia, Wa | 40.83 | 20.30 | 12.18 | 4.10 | 4.69 | 1.68 | 2.37 | 3.94 | 2.88 |
| Rochester, NY | 45.26 | 18.25 | 11.49 | 1.07 | 4.27 | 3.55 | 2.49 | 4.38 | 2.13 |
| St Paul, Mn | 52.67 | 14.23 | 10.41 | 1.75 | 3.55 | 2.88 | 2.82 | 2.82 | 2.42 |
| Spokane, Wa | 36.58 | 19.46 | 17.32 | 2.64 | 4.16 | 5.16 | 4.10 | 1.53 | .91 |
| Tacoma, Wa | 44.44 | 18.09 | 11.38 | 3.98 | 5.37 | 2.99 | 2.73 | 2.11 | 1.20 |
| Tucson, Az | 36.89 | 19.69 | 11.20 | 13.07 | 2.99 | 2.58 | 3.01 | 2.28 | 1.34 |
| Tumwater, Wa | 37.54 | 22.92 | 13.39 | 4.30 | 6.07 | 2.48 | 3.37 | 2.97 | 1.06 |
| Wenatchee, Wa | 25.94 | 22.37 | 22.73 | 4.15 | 4.88 | 4.61 | 4.28 | 1.86 | .60 |
| TOTAL | 43.81 | 18.24 | 11.88 | 4.84 | 3.64 | 2.96 | 2.92 | 2.74 | 2.02 |
| KEYES | BROWNE | LAMAR | LUGAR | SPECTER | WILSON | LaROUCHE | WEICKER | HAGELIN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder, Co | .70 | 2.24 | .64 | .67 | .66 | .46 | .33 | .54 | 1.88 |
| Burlington, Vt | .58 | 1.16 | .29 | .72 | .29 | .14 | .29 | .58 | 5.07 |
| Coeur d'Alene, Id | .28 | .94 | 1.93 | .22 | .33 | .33 | .11 | .06 | .22 |
| Fayette, Mo | 1.14 | 5.13 | .57 | .85 | .57 | .28 | .28 | .28 | 11.68 |
| Greenburgh, NY | .00 | .00 | .00 | .00 | 3.76 | .00 | .00 | .54 | .54 |
| Lacey, Wa | 1.35 | .36 | .81 | .61 | .56 | .66 | .41 | .36 | .13 |
| Minneapolis, Mn | 1.64 | .66 | .48 | .73 | .56 | .26 | .37 | .91 | .17 |
| Moscow, Id | 1.55 | .77 | .73 | .63 | .58 | .00 | .34 | .39 | 1.84 |
| New Britain, Ct | .19 | .00 | 1.20 | .23 | .00 | .08 | .31 | .81 | .00 |
| Olympia, Wa | 1.25 | .53 | .78 | .49 | .68 | .79 | .43 | .66 | .37 |
| Rochester, NY | 1.30 | .71 | .83 | .12 | .71 | .00 | 1.07 | 1.07 | .36 |
| St Paul, Mn | 1.47 | .60 | .45 | .47 | .51 | .33 | .39 | .63 | .26 |
| Spokane, Wa | 1.91 | .47 | .71 | .91 | .80 | .89 | .58 | .22 | .47 |
| Tacoma, Wa | 1.55 | .43 | 1.18 | .43 | .48 | .52 | 1.06 | .29 | .14 |
| Tucson, Az | .89 | 1.58 | .63 | .67 | .70 | .67 | .59 | .32 | .13 |
| Tumwater, Wa | 1.11 | .62 | .62 | .49 | .58 | .80 | .49 | .22 | .13 |
| Wenatchee, Wa | 2.46 | .14 | .94 | .63 | .63 | .97 | .39 | .19 | .02 |
| TOTAL | 1.33 | .94 | .68 | .62 | .61 | .54 | .53 | .47 | .44 |
Note: the percentage of the vote cast for Bob Dornan, Charles Collins and Art Fletcher, the three Republicans with the fewest votes, is not included, due to space limitations. Also omitted is the percentage cast for names written in. Anyone who wishes this additional information may request it from B.A.N. Percentages for Lamar Alexander above are shown under the heading "Lamar", not "Alexander", for space reasons.
The only CityVote presidential debate which was televised was held in Spokane, Washington, on October 22. The only candidates who appeared in person were Republicans Charles Collins and Art Fletcher, Democrat Lyndon LaRouche, Libertarian Harry Browne, and Natural Law's John Hagelin. Jesse Jackson participated by telephone.
The debate was broadcast in the 52 cities which have service from Cox cable tv system. A copy is available for $15 (VHS) or $20 (Super VHS). Cox Communications, Attn: Diane Cortez, 1717 E. Buckeye, Spokane Wa 99207. Use a money order or cashier's check.
Legislative term limits won in Louisiana by a vote of 71%-29% on October 21. However, they lost in Mississippi on November 7 by 46%-54%. The Mississippi measure lost because it was perceived as too radical; it not only included state legislators, but local elected and appointed officials, and state judges.
U.S. Term Limits is about to launch a round of new initiatives, which will ask the voters whether they wish their state legislature to call for a constitutional convention, to put congressional limits in the Constitution. U.S. Term Limits feels it can carry this out in all states which have the initiative procedure.
On November 7, a dues-paying member of the Libertarian Party since 1984, Richard B. Sanders, was elected to the Washington State Supreme Court for a three-year term.
Judicial elections in Washington state are non-partisan. Sanders defeated the incumbent, Judge Pekelis, by a vote of 451,878 to 388,585 (54%-46%).
1. Georgia: Two Libertarian Party members were elected to city commissions, in non-partisan elections: Bruce Van Buren in Avondale Estates, and DeWayne Metheny in Auburn.
2. Iowa: Karen Kubby, Socialist Party member, was re-elected to her third term on the City Council of Iowa City, Iowa. The election is non-partisan.
3. Pennsylvania: Maria Lewis, Patriot Party candidate for Silverlake Township Supervisor, was elected. This is a partisan election.
On November 6, Ross Perot announced on C-SPAN that the party he launched in late September will be called the Reform Party, not the Independence Party. There were too many states in which the name "Independence" was barred. In Ohio, the Secretary of State said that "Independence" could not be the name of any party, because it was too similar to "Independent candidate" and would confuse voters. In Maine, the name "Independent Party" had already been reserved by another group (which is not on the ballot), so "Independence" was barred.
On November 9, Perot said the party would choose its presidential candidate on September 1-2, 1996.
Some leaders of the Green Party have been in touch with Ralph Nader, to see if he might run for president. Although Nader is far from commiting himself to run in November, he is thought likely to at least enter the Green Party presidential primaries. Currently, the Green Party is entitled to its own presidential primaries in California and New Mexico; in Maine the party will need to fight in court to use its presidential primary (see story above).
The October 19 B.A.N. said that the Populist Party national committee had voted to disband. This was not accurate. Instead, the national committee voted to suspend its activity, due to a financial crisis. In the meantime, the party's newspaper, Populist Observer, will continue to be published, but under the name Nationalist Times. The new address: Bx 426, Allison Park, PA 15101.
Last month, the Republican Party of Minnesota changed its name from "Independent-Republican Party" to "Republican Party". The party had changed its name to "Independent-Republican" in 1974 and it had appeared on the ballot under that label for twenty years.
The Workers World Party is holding a national convention in New York city on December 2-3 and may nominate candidates for president and vice-president at that time.
On November 2, the FEC certified Lyndon LaRouche for primary season matching funds. LaRouche and Clinton are the only Democrats who have qualified for matching funds. No third party presidential candidates have yet met the threshold, although Harry Browne (seeking the Libertarian nomination) and John Hagelin (seeking the Natural Law nomination) are close.