Dr. Jerome Corsi was interviewed on the Mark Dankof Radio Talk Show on May 23. Corsi says he is seriously considering seeking the Constitution Party presidential nomination. He says, if he were to seek and win the nomination, he would campaign on these six issues: (1) in favor of more secure borders; (2) in favor of a strong national defense force that is only used for defense of the U.S.; (3) for laws that punish employers who hire illegal aliens; (4) to abolish all social welfare for illegal aliens; (5) to promote energy independence; (6) a federal tax system that does not include personal income tax. Thanks to Third Party Watch for posting the link to the radio recording.

On May 23, the Oregon State Senate defeated SB 630 by a vote of 13-17. It would have imposed the “top-two” primary for all partisan elections except president. Proponents of this type of primary said they will now attempt another initiative petition to get the idea before the voters in November 2008.

Today’s Houston Chronicle says the Texas legislature will almost certainly fail to pass HB 2017. That bill would move the primary for all office from March to February. It would also require new parties to notify the state that they intend to qualify in 2008, by October of 2007. Although that doesn’t harm parties that already exist, it violates the principle that the people should be free to form new parties in election years.

On January 25, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court had ruled that Carl Romanelli, Green Party candidate for US Senate in 2006, must pay $81,102.19 in court costs, for the privilege of being removed from the ballot. His brief, appealing that decision, was filed in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on April 26. The state’s response is due on May 26. The case is called In re Nomination Papers of Rogers.

John Hartman attempted to be an independent candidate for US House in Illinois in the past. He worked very hard to collect the needed 14,000 signatures, but he fell short. Consequently, he is very motivated to influence the Illinois legislature to pass a ballot access reform bill to ease the US House requirement. He is actively lobbying in Springfield, urging legislators to amend HB 632. Specifically, he wants them to lower the 5% petition for district office to something easier. He is cautiously optimistic. Anyone in Illinois who wants to help him should do so. His e-mail is jhartman56@hotmail.com.

On May 21, the state of Washington and its ally, the Grange, filed their main briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case over whether a state can hold a “top-two” primary and put party labels on the ballots. The case is State of Washington v Washington State Republican Party, no. 06-713/06-730.

The state’s brief tries to rebut the Libertarian Party’s earlier brief on ballot access. The state says that the U.S. Constitution permits states to require a modicum of support before printing a party or its nominees on the general election ballot. The state is correct. But what the state fails to acknowledge is that there is a limit on how much support the state can require. That limit is 5% of the electorate. The top-two system in Washington requires, on the average, 30% support for a candidate to win a place on the November ballot. This is based on empirical data, showing that the average 2nd place finisher polls 30% in the old blanket primary. Ergo, the “top-two” system requires a candidate to show support of, on the average, 30% to get on the general election ballot.

In 1968, George Wallace was running for president in the general election. He could have qualified for the Ohio presidential primary in 1968 with only 1,000 signatures. After all, he was a Democrat, so he was free to run in the Democratic presidential primary. But he didn’t want to run in primaries; he wanted to run in the general election. And the U.S. Supreme Court put him on the November ballot in Ohio, in Williams v Rhodes, and struck down the 15% petition requirement for new parties. General election ballot access is protected by the U.S. Constitution. This is especially true in congressional elections, because a federal law provides that congressional election day is in November, and any congressional run-off must be after the November election day. By contrast, Washington state’s “top-two” system would confine minor party and independent candidates to the September primary.

The Grange’s brief completely ignores the Libertarian Party’s ballot access argument.

On May 21, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner released a regulation on how new and minor parties should get on the ballot. This action is needed because the old law was declared unconstitutional last year, and the legislature seems disinclined to pass a new law. The regulation requires a petition signed by one-half of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, due November 26, 2007.

The old, unconstitutional law would have required a petition of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, due in early November. The old law would have required 40,228 signatures; the directive requires 20,114.

The regulation also says that a party that only wants to run candidates for presidential elector, president and vice-president, needs 20,114 signatures by August 18, 2008. Using this type of petition permits the party label. The old “independent” petition requirement of 5,000 would still exist, but the only labels permitted are “no-party candidate” and “other-party candidate.”

According to an article in the Austin Statesman posted May 21, the Texas legislature is not likely to pass the bill that moves the primary (for all office) from March to February 5.

New Jersey has all its legislative elections in odd years. This year, the Libertarian Party has 22 candidates for the legislature; the Green Party has 10; the Conservative Party has 2. The petition deadline for each of these candidates is in early June. Since each candidate needs 100 signatures, it is likely that all, or almost all, will succeed in getting on the ballot. Two years ago the Libertarians had 7, the Greens had 6, and the Conservative Party had one.

The lawsuit filed by the three parties mentioned above may perhaps be settled successfully in June 2007. That lawsuit covers a multitude of election law issues. They include the ability of circulators to petition outside their home districts; campaign finance laws that discriminate against unqualified parties relative to qualified parties; and the state’s failure to draft a regulation on how an unqualified party becomes entitled to a registration tally.

The Socialist Party, which is not part of the lawsuit, has one candidate for the legislature this year. In 2005 it had three.

On May 21, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed HB 537, which moves Florida’s presidential primary to January 29. The bill also outlaws vote-counting machines with no paper trail. Both major party national committees have warned their Florida affiliates that January 29 is too early and breaks national party rules. Both national committees insist they will penalize Florida by depriving it of some of its delegates. It is possible the Florida Democratic Party will not recognize the primary and will hold caucuses instead, in February, to avoid this penalty.