On January 3, California Assemblymember Paul Fong, chair of the Assembly Elections Committee, introduced AB 80. It moves the presidential primary from February to June.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
On January 3, California Assemblymember Paul Fong, chair of the Assembly Elections Committee, introduced AB 80. It moves the presidential primary from February to June.
AB 80 was expected, but this date in June is bad for the
people of California. By moving the date to June it will hurt in getting delegates seated at national conventions.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Independent Party.
To what date is the regular primary being moved?
P.R. and App.V. — NO primaries are needed.
How many State MORONS love having primaries in the dead of winter — so everybody can get the flu ???
Jim Riley,
I do not understand the date question. AB 80 will put all three primaries on June 5, 2012. It will limit more the number of Saturdays the AIP can hold its convention in one of the communities of Sacramento County.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Independent Party
#4 It will confuse voters (and perhaps election officials) who will have to administer three different sets of ballots.
(1) Presidential primary. Parties may let DNPP voters and those who prefer a non-presidential-qualified party vote. In 2008, this included the American Independent and Democratic Parties, but none of the other four parties.
For permanent by-mail voters, this requires a two stage process where they have to apply for a partisan ballot. Some voters may think that if they don’t return this, that they might not be allowed to vote. Since it is likely that the major party nominations will be decided by then, some voters may simply not vote.
(2) Party committees. These are limited to those registered with each party.
In addition, it is likely that it would the party committees that would be deciding on the endorsements under Elections Code 13302. But if the new committees are elected at the same election where the endorsements would be made, then the endorsements would be made by the lame duck committee.
BTW, will the AIP make any endorsements in the special senate races in SD 17 and 28?
(3) All voters will be able to vote for voter-nominated offices (Congress and the legislature in 2012), as well as nonpartisan local offices. If AIP voters don’t think the presidential primary is that interesting, they might not vote at all, and thus not vote in the Top 2 primary.
If (1) was kept in February and (2) combined with it, with (3) moved to August or September; the partisan primary would be totally separate from the Top 2 and nonpartisan primaries. The newly-elected party committees could make the endorsements for the Top 2 primaries, and also recruit candidates. There would likely be more interest in the congressional and legislative primaries in the late summer. And it really is pretty silly to have supervisor elections in June, with a runoff in November, if necessary.
Jim Riley
Informed by the office of the Registrar of Voters for Los Angeles County that they could not comply with the
dates and joint primary within AB 80. They will object
to AB 80 at the hearing.
Knowing the LA County Registrar is “gun shy” from the events of the “Double Bubble” ballot issue of February,
2008 primary. An issue I raised with both the offices
of the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters and the
CA Secretary of State prior to that election, I can not
believe Los Angeles County present Board of Supervisors
ever again want to primary elections on the same date,
let alone three primaries on June 5, 2012.
Knowing, Dr. Don Grundmann (with his 163 member Constitution Party of California), I expect he will try a run for the President of the United State again in 2012. I believe he should run in some party primary other than that of the American Independent Party, since he has not been on either the State Central Committee or National Committee of the American Independent Party since September 2, 2008.
Don Grundmann holds no office in the American Independent Party, he was removed as an area director
of AIP, by 2006 – 2008 party chairman Ed Noonan. Patrick Colglazier of Fremont, California is the Chairman of the Alameda County Central Committee of the
American Independent Party and Dr. Don Grundmann is not
a member of that Central Committee either.
The bottom line is Dr. Don Grundmann claims titles to offices within the American Independent Party that are just disinformation.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Independent Party