Michael Chamness, who is on the ballot in this month’s special California State Senate election in Los Angeles County, has this op-ed in the Daily Breeze, explaining some of the problems for voters caused by the new top-two system.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
How about the problems for the EVIL party hack gerrymander incumbents ??
i.e. having 2 Ds or 2 Rs in the same general election gerrymander district.
P.R. — NO primaries are needed or wanted.
REPEAL PROPOSITION 14!
This was my post in the articles comment section:
In this new political arena, most voters are looking at the value of the candidate, not the party. But I agree there are changes to be made for the CA Top Two. Here are my changes:
How it Could Be Run
To create a system to answer all the Supreme Court issues, I would create a system with these features:
1. All Candidates selected by their parties paid for system, ballot accepted new minor party candidates, independents, and write-ins are on one ballot.
2. There is two boxes. One optionally indicates the Candidates registered party. The other optionally indicates all endorsements.
3. The Top Two go on to the General Election.
A possible additional element could be IRV. This would allow the first selection of a favorite son or daughter, vanity candidate, etc. I also do not like the 50% + 1 concept. Top Two means Top Two.
#3, those fixes aren’t enough. Congressional elections are in November, by federal law. November elections also elect the president in presidential years. Therefore, the peak of interest in politics, and the time when most people are paying attention to ideas for fixing our problems, is in September-November of even-numbered years. Anything that quarantines that prime period so only Democrats and Republicans are running is a blow to the circulation of ideas. California’s primary is in early June.
P.R. will quickly fix ALL problems — caused by the gerrymander party hack robot MONSTERS.
Other obvious choice — have the 60 percent plus Donkey Areas and 60 percent plus Elephant areas SECEDE from each other — and see which regimes survive — after a zillion folks move to the regimes that they like.
It is unclear when Michael Chamness changed his registration to declare his intent to affiliate with the Coffee Party in the next (February 2012 presidential) primary. He was elected in June 2010 to the Los Angeles County Central Committee of the Green Party.
If his registration change was within 3 months of his declaration of candidacy, he would have been forbidden from appearing on the ballot PERIOD. Even if he had switched soon enough, he would have had to gather 500 signatures compared to most other candidates 40.
If this were a general election, that 3 months would have been 13 months and he would have had to gather over 10,000 signatures, compared to his opponents 40 signatures.
The Senate 28 special election has already attracted as many candidates not affiliated with the Big 6 hexopoly, as the previous 23 special senate elections combined.
It is not true that the law says that Michael Chamness may not have his party preference appear on the ballot.
The law requires Michael Chamness to either have his party preference or have nothing.
The reason Donna Frye almost won the San Diego mayors race as a write-in was because the primary was in March 2004 and the general election in November 2004.
The reason that Lisa Murkowski had to run as a write-in candidate was because she lost the nomination in a restricted partisan primary. Had Alaska used a Top 2 Open Primary, she probably would have qualified for the general election ballot.
The last serious attempt at a write-in candidacy in a legislative special election was when the Top 2 candidates were both Republicans, but under the bizarre blanket primary used in California for special elections, only one advanced, along with some also-rans from other parties.
Richard, we could start with local and state elections. I have not thought thru how to handle the presidential question, electorial college vs. popular vote.
Mike,
Who do you like to see the AIP run in California for
President on February 7, 2012 ballot?
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Independent Party
I am still waiting for more info from Jon Meade Huntsman, Sr. on issues. At this time I have not found a strong independent voice. I am part of the organization that will bring independent activists to New York City on 2/12.2011. Here is some info about the conference:
We will be holding a National Conference of Independents in New York City on Feb. 12, 2011 at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. It will be hosted by CUIP political director Jackie Salit.
Independents from over 38 states will gather for a day long event featuring an in-depth look at how independents can increase visibility and influence in the political process.
The program highlights are:
New Documentary
Watch the premier of the latest political documentary by Jackie Salit, the President and Founder of IndependentVoting.org. This multimedia presentation covers the impact of the independent movement on the Obama White House, on Congress, on the political parties and on a cross section of political forces. This cutting edge documentary is a great introduction to independent politics. It explains the relevance of the independent movement to urgent social, economic and cultural problems in America.
Talk/Talk
Hear a “Talk/Talk” conversation with Jackie Salit and Dr. Fred Newman, the Stanford-trained philosopher, playwright, author and pioneer of independent politics. Talk/Talk is a Newman/Salit specialty – think Charlie Rose, Oprah and Aristotle all rolled up into one!
Panel Discussion
Moderated by Jackie Salit and General Counsel, Harry Kresky
The panel includes:
Theresa Amato, Ralph Nader’s Presidential Campaign Manager in 2004
John Avlon, Senior Political Consultant, Founder, No Labels
Lenora Fulani, Co-founder, independentvoting.org
Michael Hardy, General Counsel, National Action Network
Douglas Schoen, pollster and author
Abel Maldonado, former Lt. Governor of California
James Mangia, Executive Director, St. John’s Well Child & Family Center; Founding Secretary, National Reform Party
Cathy Stewart, Chair, New York County Independence Party
Bradley Tusk, Founder, Tusk Strategies; Campaign manager Bloomberg 2009
Mock Trial
Are you a fan of Law and Order, The Good Wife, or even Judge Judy? If so, you don’t want to miss this. We will be staging a mock trial to explore a fictional (but not improbable) “people vs. the parties” controversy. A cast of prominent civil rights and election lawyers, actors, elected officials, and a famous “surprise witness” will stage a courtroom trial and in the process shed light on the growing conflict between parties’ rights and voters’ rights.
Dispatches from the Movement
Get the inside scoop from leaders on what’s happening on the ground, behind the scenes, in the hallways of power and on the street corners, as independents intensify their efforts to enact structural political reforms like open primaries across the country. This is independent politics straight from the source.
Discussion and Dialogue
Conference attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the days’ proceedings in an open mic session, not to mention the chance to meet and mingle throughout the day.
I just viewed Jon Meade Huntsman, Sr. at a Palin VP rally and have crossed him off my list.
#4: Assuming that the parties challenge the timing of congressional elections, I believe that Washington state and California will ultimately have to hold the first round of the “top two” for Congress on the first Tuesday in November, with the runoff at a later date picked by the state.
Louisiana, of course, only has a runoff when no candidate gets 50%-plus in the first round. Runoffs for Congress are held in early December, after the national excitement over congressional races is history.
Since Washington and California will ALWAYS have a second round of voting, the runoff for Congress will definitely be anti-climactic, especially when both candidates are from the same party.
#8, paragraph 2: Murkowski could have run as an independent or as a write-in candidate from the get-go. Over half of Alaskans are registered independents, and since the Republicans invite independents to vote in their primaries, 80%-plus of the state’s voters are eligible to vote in the GOP primary. And 100% of the voters are eligible to vote in the Democratic//minor party blanket primary.
# 4 and 13 — How about having the Congress party hacks enact a law requiring party hack primaries in June/July and any runoff primaries (and top 2 primaries) in Aug/Sep so that there is ONE FINAL FINAL *election* in November ???
– i.e. END the LA Dec EVIL nonsense (also in other States for U.S.A. Reps and Sens).
#13/#4 In the oral arguments in Foster v Love, one Justice asked what would have happened if Louisiana had waited to certify the winner of the primary until November, and there was no clear answer. Justice Souter doesn’t really say what constitutes a “choosing” by the people, but that simply when the governor signs a piece of paper that Jean Deaux was elected on October 5th, that he obviously wasn’t chosen in November.
There really is no reason for court intervention in this matter. Each house has the necessary authority to review the election of any member from Washington. Congress also has the authority to dictate the time of congressional primaries, and could simply require that any Top 2 Open Primary occur after August 1.
#13/#8 But it would obviously would be simpler to have a Top 2 Open primary.
U.S.A. Const. Art. I, Sec. 2, para. 1
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
——
*chosen* and *Electors* are impossible to understand ???
Is the NE regime required to have 2 or more branches in its State Legislature ???