From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On December 4, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party filed a lawsuit against the Kentucky definition of a qualified party. The case is Libertarian Party of Kentucky v Grimes, e.d. 3:15cv-86.
Kentucky is the only state in which it is impossible for a party to ever be ballot-qualified until it polls a particular share of the vote for President.… Read more ...
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On September 10, the Vermont Progressive Party filed an amended Complaint in Corren v Sorrell, 2:15cv-58. The amended Complaint charges that Vermont campaign finance law is unconstitutional, when it prohibits political parties from spending even one cent on their nominees who have qualified for public funding.… Read more ...
From Mark Wachtler at Opposition News:
America’s opposition left wing will meet in Chicago this weekend to discuss the future of anti-establishment progressive and socialist politics in America. Opposition political leaders who have pledged to participate represent a who’s who of the country’s political left wing, from middle-left to far left.… Read more ...
From Erin Mansfield at the Bennington Banner:
Frustrated by stalled efforts to legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol, two Vermont lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday that would instead ban alcohol and treat it like marijuana.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, called it a symbolic step to “recognize recent scientific studies that demonstrate that alcohol use is significantly more dangerous than marijuana.”
Under the proposed law, possession of large quantities of alcohol, plus cultivation, distribution or sale of alcohol, would carry criminal penalties with up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.… Read more ...
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
In November 2014, Dean Corren was the Progressive Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor. He was also nominated by the Democratic Party, and he received 36.1% of the general election vote. Now the Attorney General, William Sorrell, has sued Corren, saying that an e-mail sent by the Vermont Democratic Party to its list of supporters, inviting recipients to attend a rally featuring U.S.… Read more ...
From the Vermont Progressive Party website:
It seems that every couple years the legislature tries to make seemingly minor changes in election law that would dramatically impact our Party. As a small Party without large staff resources, our practices are often different from the two big parties. And while I doubt Democrats are intentionally trying to hurt Progressives with such legislation, the results could be damaging nonetheless.… Read more ...
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On March 3, Burlington, Vermont, held its election for city office. The Democratic nominee for Mayor was re-elected, defeating the Progressive Party nominee, the Libertarian nominee, and an independent candidate. The new city council has 4 Democrats, 4 Progressives, 3 independents, and one Republican.… Read more ...
From the VT Progressive Party website:
The following resolution on healthcare was adopted by the VT Progressive Party’s State Committee on Feb. 22, 2015.
The Vermont Progressive Party believes health care is a human right, not just for who can afford it. It is not a commodity, nor should it be a resource ruled by market-based solutions.… Read more ...
From the Vermont Progressive Party website:
Thu, 2014-12-18 20:31
Governor Peter Shumlin abandoned single payer healthcare yesterday right when political leadership was needed most to push Vermont and the country forward. He broke five years of campaign promises to Vermonters that he would not rest until we had single payer healthcare.… Read more ...
This report outlines some strong (and not-so-strong) performances turned in by political parties that are currently active in only one state:
In Hawaii, Hawaii Independent Party candidate Mufi Hannemann won more than 11% of the vote in his race for Governor.
In Massachusetts, United Independent Party candidate Evan Falchuk appears to have come in third in his race for Governor with more than 3% of the vote.… Read more ...
By Austin Cassidy at Uncovered Politics:
October 29, 2014 5:54 pm
As recently as a few weeks ago it looked like we were heading for a record year for third party and independent candidates in the modern era. Independents in South Dakota, Kansas, Maine and Alaska all seemed like they had victory within their grasp.… Read more ...
From Ballot Access News:
Four incumbent state legislators who are not Democratic or Republican nominees are virtually certain to be re-elected next month, because no opponent to them is on the ballot.
Rusty Kidd, Georgia’s only independent state legislator, has no opponents. He didn’t need to submit a petition signed by 5% of the registered voters because Georgia law exempts independent and minor party incumbents from petitioning.… Read more ...