Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Free Citizen

This blog is by Steve Rankin from Jackson, Mississippi that blogs about individual liberty, free markets, and limited government. I came across Steve's blog during a thread on Richard Winger's Ballot Access News blog. I had a post that used some thoughts about the recently passed Prop 14 in CA. that came from an email I received that seems to have come from Steve's blog.

Some of his latest post talks about "Open Primary" for Local Offices.

Here in NYC, we are trying to get the Charter Revision Commission created by Mayor Bloomberg to put Non Partisan Municipal Elections issue on the November 2010 ballot. They have until September 2 to make their decision and determine how the question would appear on the ballot.

Use the above link to learn about Steve's blog.

Michael H. Drucker
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Friday, June 25, 2010

2011 National Conference of Independents in NYC

We held a National Conference of Independents in 2007 hosted by CUIP political director Jackie Salit. 500 independents from 31 states gathered in New York City for a day long event featuring an in-depth look at how independents can increase visibility and influence in the political process.

We will be holding a National Conference of Independents in New York City in 2011.



Use the above link for more information.

Michael H. Drucker
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Oregon Independent Party to Hold Internet Primary‏

The Oregon Independent Party is a ballot-qualified party in Oregon. It has 54,920 registered members, which is 2.7% of the number of registered voters in the state. Oregon only holds primaries for parties with registration membership of 5% or more. This year, the major party primaries were on May 18.

The Independent Party has so many members, it decided to not nominating by convention or caucus, instead it is holding its own primary, at its own expense, via the internet. The party is sending a postal letter to every member, giving him or her a unique ID number. That number can then be used by that voter to vote in the party's on-line primary during July.

For more information about the process, use the above link.

Because Oregon legalized fusion last year, the party has many contested primaries. For Governor, the party has a 3-candidate race: two members of the Independent Party (Jerry Wilson and Richard Esterman), and the Democratic nominee, John Kitzhaber. For U.S. House in the 3rd district, the Independent Party primary is between the Green Party nominee and the Libertarian Party nominee. For the 4th and 5th districts, the Independent Party primary is between the Democratic and Republican nominees. For all state and federal offices combined, there are 77 candidates in the party's primary.

On June 22 the Secretary of State rejected a complaint by the Democratic Party that the Independent Party's nomination procedures are unlawful.

The Independent Party was founded in 2005 by supporters of Ralph Nader, and others, who were frustrated that in 2005, the Oregon legislature passed a bill that made it far more difficult for independent candidates to get on the ballot. That 2005 law was repealed in 2009. It said that primary voters could not sign independent candidate petitions.

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Non Partisan Elections in NYC

Now that Prop 14. Open Primaries has past in CA., it is time for Non Partisan Elections to get on the 2010 Ballot in NYC. The Charter Revision Commission must make their decision by Sept. 2 to have time to add it to the ballot for Absentee & Military ballots.

We brought our signs, ideas, and expert witness to the Commission's public meeting June 2 for VOTER PARTICIPATION. Independents have been petitioning students and New Yorkers, in public places, engaging in a dialogue about the disenfranchisement of more than 800,000 New York voters that are kept out of the first and most crucial phase of voting. Independents have obtained signatures of registered independents, but also of registered Democrats and Republicans, in support of placing non-partisan elections on the ballot. This hard work has culminated in over 1,000 signatures by young voters in a letter to the Charter Revision Commission. Another 1,000+ signatures, different from the ones provided to the Commission, were included in a letter to Mayor Bloomberg. The fruits of this labor were manifested by the young people in attendance at the voter participation forum at Lehman College. The engagement of youth in attendance was evident in their testimony.
Now it is time for all New Yorkers' to get involved. Here is a sample of our new petition form to collect more signatures for the Commission.



If you are a concerned New Yorker, call 212-962-1699 to ask to sign or collect more signatures.

Michael H. Drucker
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

California Voters Pass "Open Primary"

On June 8, California voters enacted Proposition 14, a measure for a "top two open primary".

"All candidates, including independents, are listed on a single ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the runoff."


Joyce Dattner, Chair of IndependentVoice.Org, speaks at the victory press conference for Proposition 14 with Governor Arnold Schwazenegger and Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado. IndependentVoice.Org represents the state's 3.4 million decline to state voters (California's version of independent) and is part of the national independent movement fighting to reform the political process.

CA has used a similar system for its county and municipal elections for nearly 100 years, and Prop. 14 will affect state and congressional elections. The only other states with such a system are Washington and Louisiana. Washington first used it for its state and congressional elections in 2008, and Louisiana has used its "open primary" for state and local elections since 1975.

A comparable ballot measure, Proposition 62, lost in California in 2004, despite Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's support. Spearheading Prop. 14, the governor raised more than $4.5 million for it, enabling backers to outspend opponents 20 to 1. All six of California's registered political parties opposed Prop. 14.

There will definitely be federal litigation against Prop. 14, which could be unconstitutional for congressional elections. A line of rulings from the U. S. Supreme Court has established that any candidate who has met a prior vote test of five percent is entitled to be on the November ballot for Congress. Prop. 14, however, sets a threshold of 25 percent for a candidate to be on the November ballot.

There is a trial that Washington state's "top two" is facing in U. S. District court in November and will also be subjected to litigation in the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Independents supported this from all over the country with donations and phone banks.

Use the above link for more information about the Open Primary win.

Michael H. Drucker
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Thursday, June 3, 2010

NY Senate Passes Instant Runoff Voting

The NY Senate passed (S.3584-B) authorizing New York City and other localities to utilize Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) in local elections. IRV would provide opportunities for voters to express their preferences while at the same time reducing costs for elections. This measure could be of particular importance if the voters of New York City move to a nonpartisan election system, as is currently being considered by Mayor Bloomberg’s Charter Revision Commission.

Given NY's current fiscal crisis, one reason IRV can be so crucial is because it negates the need for separate primary runoffs, which are tremendously expensive. Last year, New York City spent $15 million to hold a Democratic primary runoff election for Comptroller and Public Advocate. Not only was this costly, it was also antidemocratic, since less than eight percent of eligible voters participated. There has to be a better model for running our elections.

Instant Runoff Voting would allow voters to indicate their top choices of candidates for an office by ranking them first, second, third, etc. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the first choice votes, then the candidate receiving the fewest votes is eliminated, and the second choices of those voters are counted. This process is continued until a candidate receives 50 percent of the vote. This eliminates the need for separate runoff elections while still ensuring that a marginal candidate does not win with a very small percentage of the vote in a race with many candidates.

This later factor will become particularly important if we move to nonpartisan elections. Because of the cost factor, there is no runoff system for City Council races, only citywide races. In a nonpartisan citywide election, all candidates could appear on one ballot.

This is one reason nonpartisan voting has always been controversial in New York City – it could allow a minority party’s candidate to win if the majority party’s multi-candidates split the vote too broadly. But it could also allow someone with a small but united base to defeat a slew of mainstream candidates.

The other problem with IVR voting is NY will go to optical scanners in 2010. If this change takes place there will be a major cost to reprogram the new voting system. The voters need to learn how to use the new voting system and then added another new way to vote will make the transition even more complicated.

I am supporting Non Partisan Municipal Elections with the Top-Two going on to the General Election in November. This would eliminate the need for IVR if you eliminated the 50% threshold and the Top-Two after IVR is calculated move on.

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Charter Revision Commission Non Partisan Election Meeting

Again, thanks to The Hankster for this post.

NYC Charter Revision issue forum at Lehman College in the Bronx June 2, 2010, featured an expert panel on the topic of voter participation, including NYC Independence Party attorney Harry Kresky. Kresky spoke about the American tradition of expanding democracy as a civil rights issue. Independents are disenfranchised in the crucial first round of voting in New York City.



I attend the meeting and was impressed by the expert witnesses thoughts using the forum's "Increase Voter Participation" subject to think out of the box on solutions.



Some solutions are:

1. Same Day registration.
2. Absentee Ballot for all.
3. Early Voting.
4. June Primary to address the new 45 day time frame for absentee ballot delivery and return before vote counting. The current September dates would violate the new law.
5. Weekend Voting.
6. Open voting to non-citizens who pay taxes, certain felons.
7. Stronger enforcement of Public Service Voter Registration.
8. Remove the ability for the City Council to override Ballot Measures approved by the voters.
9. Instant Runoff Voting.
10. Internet Voting.
11. Term Limits.
12. Non Partisan Municipal Elections.



Use the above link to read an article by Jarrett Murphy, of City Limits about the meeting.

Michael H. Drucker
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New York Bill Eases Definition of Qualified Party

Thanks to Ballot Access News for this post.

On May 28, S8007 was introduced in the New York State Senate. It liberalizes the definition of a qualified political party. The existing definition says a qualified party is a group that polled at least 50,000 votes for Governor. The bill changes this, so that it is a group that polled at least 50,000 votes for any statewide office in a gubernatorial election year. If this bill were law now, the Green Party would be ballot-qualified, because in 2006 it polled 117,908 votes for Comptroller, and 61,849 votes for Attorney General, and 55,469 votes for U.S. Senate. Governor is the only race in which the Green Party did not receive 50,000 votes.

On June 1, the bill was transferred from the Election Committee to the Rules Committee. According to an employee of the New York legislature, this is a good sign for the bill, because “Rules is a stronger committee than Elections.” The bill’s author is the Rules Committee itself, so the bill is likely to pass the Rules Committee.

Michael H. Drucker
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Independence Party Founder Invited to Advise NYC Charter Commission on Nonpartisan Elections‏

Independence Party founder Harry Kresky, who is the nations leading legal advocate for independent voters, has been invited to join a panel of experts advising the NYC Charter Revision Commission on the subject of nonpartisan elections at a public forum. He will be appearing at the NYC Charter Revision Commissions forum on Wednesday, June 2nd at Lehman College in the Bronx.

The June 2nd forum is a critical moment in the process of determining whether an initiative for nonpartisan elections will go on the ballot, either 2010 or 2011, for voter approval. Your presence at the forum is urgently needed!

If you think we need to open the primaries in NYC, then we need your help this Wednesday at Lehman College. The Independence Party is mobilizing members to attend in order to make plain that nonpartisan elections -- which would allow NYC's nearly 1 million independents to be part of the primary process -- is a popular issue with broad public support and should go on the ballot for voter approval.

HISTORY

By the 1950s, more than 60 percent of municipalities nationwide had adopted nonpartisan elections. Today, 41 of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. with an elected mayor use nonpartisan elections including Los Angles, Houston, San Diego, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle.

• Voting in local elections is declining. The number of non-enrolled voters is growing rapidly, particularly among youth and recent immigrants.
• The ballot petition procedures candidates must follow are famously burdensome and knocking opponents off the ballot absurdly common.
• Party bosses still seek to stifle competition and exact patronage.
• Perhaps most significantly, many candidates win their party primary with less than a third of the votes, with general elections serving as confirmations rather than contests.

It is not surprising, given the sum of these variables, that incumbent re-election rates approach 100 percent, as party bosses continue to wield power. The system is indeed broken. The city’s independent voters, ever-growing in number, are effectively disenfranchised, since the party primary decides all but a few elections.

How would nonpartisan elections work?

Since the Charter revision of 1989, Special elections to fill a vacancy in the term of a City Council member have been conducted on a nonpartisan basis. The current state rules for petitions are:
• For any office to be filled by all voters of the City of NY, 7,500 signatures are needed.
• For any office to be filled in the City of NY by all the voters of any City Council District, 2,700 signatures are needed.

Speaker Gifford Miller, Majority Leader Joel Rivera, and Minority Leader James Oddo were first elected to the City Council in nonpartisan elections. And earlier, there was a spirited nonpartisan election for a vacant City Council seat in Bay Ridge.

As the commission explores the design of nonpartisan elections, a number of variables will be considered. These include:
• Which municipal offices should be covered?
• When should the elections be held, when should the new arrangements go into effect.
• How would candidates get on the ballot?
• How would the nonpartisan format affect the city’s campaign finance program and vice versa.
• How would votes be counted, I support Top Two go to the General Election in November.
• What would be the role of political parties?

As we examine the experience of other cities and consider the lessons they hold for New York, it is important to note several features unique to New York that can serve to enhance the effects of nonpartisan elections. New York has a generous campaign finance program, and a widely distributed Voter Guide. Contributing to civic debate and voter information in New York are the number of competing daily newspapers, weekly papers, cable news stations, ethnic and general radio stations, and powerful unions and other organized groups.

Voter turnout: Some have asserted that nonpartisan elections lead to reduced voter turnout. The research here is scanty, and often fails to compare turnouts in large cities. A further contradiction in opponents’ arguments concerns the assertion that in the absence of party labels voters will not have a cue as to a candidate’s views. Yet in the Democratic primary, where most elections are decided, voters differentiate among candidates without any party label to assist them. They do this by using information gleaned from the Voter Guide, the community newspapers, and the abundance of campaign literature that the campaign finance program funds. In New York City, at least, this argument lacks salience and is demeaning to voters.

Minority participation: In a city with a majority “minority” population, this is an important issue. Nonpartisan elections are held in forty-one of the nation’s fifty largest cities. Compared to partisan election cities in recent elections, nonpartisan election cities have elected a higher percentage of black and Latino mayors – 34 percent vs. 22 percent. At the least, this suggests than minorities are likely to do at least as well in nonpartisan cities as in partisan ones.

At bottom, the issue is whether we continue to allow a small group of party officials to determine both who gets on the ballot and who can vote in the elections that matter or do we expand opportunity and access. This is not a matter of abstract “good government” principle, but rather a response to the increasing numbers of voters who feel left out of the process as it operates today.

I will attend the forum and will be part of the independents making our case to the Charter Revision Commission on Wednesday, June 2nd. We need 125 independents in the room holding up our beautiful new poster (pictured below) to show that nonpartisan elections is a popular issue with broad public support.



Use the above link for more information about the forum and the Charter Revision Commission.

Michael H. Drucker
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