Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.
Two Virginia Legislators have introduced HB 806, to provide that the voter registration form ask applicants to choose a party, or to choose independent status. The authors are L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Woodbridge) and R. Steven Landers (R-Verona).
Richard found two problems with the bill's wording:
1. The bill is deficient, because it says that independents cannot vote in party primaries. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 in Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut that each party with a primary has the right to decide for itself whether to let independents vote in its primary. The bill should acknowledge this, and should set out procedures for parties to notify the State Board of Elections whether they wish independents to vote in their primaries or not.
2. The bill is deficient because it doesn’t permit applicants to register into an unqualified party. This is especially important in Virginia, because Virginia’s definition of “political party” is so strict that only the Democratic and Republican Parties have been qualified for the last 18 years. The only other states for which that is true are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.
CLICK HERE for information about the HB 806 bill.
UPDATE
Virginia Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) has introduced SB 686. It would provide that at Primary elections, no party would be permitted to insist that voters choosing that party’s Primary ballot sign a statement saying they are party members. The bill has an emergency clause, meaning it would go into effect immediately if passed.
CLICK HERE for more information about the bill.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment