Source: Ballot Access News

On April 21, the Constitution Party nominated Virgil Goode for President, on the first ballot. He is the first Constitution Party presidential nominee to have held important elected office.

The vote was: Virgil Goode 203, Darrell Castle 120, Robby Wells 58, Susan Ducey 15, Laurie Roth 6. Delegates from 35 states cast votes.

Castle carried Arizona, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Read more »

Source: Ballot Access News

Southern California hosts two minor party presidential debates this weekend.

On Sunday, April 22, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the four Peace & Freedom Party presidential candidates will debate each other at the Westside Peace Center, 3916 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City. They are Stewart Alexander, Rocky Anderson, Stephen Durham, and Peta Lindsay. The Peace & Freedom Party asked the Secretary of State to list all four of Read more »

Source: Independent Political Report

Excerpts from a statement yesterday by Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle:

Most who refer to themselves as pro-life believe that the fetus becomes an individual endowed with full rights at the moment of conception. Most of those who call themselves pro-choice believe that an individual entitled to rights does not exist at least until there is a functional brain, capable of consciousness, which most scientists place somewhere Read more »

Source: Independent Political Report

Virgil Goode has won the Presidential nomination of the Constitution Party on the first ballot, winning a majority of 203 votes. He made it clear, prior to the vote, that his choice for Vice Presidential candidate is outgoing Chairman Jim Clymer of Pennsylvania. Clymer is, by far, the favorite now to win the Vice Presidential nomination of the Constitution Party–it’s not known to us here at IPR whether he faces an opponent. Read more »

Source: Independent Political Report

A couple of issues were brought before the Convention as a whole based on petition.

The Social Security plank failed on a voice vote. The estimate I received was around 75% to 25%.

The Preamble was also brought before the Convention as a whole. This was news to me. I was aware that the SS plank was being petitioned out. The Preamble change lost 46-64. Read more »

Source: Independent Political Report

Both Dave Weigel and Daniel Larison have commented on the Washington Post Americans Elect story below.

Weigel:

…Currently, the AE front page is a study in hilarious contrasts. Yesterday, the group’s volunteers got it onto its 25th state, South Dakota. And that ballot line will be available Read more »

Source: Independent Political Report

The Washington Post had this recent story on Americans Elect’s trouble catching fire:

Last July, a well-funded nonprofit group called Americans Elect announced it had found a new and more honorable path to the White House. It would bypass the primaries, the founders said, via the Internet.

By empowering Web-izens, the group would skip early-state hucksterism and Read more »

Source: Ballot Access News

On April 20, the Peace & Freedom Party filed this 6-page reply brief in Peace & Freedom Party v Bowen, eastern district, the lawsuit over whether Peta Lindsay should be on the party’s presidential primary ballot. Even if you don’t normally read legal briefs, this one is very interesting and easy to understand.

Click here to read Ballot Access News comments on this article

Source: Ballot Access News

The California Secretary of State has released a voter registration tally, showing totals for each party as of April 6, 2012. Compared to the last tally (the January 3, 2012 tally), the only parties that increased their registration are the American Independent Party, the Peace & Freedom Party, and the Constitution Party (which is not ballot-qualified). Figures are not available for the Reform Party or the Justice Party because those two parties did Read more »

Source: LP.org

WASHINGTON – In response to the abortion restrictions signed into law in Arizona this month, Libertarian Party Chair, Mark Hinkle, issued the following statement:

“Like so many others, Libertarians wrestle with the moral issues associated with abortion. While our party includes a significant number of people who describe themselves as pro-choice, nearly as many members describe themselves as pro-life. In my own view, Read more »