Washington Wire WSJ: Paul Tamps Down Third-Party Talk

Source Article Washington Wire WSJ

Posted October 30, 2000 here>>>

By Brent Kendall

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul on Sunday tamped down speculation he may eventually launch a third-party bid for the presidency, though he said such an outside run wouldn’t sink the Republican Party’s chances of capturing the White House.

Mr. Paul, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said no one has asked him to make a third-party run.  “I have no plans whatsoever to do it,” Mr. Paul said.

He conceded that an independent run by one of the GOP candidates “would cause a little bit of a problem.”  But the Texas congressman also said a third-party bid wouldn’t doom Republicans, citing John Anderson’s independent bid in the 1980 presidential election. “Ronald Reagan did quite well with Anderson in it,” he said.

During a Fox News appearance last week, Mr. Paul declined to make a firm pledge that he wouldn’t run on a third-party ticket.  With a laugh, he offered this instead during the Fox interview:  “I pledge that I have no intention of doing it.”

Mr. Paul is running third in Iowa, behind Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, according to a new Des Moines Register poll of likely GOP caucusgoers.

My comment on the post site:

Sandra Crosnoe

Posted for R3publicans

Ron Paul is indeed the standard bearer for a growing number of limited government Constitutional government people inside the Republican party, independents, and yes even Democrats crossing over this cycle to help. The real question is how the Republican party treats one of it’s own and if the Republican party wants to grow into what it can be. We shall see. Let’s treat one another well and debate the issues and grow our ranks into the force that can actually implement sound money policies and actually stop globalist nation building/meddling overseas.

Let’s agree to only go to war when Congress declares war and stop with the imperial presidency mentality of recent administrations. Ron Paul is our Champion of the Constitution and the People’s choice for Preident in 2012!

Ballot access reform bills in 15 states nation-wide

Ballot access reform bills in 15 states nation-wide

CHICAGO (April 1) – In the coming weeks, legislators in at least 15 states will be working on legislation to curb unnecessary restrictions on voter choice. In some of these states, ballot access reforms have already made it into law.

On March 16, Nebraska became the first state this year to enact ballot access reform, according to Richard Winger’s Ballot Access News, eliminating “the county distribution requirement for statewide non-presidential independent candidate petitions,” when Governor Dave Heineman signed LB 399 into law.

Three days later, Senate Bill 403, the New Mexico omnibus election law bill passed the New Mexico Senate unanimously after being passed by the House with a unanimous vote. The bill contains provisions to extend the petition deadline for independent candidates by three weeks, and lower the petition signature requirement for new parties in mid-term election years.

In Illinois, Rep. Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville) introduced House Bill 2854, to allow candidates to pay a filing fee in place of Illinois’ discriminatory petitioning requirements, “[helping] Illinois in this time of financial crisis, while opening up the electoral process,” according to Christina Tobin, founder of the Free & Equal Elections Foundation, which is backing the bill. Free & Equal held a press conference recently with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, to highlight the national character of these reforms.

Moving east, the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition is working with Rep. Eugene DePasquale (D-York) and Senator Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) to push for passage of the Voters’ Choice Act (Senate Bill 21). The bill would lower the threshold for new parties to become recognized for the ballot, and reduce the number of signatures required for independent candidates.

In North Carolina, State Reps Stephen LaRoque (R-Lenoir), Glen Bradley (R-Youngsville), Paul Leubke (D-Durham) and Jean Farmer-Butterfield (D-Wilson) introduced the Electoral Freedom Act (House Bill 32) in early February. The Free the Vote Coalition, composed of fifteen organizations including Free the Vote North Carolina, the Free & Equal Elections Foundation, FairVote Action, the John Locke Foundation and Democracy North Carolina, are actively lobbying for the bill’s passage. State Senators Andrew C. Brock (R-Mocksville) and Eleanor Kinnaird (D-Chapel Hill) introduced Senate Bill 225, a companion bill, in the NC Senate in early March.

Oklahomans for Ballot Access Reform (OBAR) is working with Rep. Charles Key (R-Oklahoma City) to promote House Bill 1058, which would cut the signature requirement for new political parties in half. The bill calls for a 22,500 signature requirement, rather than the current requirement of 5% of votes cast in the last statewide election.

In Alabama, an organization called Independent Alabama is backing a ballot access reform effort, while Marylanders4Democracy is pressing the issue in Maryland. The New Hampshire Libertarian Party is backing a ballot access reform bill in their state. Other states with pending ballot access legislation are Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Missouri and New York.

Christina Tobin of the Free & Equal Elections Foundation stated, “this is the largest number of states pursuing ballot access reform in over a decade. This is a sign that people are waking up, and demanding their right to vote for the candidate of their choice. We’re pleased with the number and quality of the legislation being introduced, and look forward to better government from the coming elections as a result.”

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Free & Equal is a nonpartisan, non-profit public-policy advocacy organization dedicated to election reform and improving ballot access laws in the United States.

407 S. Dearborn Street ♦ Suite 1170 ♦ Chicago, IL ♦ 60605
(312) 320-4101 ♦ FAX (866) 309-7803

CONTACT: Christina Tobin, Founder and Chair

Phone: 312-320-4101

Web: www.freeandequal.org