Category Archives: political parties

“The real obstacle to voter turnout in Democratic primaries: caucuses”

May 2, 2016, 12:27 pmpolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Jeff Stein for Vox: Bernie Sanders wants to transform how the Democratic Party chooses its presidential nominee. To do so, Sanders has made abolishing the closed primary — which prevents independents from voting — one of his top demands of… Continue reading

“Inquirer editorial: How to fix the primaries”

May 2, 2016, 7:55 amalternative voting systems, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

Philly.com: Two states, California and Washington, have gone further, instituting “top two” primaries for non-presidential elections. All candidates compete in a single preliminary election, from which the two most popular proceed to the general, even if they’re both Democrats,… Continue reading

“Sanders makes a public plea for Democratic superdelegates to switch allegiances”

May 1, 2016, 7:23 pmpolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

WaPo reports; White House hopeful Bernie Sanders, who has fought the Democratic establishment throughout his campaign, made an extraordinary appeal Sunday for party insiders to help deliver the nomination to him, even if he doesn’t catch rival Hillary Clinton… Continue reading

“The Caucuses and the Right to Vote”

April 28, 2016, 10:52 amelection administration, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

Lawyers’ Committee has produced an interactive map of complaints about disenfranchisement in the use of caucuses. Time to kill the caucuses.

“John Boehner just confirmed everything liberals suspected about the Republican Party”

April 28, 2016, 8:23 ampolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Ezra Klein: But don’t laugh it off. John Boehner was the Speaker of the House as recently as a single year ago. He is, himself, a conservative Republican. And he is saying, flatly, that the Republican Party has been captured… Continue reading

“Exclusive: Half of Americans think presidential nominating system ‘rigged’ – poll”

April 27, 2016, 7:26 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Reuters: More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.… Continue reading

“Ballot Access Blues: California GOP Shuts Independents Out of Presidential Primary”

April 25, 2016, 9:42 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

William Welch for Moyers & Co.

“Sanders campaign’s new strategy on superdelegates leaves some unimpressed”

April 24, 2016, 11:46 amcampaigns, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

LAT: “You’re trying to woo us now, but we remember when you were trashing us,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, one of 21 superdelegates from the state, the largest of five that hold primaries Tuesday.

“US election: Republican says delegate vote-buying and gifts are part of ‘the free market of politics'”

April 24, 2016, 11:32 amcampaigns, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

ABC Australia reports.

“Republicans Reject Effort to Alter Rules on Allowing New Candidate at Convention”

April 21, 2016, 9:31 pmpolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

NYT: A Republican National Committee panel on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected an effort to make preliminary changes to the rules governing the party’s convention this summer, batting away a move to make it more difficult for party leaders to draft a… Continue reading

“The Loophole That Could Cost Donald Trump the Nomination”

April 21, 2016, 7:18 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Nate Cohn for NYT’s The UpShot: No other state leaves so many of its delegates unbound — allowed to vote for whomever they please at the convention. That’s because it conducts its loophole primary in two parts. First is the… Continue reading

“RNC Delegates Should Think Twice Before Accepting Bags of Cash”

April 21, 2016, 7:15 amcampaigns, political parties, primariesRick Hasen

US News reports.

“More setbacks for Trump, as Cruz outmuscles him — again — in delegate selection”

April 18, 2016, 7:43 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

WaPo: Donald Trump is on the verge of a big win in the New York Republican primary, but the GOP presidential front-runner had another terrible weekend in his bid to ensure that supporters show up at the Republican convention in… Continue reading

Today’s Must Read: LA Times on “American Independent” Voters Who Will Be Out of Democratic Presidential Primay

April 17, 2016, 11:55 ampolitical parties, third partiesRick Hasen

LAT: With nearly half a million registered members, the American Independent Party is bigger than all of California’s other minor parties combined. The ultraconservative party’s platform opposes abortion rights and same sex marriage, and calls for building a fence along… Continue reading

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