Category Archives: Libertarian

If the Ohio primary tells us anything, its that Trump is still dominant in the Republican Party. All of his endorsed candidates won their races. If that holds here in North Carolina, well have Ted Budd as the GOP Senate nominee, Madison Cawthorn in the 11thCongressional district, and Bo Hines in whatever district he finally chose. If I were a Republican, I would be embarrassed, but if weve learned anything from the Trump years, we learned Republicans have no shame.

Trumps dominance in the party lays bare the fact that the so-called Conservative Movement based on principles of liberty, small government, and free-markets wasnt really a movement at all. It was what so many of us believed all alonga cover for reactionary populism of Jim Crow and was fueled by White nationalism and theocratic evangelicalism. Ronald Reagan may have been the face of party, but the Moral Majority was the engine.

Sure, there were true believers among the free-marketeers, but they didnt have the numbers to get elected on their own merit. They were always dependent on resentment politics to get a enough support to reach a majority. And those movement conservatives always denied the racism in their midst because they believed, falsely, that the bigots were a minority in their party. In fact, the opposite was true.

Whats most surprising, though, is how many of the movement conservatives have abandoned their beliefs for tribalism, making excuses for MAGA and supporting the blatantly White nationalist GOP. North Carolina has always been an epicenter of the balance and its now one of the clearest examples of the reactionaries dominating the ideologues and the ideologues surrendering their principles. The NC GOP is MAGA through and through.

The John Locke Foundation and Civitas were begun by Art Pope as free-market think tanks with a libertarian bent. They built a fierce campaign arm that funded the GOP transformation from a minority to a majority party. Their influence peaked in 2010 and 2012 when they underwrote the elections that captured the legislature and Governors Mansion. By 2016, they were on the decline, backing the failed governorship of Pat McCrory and initially opposing Donald Trump.

Six years later, Civitas and JLF are in control of MAGA tribalists defending everything from the homophobia of Mark Robinson to the anti-vaxxers with a death wish. The new leadership is loath to criticize Trump or take on the Big Lie. They might criticize Madison Cawthorn now that hes made a clown of himself, but they wont criticize Dan Bishop who votes exactly like Cawthorn, siding with Russia over Ukraine, praising the crazy Lauren Boebert, and supporting an America First agenda. Theyve evolved from organizations dedicated to promoting liberty and the free-market to campaign operations focused on maintaining power at any cost.

The primary season is revealing Trumps continued grip on the GOP and the reality that the party is grounded in nationalism and evangelicalism, not a commitment to liberty or free-markets. His candidates dominated Ohio, including nominee JD Vance who was an anti-Trumper until he read the writing on the wall. In North Carolina, well see next week whether Trumps control over our GOP is as complete. I suspect it is.

Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >

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The primary season shows Trump's continued dominance of the GOP - PoliticsNC

This morning I appeared on C-SPAN Washington Journal to talk aboutDobbs. I was asked to explain how the Supreme Court could overrule precedent, and extinguish a judicially-created constitutional right.

This question has been used to criticize the stare decisis analysis in the draftDobbs opinion. Sure, the Supreme Court has overruled precedents, but has (almost) always done so to expand liberty. Brown v. Board of Education, for example, (partially) overruledPlessy, but did so in the service of expanding the equal protection under the law.

This argument presumes that liberty is defined by removing the state's power to restrict individuals.ConsiderAdkins v. Children's Hospital andWest Coast Hotel v. Parrish. The former case protected a right of individuals to contract. The latter case protected the right of the people to govern themselves, and mandate a minimum wage. Both cases involved rights of different sorts. To say that West Coast Hotel did not promote liberty is to adopt a classically libertarian understanding of liberty. But there is more than one conception of liberty.

Chief Justice Roberts explored this concept in hisObergefell dissent:

Those who founded our country would not recognize the majority's conception of the judicial role. They after all risked their lives and fortunes for the precious right to govern themselves. They would never have imagined yielding that right on a question of social policy to unaccountable and unelected judges.

Justice Scalia made this point more forcefully in hisObergefell dissent:

Today's decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. The opinion in these cases is the furthest extension in factand the furthest extension one can even imagineof the Court's claimed power to create "liberties" that the Constitution and its Amendments neglect to mention. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves.

Justice Alito's draft opinion explains that there are many conceptions of liberty, quoting Lincoln and Berlin:

Historical inquiries of this nature are essential whenever we are asked to recognize a new component of the "liberty" protected by the Due Process Clause because the term "liberty" alone provides little guidance. "Liberty" is a capacious term. As Lincoln once said: "We all declare for Liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing." In a well-known essay, Isaiah Berlin reported that "[h]istorians of ideas" had catalogued more than 200 different senses in which the terms had been used.

It is a mistake to argue that Dobbs extinguishes a right, without also acknowledging that the decision would restore another right. OverrulingRoe would extinguish a judicially-created right to abortion, but it would restore a very different right: the right of the people to govern themselves.

Read the rest here:

Overruling Roe Would Extinguish A Judicially Created Right, But Would Restore The People's "Precious Right To Govern Themselves" - Reason

As the COVID-19 pandemic rattled global supply chains, each of the two most recent presidential administrations stressed the importance of limiting America's supposed reliance on imported goods and boosting domestic supply chains. Now, a national shortage of baby formula is testing that theoryand the results don't look good for the "Made in America" crowd.

The shortage is a serious one. According to CBS News, about 40 percent of the top-selling brands are currently out of stock. And as news of the shortage spreads, fears of panic-buying that could further deplete supply lines are causing some stores and pharmacies to limit how many units consumers can buy, The New York Timesreports.

Much of the current shortage is rooted in a February recall of formula after a suspected bacterial outbreak at an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan. The recall affected three major brands of powdered baby formula, and the plant was subsequently closed as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected it. On Saturday, a spokesperson for Abbott told CNN that the company is working with the FDA to restore full operations.

With the Abbott plant out of commission for the time being, America's demand for baby formula has outpaced domestic supply. It's exactly the type of situation where imports would help alleviate the domestic supply crunch and make American markets more resilient.

Unfortunately, American trade policy is doing exactly the opposite right now. Tariffs and quotassome that predate the Trump and Biden administrations, but others that were worsened in recent yearsmake it burdensome and costly to import the supplies that are now desperately needed. Sometimes those imports aren't allowed at all, for reasons that have nothing to do with health and safety.

"Surely, protectionism isn't the only reason for the current formula crisis," Scott Lincicome, director of general economics and trade for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, tells Reason, "but it's just-as-surely making things worse."

As Lincicome has noted on Twitter, imports of infant formula are subject to tariff-rate quotas of 17.5 percent after certain thresholds are met. As the name suggests, tariff-rate quotas are meant to be set high enough that they effectively block additional imports by making it unprofitable to pay the tariff. In a year like this one, when domestic supplies are flagging and more formula is needed, that creates a serious impediment for suppliers.

But even if importers and consumers were willing to swallow those higher costs right now, they might be prohibited from having that choice. Last year, for example, the FDA forced a recall of approximately 76,000 units of infant formula manufactured in Germany and imported into the United States. The formula wasn't a health or safety risk to babies but merely failed to meet the FDA's labeling standards. In this case, the products were banned for not informing parents that they contained less than 1 milligram of iron per 100 calories.

In a separate incident last year, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) bragged in a press release about seizing 588 cases of baby formula that violated other FDA regulations. The seized formulas were made by HiPP and Holle brands, which are based in Germany and the Netherlands, respectively. Both are widely and legally sold in Europe and around the rest of the world.

Even when there isn't a shortage of formula in the market, consumers should be given the choice to buy perfectly safe products that are approved by regulators in Europe even if they fail to meet the FDA's standards. Now, especially, many parents would probably prefer to feed their infants formula imported from Europe instead of not having access to any formula at all. Economic protectionism and unnecessary regulation are the reasons why that's not a viable solution right now.

But rather than moving toward allowing greater trade, the U.S. has recently adopted policies making it more difficult to import infant formula. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) championed by the Trump administration, set new limits on how much baby formula Canada could exportnot just to the United States, but anywhere else in the world too.

As the CBC reported in 2018, that provision was likely a way for the Trump administration to snipe at China, after a Chinese-based company had invested $225 million in a formula manufacturing facility in Canada. The deal was also a win for American dairy farmers and the Trump administration, the CBC reported, after a political spat between the dairy special interests on both sides of the border.

But the new "export fees" included in the USMCA likely make it more costly and difficult for America to import extra supplies of formula from its northern neighbor. Chalk it up to another self-inflicted wound of the trade war with China.

While each of these specific trade and regulatory policies has contributed to the infant formula shortage in small ways, the bigger picture should raise some difficult questions for the economic nationalists who believe that foreign trade is a vulnerability for America's economy. Sen. Josh Hawley (RMo.), for example, has suggested tightening the "Made in America" rules that already govern federal procurement to include "the entire commercial market." Using the power of the federal government to exclude even more foreign-made products, he argued in aNew York Times op-ed last year, is "critical for our national security."

But, as the situation with Abbott Nutrition demonstrates, supply shocks can originate close to home too. Thanks to strict FDA regulations and oppressive tariffs, America is already largely dependent on only domestic suppliers for infant formula: America exports far more than it imports every year.

That's exactly the situation the economic nationalist want in all industriesand we're now seeing exactly how that can go wrong. Cutting off foreign trade and protecting domestic suppliers can make a country more vulnerable to unexpected supply problems, not more resilient.

Read the original post:

America's Trade and Regulatory Policies Have Contributed to the Baby Formula Shortage - Reason

The candidates for those races will instead be chosen at their party's convention.

INDIANAPOLIS When Indiana voters went to the polls on May 3 for Primary Election Day, several major races were not on the ballots.

Hoosiers do not get an opportunity to choose party candidates for secretary of state, auditor of state and treasurer of state. The candidates for those races will instead be chosen at their party's convention.

TheGOP State Convention will be held June 18 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

The Democratic State Convention will also be held June 18 at the Indiana Convention Center.

If a minor party received at least 2%, but less than 10% of the vote cast for Indiana secretary of state at the last election, it can then nominate candidates for the general election. The Libertarian Party falls into that category, based on the 2018 election results. The Libertarian Party can select those candidates at a state, county, or municipal convention.

There are already several Libertarian candidates listed for different races in the general election.

Ballotpedia lists several potential candidates for Republicans and Democrats to consider for secretary of state, auditor of state and treasurer of state at the conventions. Those lists can change leading up to the convention with potential candidates added or removed.

It is important to remember that Hoosiers will have those three additional state-wide races on the ballot in November's General Election. While Democrats choose a candidate for U.S. Senate in the primary, Republicans will have Sen. Todd Young on the ballot in November.

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Here's why secretary of state, auditor and treasurer are not on the primary ballot - WTHR

WASHINGTON In May 1987, Attorney General Edwin Meese III traveled to St. Louis and spoke before a group of clergy members opposed to abortion. Denouncing Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Courts 1973 ruling on abortion rights, he told them that he saw reason to hope that in our lifetimes it would be thrown on the ash heap of legal history.

Thirty-five years later, a leaked draft opinion suggests that the Supreme Courts conservative majority is poised to overturn Roe, permitting states to outlaw abortion. Liberals may be aghast, but for the conservative legal movement, of which Mr. Meese was a key early figure, a long-sought moment of triumph appears to be at hand.

This will feel like a tremendous vindication for the conservative legal movement, said Mary Ziegler, a Harvard Law School visiting professor and the author of several books about the anti-abortion movement and legal politics. The movement goes beyond Roe v. Wade, but overruling it has become the preoccupation for the movement and the test of its success.

If the Supreme Court does issue a final opinion that looks much like the leaked draft, one question the moment will raise is what the conservative bloc does next with its control over the judiciary. Already, for example, the court has decided to hear a case in its next term that will give it an opportunity to curtail race-based affirmative action in college admissions.

The libertarian faction within the movement wants to curb the power of the administrative state that grew up in the New Deal, limiting the authority of regulatory agencies. The cultural conservative faction is focused on religious freedom and the scope and limits of the rights of Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender including lingering discontent with a 2015 ruling declaring a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was among the Democratic lawmakers who expressed concern that the draft opinion would pave the way for other precedents to be overturned, citing the case that bars states from blocking same-sex couples from getting married, among others.

Its appalling because it doesnt just chip a little piece off Roe v. Wade, Ms. Warren said. It takes a pickax to it and in doing so, it opens up the risk of losing a whole stack of other rights that weve come to depend on.

But there is broad agreement that no issue has fueled the movement like abortion rights. Ed Whelan, a Justice Department lawyer in the George W. Bush administration and a conservative legal commentator, said a long-sought victory could signal a turning point.

If Roe is the glue that held together the conservative legal movement, what happens when it is no longer playing that role? Mr. Whelan said. What other priorities will unify the movement? I am not sure what the answer to that question is.

The conservative legal movement grew out of backlash to a series of liberal victories in Supreme Court rulings across a range of issues in the 1960s and 1970s. Conservative legal thinkers like the future appeals court judge Robert H. Bork began arguing that judges were usurping the role of legislators by interpreting the Constitution as a document whose meaning could evolve over time, and should instead strictly interpret it based on its text and original meaning.

Liberals countered that this approach was a cover for advancing conservatives own policy preferences. But the conservative legal movement began to take on political heft as the elite legal thinkers merged their mission with cultural and religious conservative voters who wanted abortion to be illegal and were outraged by Roe v. Wade.

The legal conservative movement happened for reasons that were significantly separate from abortion, but the thing that gives them power in the Republican Party is their connection to this large, highly mobilized coalition partner rank-and-file religious conservatives, said Steven M. Teles, a Johns Hopkins University political science professor and the author of The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement: The Battle for Control of the Law.

The movement took root in the 1980s. The Federalist Society a network for legal conservatives was founded on law school campuses and soon spread to chapters for working lawyers. And legal conservatives flooded into the Reagan administration working for figures like Mr. Meese, whose Justice Department became a sort of think tank for developing ideas like an originalist approach to the Constitution.

The Reagan administration began trying to vet judicial candidates more along ideological grounds than under previous Republican presidencies, nominating several starkly conservative jurists. That culminated in the battle over the failed Supreme Court nomination of Judge Bork an outspoken critic of Roe v. Wade whom Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate saw as too extreme.

During their 12 years in power, the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations had five opportunities to appoint justices to the nine-member Supreme Court, raising the possibility that they could have installed a majority willing to overturn Roe a generation ago. But in a 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court instead reaffirmed a constitutional right to abortion.

The majority in that case included Reagan appointees like Sandra Day OConnor and Anthony M. Kennedy and the Bush appointee David H. Souter. They turned out not to be strictly conservative in the mold of others appointed around the same time like Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, both of whom wanted to overturn Roe.

Calvin TerBeek, a University of Chicago political science graduate student who unearthed a copy of Mr. Meeses 1987 speech in St. Louis for his dissertation, said the fallout from that case prompted the conservative legal movement to demand greater ideological vetting.

OConnor, Kennedy and Souter were Republicans first, rather than conservatives first, Mr. TerBeek said. That is why the conservative legal movement especially places like the Federalist Society have put such a premium on better predicting what a justice is going to do once they get on the court.

Another milestone came in 2005, when the conservative legal movement helped scuttle Mr. Bushs attempt to put Harriet Miers, his White House counsel and an associate from his days in Texas, on the Supreme Court. Conservatives balked because she lacked a paper trail showing engagement on issues important to the movement. The White House withdrew her and instead selected Samuel A. Alito Jr. the author of the leaked draft opinion.

During Barack Obamas presidency, the Federalist Society continued to mature, effectively credentialing a growing pool of movement conservatives awaiting the next Republican administration. Then in 2016, judicial appointments took on tremendous urgency when Justice Scalia died during a presidential campaign and Senate Republicans refused to give a hearing to Mr. Obamas nominee to fill the vacancy, Judge Merrick B. Garland, who is now the Biden administrations attorney general.

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump was upending the Republican Party by trouncing establishment figures in its primary. A New Yorker on his third marriage who once described himself as very pro-choice, Mr. Trump was viewed with deep suspicion by many religious-minded conservatives. But he made a deal with the conservative legal movement to shore up Republican turnout.

To allay concerns that he would pick idiosyncratic judicial nominees, like celebrity lawyers he saw on television, Mr. Trump promised to make Supreme Court nominations from a list he released of conservative judges. The list was devised by his top legal adviser and future White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II a longtime Federalist Society member working with advisers like Leonard Leo, then the groups executive vice president.

Court-focused voters helped deliver Mr. Trumps narrow Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton, exit polls showed. And aided by the abolition of the filibuster rule in the Senate for judicial nominations, Mr. Trump fulfilled his end of the deal, putting forward a series of movement conservative nominees, including three justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. All appear to have given preliminary approval to overturning Roe, fulfilling the vision Mr. Meese, who is now 90, put before the clergy members in 1987.

I think that releasing that list of names made it clear that Trump and his team actually understood what the conservative legal movement was doing, said Carrie Severino, the president of the Judicial Crisis Network, which advocates on behalf of confirming conservative judges.

The judgment of a lot of conservatives that this next president will have a big impact on the direction of the courts via their nominees has been vindicated by seeing that these justices are outstanding and committed to the original understanding of the Constitution, she went on. You cant have a starker contrast with the sort of person Hillary Clinton would have been putting on the court we wouldnt be having this conversation today.

Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.

Link:

What the Leaked Draft Opinion Means For the Conservative Legal Movement - The New York Times

LWVLA NEWS RELEASE

Although many voters ignore the primary election, your vote is critical in that it helps determine which of the candidates will compete on the general election ballot in November. Too few voters, however, are informed about the candidates beliefs, and how they will represent your values and allocate your money.

Informing voters about candidates is the purpose of the League of Women Voters Voter Guide. To these ends the LWV sends a questionnaire to all candidates and publishes their responses in the Vote411 Voter Guide https://www.vote411.org. Here in Los Alamos, our League contacts every candidate running for local office. The responses returned on time to the LWV-LA are reported in this weeks print edition of the Lots Alamos Daily Post. All responses received are reported online at vote411.org.

Your vote is your voice. Your vote reflects your values. Your vote locally helps guide who in the County will direct Countys resources and services. The Voter Guide will help you be an informed voter.

NOTE: Decline-to-state (DTS) voters in New Mexico are registered voters who have chosen not to affiliate with a major political party. Currently, the only major parties in New Mexico are the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian (D, R, L) Parties. This year, for the first time, NM voters registered as DTS or with a minor party, can change their registration to D, R, or L at the polls or the County Clerks office and then vote on the same day during the primary voting period. This is called Same Day Registration or SDR. Voters who then wish to revert back to being DTS or registered with a minor party can update their registration online at NMVOTE.ORG after theyve voted in the Primary Election.

Major party voters may update name, address, or other contact info during SDR. However, they may not use Same Day Registration to switch parties during the Primary Election.

Residents who are not registered but are qualified to vote may register and vote during the election period.

For election details for Los Alamos please go to:

https://www.losalamosnm.us/government/elected_officials/county_clerk/election_information

You can find the list of candidates for all New Mexico counties at:

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. As a non-partisan organization, the League does not support, oppose, or make recommendations regarding any political party or candidate.

Contributions support voter services, candidate forums, and similar public education functions of the League, as well as day-to-day expenses.

Join or support the Los Alamos League at

https://my.lwv.org/new-mexico/los-alamos/donate

ESSENTIAL DATES

Tuesday, May 10:

Early in-person voting in Los Alamos and White Rock

For details please visit: https://www.losalamosnm.us/government/elected_officials/county_clerk/election_information

June 7, Tuesday is Election Day:

Eligible voters may vote at any Vote Center: Los Alamos County Municipal Building, White Rock Town Hall, UNMLA, Betty Ehart Senior Center, and the Los Alamos County Golf Course 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For additional information on anything related to registration and voting in the 2022 Primary Election in Los Alamos County, call the Clerks Office at (505) 662-8010. Check for voting updates at http://www.losalamosnm.us/clerk.

For local and nationwide candidate information, go to Vote411.org.

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LWVLA Official 2022 Voter Guide Will Be In Thursdays Los Alamos Daily Post - Los Alamos Reporter

Arkansas primaries: What are the ballot rules?

Updated: 4:44 PM CDT May 2, 2022

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WHAT IS A NONPARTISAN BALLOT? YES. SO WHEN THE VOTERS COME TO VOTE ON ELECTION DAY, THEY WILL BE ASKED WHICH BALLOT STYLE, WHICH PARTIES PRIOR PRIMARY WOULD YOU WANT TO VOTE IN? ANSOD THERE ARE THREE OPTIONS FOR VOTERS. ONE IS THE DEMOCRATIC BALLOT. THAT INCLUDES ALL THE DEMOCRATIC OFFICES, THE NON-PARTISAN JUDICIAL RACES, AND THEN THE SCHOOL RACE AND SCHOOL MILLAGE IS, IF THAT IS ON THEIR BALLOT AND ANY SPECIAL ELECTIONS, THEN OF COURSE, THER'S A REPUBLICAN BALLOT, WHICH THE REPUBLICAN BALLOT CONTAINALS L THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES, THE NON-PARTISAN JUDICIAL, THE ANNUAL SCHOOL, THE SCHOOL MILLAGE AND ANY SPECIAL ELECTION. AND THEN THERE IS A BALLOT THATS CALLED A NONPARTISAN BALLOT. THIS BALLOT ONLY CONTAINS THE NPNOARTISAJUN DICIAL GENERAL ELECTION AND ANY ANNUAL SCHOOL ELECTION MILLAGE OR SPECIAL ELECTION. ITS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR VOTERS TO REALIZE TTHA NONPARTISAN IN THIS INSTANCE DOES NOT MEAN THAT IM AN INDEPENDENT, THAT I DONT CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT. AND SO IF YOU GET ATTH BALLOT, THEN THERE WONT BE ANY OF THE POLITICAL CANDIDATES ON IT THAT YOU MIGHBET LOOKING FOR. AND THEN ANOTHER THING VOTERS NEED TO BE AWARE OF, IF YOURE LOOKING FOR LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES, GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES OR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES, THEY WILL NOT APPEAR ON THE BALLOT UNTIL THE GENERAL ELECTION. SO BASICALLY, THIS IS A KIND, MARY, JUST WHERE THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES. AND THEN, OF COURSE, WE HAVE THE ANALNU SCHOOL AND NONPARTISAN JUDICIAL. JENNIFER, WE WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT JUST BECAUSE UYO QUREEST A DEMOCRAT VOTE BALLOT AND MAY MEANS DOESNT MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO REQUEST THAT SAME ONE IN NOVEMBER. IS THAT CORRECT? FOR THE THE MAINE ELECTIONS? YES. SO THAT' ACTUALLY 100% CORRECT. COME NOVEMR,BE THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE BALLOT SELECTION AND THAT BALLOT SELECTION WILL CONTAIN THE WINNER FROM THE PRIMARY ELECTION IN MAY. FOR THE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES. NOW, THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE THAT WE WILL ACTUALLY HAVE A RUNOFF ELECTION FOR THE PRIMARY FOR THBO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. VSOOTERS NEED TO BE AWARE THAT IF IN Y,MA YOU TAKE A DEMOCRATIC BALLOT, THEN FOR THE JUNE RUNOFF ELECTION, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO TAKE A DEMOCRAT BALLOT. SAME TNGHI FOR THE REPUBLICAN. IF YOU TAKE A REPUBLICAN BALLOT IN MAY, YOU WILL VOTE A REPUBLICAN BALLOT IN JUNE. BUT NOW, IF YOU TOOK A NONPARTISAN BALLOT OR YOU DID NOT VOTE IN MAY FOR THE JUNE RUNOFF ELECTION,ND A YOU WOULD GET TO DECIDE WHICH BALLOT TO TAKE. SOOU Y CAN, IF YOU ARE REGISTERED ALREADY, VOTE IN THE RUNOFF OYNL AND NOT THE PRIMARIES ON MAY 24TH. THATS CORRECT. SO THERE ISNT A REQUIREMENT FOR YOU TO HAVE VOTED IN THE MAY ELECTION, TO VOTE IN THE RUNOFF ELECTION. BUT THERE IS WHATS CALLED CROSSOVER VOTING, WHICH IS A CRIME, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU CANT CHOOSE A DEMOCRATIC BALLOT, LETS SAY, IN MAY, AND TH G

Arkansas primaries: What are the ballot rules?

Updated: 4:44 PM CDT May 2, 2022

Arkansas voters will cast ballots in the 2022 primaries from May 9 to 24. When you go to the polling place, you'll be asked which ballot style you want to use.You'll have three choices:Nonpartisan ballotThese ballots will include the nonpartisan judicial races.If you live in an area with a school race, a school millage vote or a special election, those will also appear on the ballot.Democratic ballotThese ballots will contain everything nonpartisan ballots do, with the addition of Democratic candidates for various races. The winner of these primary races will become the Democratic nominee for the general election in November.Republican ballotThese ballots will contain everything nonpartisan ballots do, with the addition of Republican candidates for various races. The winner of these primary races will become the Republican nominee for the general election in November.You don't have to be a registered member of a party to choose that party's ballot at the primary. Using a party's ballot does not lock you into voting a certain way in November.Libertarian, independent and other candidates don't run in primary races. They will appear on the November general election ballots.Runoff elections will be held in June.If you don't vote in the May primary, you'll still be able to vote in June runoffs if you're eligible. You'll be able to choose either a Democratic or Republican runoff ballot.If you voted in May using a nonpartisan ballot, you'll still be able to vote in June runoffs. You'll be able to choose either a Democratic or Republican runoff ballot.If you voted using a Democratic or Republican ballot in May, you can vote in June runoffs, but you'll have to use the same party's ballot. Voting on one party's ballot in the primary and on a different party's ballot in the runoff is called "crossover voting" and is a crime in Arkansas.2022 PrimariesEarly voting for Arkansas' 2022 primary starts May 9. The final ballots will be cast on May 24.Arkansas voters are currently able to request an absentee ballot if they cannot make it to the polls.

Arkansas voters will cast ballots in the 2022 primaries from May 9 to 24.

When you go to the polling place, you'll be asked which ballot style you want to use.

Nonpartisan ballot

These ballots will include the nonpartisan judicial races.

If you live in an area with a school race, a school millage vote or a special election, those will also appear on the ballot.

Democratic ballot

These ballots will contain everything nonpartisan ballots do, with the addition of Democratic candidates for various races. The winner of these primary races will become the Democratic nominee for the general election in November.

Republican ballot

These ballots will contain everything nonpartisan ballots do, with the addition of Republican candidates for various races. The winner of these primary races will become the Republican nominee for the general election in November.

You don't have to be a registered member of a party to choose that party's ballot at the primary. Using a party's ballot does not lock you into voting a certain way in November.

Libertarian, independent and other candidates don't run in primary races. They will appear on the November general election ballots.

If you don't vote in the May primary, you'll still be able to vote in June runoffs if you're eligible. You'll be able to choose either a Democratic or Republican runoff ballot.

If you voted in May using a nonpartisan ballot, you'll still be able to vote in June runoffs. You'll be able to choose either a Democratic or Republican runoff ballot.

If you voted using a Democratic or Republican ballot in May, you can vote in June runoffs, but you'll have to use the same party's ballot. Voting on one party's ballot in the primary and on a different party's ballot in the runoff is called "crossover voting" and is a crime in Arkansas.

Early voting for Arkansas' 2022 primary starts May 9. The final ballots will be cast on May 24.

Arkansas voters are currently able to request an absentee ballot if they cannot make it to the polls.

View original post here:

Arkansas primaries: What are the ballot rules? - 4029tv

Earth Week inspires communities to get out and clean up. Multiple litter collection events held around north central Pa. recently helped make the area a little more beautiful in recognition of the annual observance.

Susquehanna Greenway Partnership held their second annual Greenway Cleanup week from April 16-24. Twelve towns organized events that attracted hundreds of volunteers and collectively removed thousands of pounds of trash from area parks, trails, and communities along the Susquehanna River.

Harrisburg, Lock Haven, Williamsport, Newberry, Montgomery, Bloomsburg, Danville, Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, Sunbury, Athens, and Sayre made up the group of river towns with cleanups and programs led by local groups and organizations.

Last year, the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership coordinated the inaugural Susquehanna Greenway Cleanup Week, recruiting six towns to participate in that first year, explains SGP Executive Director Corey Ellison.

This year, we were blown away to see that participation double. We are thrilled with the response of this years twelve towns and commend our partners, River Town Teams, and the many volunteers on a job well done. The united efforts of each individual town go a long way towards the bigger picture of keeping the Susquehanna Greenway clean and beautiful," Ellison said.

The NorthcentralPa.com team on clean-up day. Jerry Frear, Julye Wemple, Carrie Pauling, and Ashley Little helped Susquehanna Greenway Partnership pick up trash along the riverwalk in Williamsport.

In Williamsport, SGP staff and board members were joined by 18 area volunteersincluding those from the West Branch Valley Association of Realtors, NorthcentralPA.com, and Lycoming Collegeto clear the Williamsport River Walk of 434 pounds of trash.

In Newberry, the Newberry Community Partnership led 40 volunteers on a cleanup in the Newberry neighborhood, collecting 165 pounds of trash.

Members of the Lock Haven area clean-up crew.

In Lock Haven, Downtown Lock Haven, Inc. coordinated with the City of Lock Haven and Lock Haven University for a four-day cleanup effort from April 19-22 that attracted 50 volunteers who gathered 793 pounds of trash.

Montgomery Borough gathered a team of 38 volunteers who collected 220 pounds of litter around Montgomery Park.

In Lewisburg, the Lewisburg River Town Team & Lewisburg Neighborhoods cleaned up areas in their downtown district and also led several tree plantings.

In Athens & Sayre, Futurescapes led 18 volunteers on a cleanup along the Diahoga Trail, removing 30 pounds of litter from the trail.

In Bloomsburg, the Town of Bloomsburg recruited 10 volunteers to clean up along the shores of the North Branch that flows alongside Fort McClure Boulevard, collecting 300 pounds of litter.

In Danville, the Montour Area Recreation Commission led cleanups at the Montour Preserve, Hess Recreation Area, and DeLong Park, attracting 81 volunteers who donated 185 hours of their time to collect 52 cubic yards of trash.

In Sunbury, the Susquehanna River Cleanup Project of Sunburys Revitalization, Inc. celebrated its 10th year with 205 volunteers who cleaned up along the shores of Sunburys Riverfront Park, collecting a staggering 9,300 pounds of trash, and still counting as they continue to remove leftover debris that could not be collected on the day of the event.

Susquehanna University students joined SGP on a clean-up day.

In Selinsgrove, SGP joined forces with 10 SU Serve students from Susquehanna University to collect 87 pounds of litter from the streets of Selinsgrove and along Weiser Run.

In Harrisburg, Barry Isett & Associates led a cleanup of Wildwood Park.

Volunteers from the Libertarian Party of Bradford County (LPBC) completed their spring Adopt-a-Highway clean up on a recent Saturday. Members picked up litter along the two mile stretch of Route 187 North from Route 6 in Wysox to Claverack Rd.

Local business owner, Kathy Goodwin of The Hair Mill, invited the group to stage their clean up from her parking lot, near the north end of their clean up area.

I was pleased that we had twice as many volunteers today than last time, said Liz Terwilliger, Chair of the LPBC. Unfortunately, theres a lot of litter here. Having more people helped make the work go more quickly.

Chris Wioskowski, Abigail Fallenstein, Josh Fallenstein, Greg Perry, Liz Terwilliger and Donna Wioskowski (not pictured) was supported by the Adopt-a-Highway program to collect trash.

For organizations cleaning up through the Adopt-a-Highway program, PennDot provides safety training and supplies like gloves, bags, and safety vests, and the volunteers provide the labor.

The Adopt-a-Highway program requires participating organizations to conduct one clean up in the spring and another in the fall. LPBCs next road clean-up will be in September. You do not need to be a member to participate. Interested volunteers can contact Liz at lpofbc@gmail.com.

STEP AmeriCorps also compiled a volunteer team to pick up the Newberry area of Williamsport during a weekend in April, collecting 185 pounds of trash and 65 pounds of recyclables.

Want to make a difference in your community? AmeriCorps is recruiting members atwww.stepcorp.org//AmeriCorps

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Volunteers clean up thousands of pounds of trash in the area over Earth Week - NorthcentralPa.com

By Mike Cook

By Mike Cook

Las Cruces Bulletin

Early voting for New Mexicos June 7 primary election begins May 10.

Hopefully voters will see the importance of primary elections, as the candidates voters choose in the primary ultimately end up on the ballot in November, said Doa Ana County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin. We encourage voters to review their registration status at NMVote.org to confirm that their information is up to date. For additional information on when and where to vote, they can also visit our website at DACElections.com.

Important dates:

Tuesday, May 10:

Here are secured-container locations where absentee ballots can be dropped off 24/7:

In Las Cruces: Doa Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd.; Las Cruces City Hall, 700 N. Main St.; Sonoma Elementary School, 4201 Northrise Drive.

Throughout the county: Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla; Anthony City Hall Municipal Complex, 820 Highway 478, Anthony; Sunland Park City Library, 1000 McNutt Road, Sunland Park; Delores C. Wright Educational Center, 400 E. Lisa Drive, Chaparral; and Hatch Valley High School, 170 E. Herrera Road, Hatch.

Saturday, May 21: Expanded early voting begins at alternate sites throughout Doa Ana County.

Thursday, June 2: Last day to submit applications for absentee ballots.

Saturday, June 4: Early voting ends.

Tuesday, June 7: Election day: All absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Same day voter registration ends.

Early voting

Early voting locations are open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. They will be closed May 30 for Memorial Day. Visit http://www.donaanacountyelections.com/locations for early voting locations.

On the ballot

Not all races have contested primaries, and some races have only a single candidate who has no primary or general election population. County clerk, county treasurer and three seats on the county commission are not on the ballot this year.

New Mexico has a closed primary system, which means you can only vote in the Democratic primary if you are a registered Democrat, in the Republican primary if you are a registered Republican and in the Libertarian primary if you are a registered Libertarian. Those are the three major parties in New Mexico.

Democrats have at least one candidate on the primary ballot in every local race. There are contested primaries for one district judgeship, sheriff, assessor and probate judge.

Republicans have a contested primary for sheriff. There are no Republican candidates for either of the district judgeships, any of the magistrate judgeships, one New Mexico House seat that includes Doa Ana County, assessor or probate judge.

There are no Libertarian candidates running for any office in Doa Ana County in 2022.

Visit https://candidateportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/CandidateList.aspx?eid=2827&cty=99 for candidate lists. Be sure to check at the far right, as 18 of the candidates listed have withdrawn from their races and another 18 were disqualified.

On that website, you can search by county, office and party. For example, if you want to see just Doa Ana County candidates, click on the county box that has the word all in; scroll down and click on Dona Ana.

You can also visit http://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/2022_Candidates.pdf, which will show you all the candidates for the New Mexico House of Representatives. All House districts have been redrawn, which means House District 39 no longer contains any part of Doa Ana County, but House districts 32 and 38 now include parts of the county.

Check with the county clerks office for sample ballots and additional information at 575-647-7428 and

elections@donaanacounty.org.

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Early voting for primary begins May 10, and other important dates - Las Cruces Bulletin

To hear Gary Buchanan tell it, theres an eight-lane highway down the middle of Montana politics. It is the space left behind by the major political parties steering to the opposing guardrails of the political spectrum.

Buchanan, a career financial adviser and long-time public servant, is one of several candidates hoping to occupy the center lanes in Montanas newly created Eastern U.S. House District. You could say hes hitching a ride. The candidate is scrambling to gather voter signatures ahead of a May 31 deadline for non-party candidates qualifying for the November ballot.

Theres a question about whether this opening lane in the political asphalt really exists, or is merely a heat mirage. Voters like Bob Brown believe it's real because theyre occupying it. Libertarians also think its real, said Sid Daoud, the Montana Libertarian Party chairman.

This political space might best be defined by what it isnt, Brown said, which is his truth. Eighteen years ago, Brown was the Montana Republican Partys candidate for governor. Voters preferring Republican candidates had also twice elected Brown Montanas secretary of state, and before that elected him to the Legislature for 22 years.

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Bob Brown greets former President George H.W. Bush in 2000 in Great Falls where Bush was campaigning for his son, George W. Bush.

That started to change in 2016 with the election of President Donald Trump. Brown isnt a Trump guy. As most Republicans went all-in for the bombastic celebrity, Brown didnt follow along. The Montanan's notion of the art of a deal had always involved getting buy-in from both sides of the political aisle. That wasn't Trump's way.

I saw a poll that showed something like 80% of self-identified Republicans, maybe that figure is down closer to 70% now, were loyal to Donald Trump, Brown said. And I thought to myself, well, thats definitely not what I am. If thats what all the Republicans have become, or are, Im not a part of that. I dont know what I am, but I know thats what Im not.'

Full disclosure: Brown is a Buchanan supporter. He joined former Montana governor Marc Racicot in putting his name to Buchanan's campaign. Racicot, like Brown, had emerged from years of silence to warn the current Republican establishment that many voters are becoming disenfranchised.

As Racicot put in an open letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel earlier this year, Many intensely loyal Republicans, more polite and less dangerous than those who breached the Capitol, are in larger and larger numbers, quietly but persistently looking for alternatives in the form of political movements and candidates of conscience, character, conviction and courage. Theyre not suggesting, hopelessly, a return to simpler times. Theyre calling, hopefully, for a return to simple, timeless and enduring values: presuming the best of each other, listening in good faith before acting or responding, exuding generosity and grace, self-correcting our own mistakes and being ambitious to accomplish something, not to be somebody.

The former governor backed those statements with his own credentials as a former RNC chairman and George W. Bush team leader in the recount of Florida ballots that decided the 2000 presidential election. He was Bushs campaign chairman in 2004.

The Montana Republican Party responded to all this third-partyism with a two-party response. It circulated an email pointing out all the Democrats who Buchanan has donated to over the years, plus a few he hadnt. In truth, the candidate had donated, like a businessman, to candidates of both parties. Buchanan had also hosted Greg Gianfortes campaign kickoff for governor in 2016.

A spokesperson for incumbent Rep. Matt Rosendale told the Montana Free Press that Buchanan was a Democrat. Full stop.

Third-party contenders

There are three other candidates trying to appeal to voters not locked into a major party. Theyre all Libertarian: Roger Roots, Sam Rankin and Samuel Thomas. Daoud said theres never been a better time for Libertarians to run. The politics of the pandemic, mask requirements, and for some an expectation to get vaccinated for private work or as government employee, are straight out the Libertarian playbook.

We know the reality of it is, were like a super-duper long shot, and even the Democrats are a super-duper shot if you look at the way the races have gone, Daoud said.

Daoud pauses for a minute, and then explains that Libertarians needed to communicate more to own the message about public health mandates versus personal liberties. Then he adds, The Libertarian Party at this point is a more well-greased machine than the Democrats at this point. Weve been long shots, weve been called pointless in the past, but the reality is that every cycle were increasing our percentage of the vote. Membership is up 50% in the past two years.

Sid Daoud is the Montana Libertarian Party chairman.

A few of Daouds statements are worthy of asterisks. Libertarians are strongest in Western Montana, to which Daoud concurs. Counties in the newly formed Eastern U.S. House District, have only given Libertarian candidates more than 5% of the vote in congressional races twice since 2010. The best performance was a 6% showing in the 2017 special election for U.S. House. Thats more a highway stripe than a viable center lane.

It is true that the Democratic machine in Eastern Montana could use some grease. In 21 of Montanas 56 counties, there is no local Democratic county chairperson, no committee structure, according to the Montana Democratic Party roster of county committees. All 21 of those counties are in the Eastern U.S. House District, although there are tribal committees at the Fort Peck and Fork Belknap reservations.

Election data from 2010 to present shows that in four of the last seven U.S. House races, the margin of victory for GOP candidates over Democrats in the counties that now comprise the Eastern district has been greater than 20%. Only once was the margin closer than 15%.

Montanas current at-large representative, Matt Rosendale, has all the characteristics of a dominant incumbent on the Eastern districts 2022 House ballot. He won 61% of the vote in the east as a statewide candidate running against Democrat Kathleen Williams in 2020. The only Republican to do better since 2010 was Denny Rehberg, who was an eight-year incumbent in 2010 when he won 62% of the vote in the Eastern district counties. Rehberg managed to set the bar high in an election year without a presidential race, or top ticket Senate race, to drive up voter interest.

Rosendales campaign also has $1 million cash on hand. The rest of the field has reported less than $75,000 combined.

Whats surprising is that despite those advantages for an incumbent, there are still 11 people running for office, said Jeremy Johnson, political scientist at Carroll College. The advantages for Rosendale havent discouraged the competition, including other Republicans. Theres a four-candidate Republican primary. Challengers Kyle Austin, James Boyette, and Charles Walkingchild faced off in a Miles City debate April 21. Rosendale didnt attend.

There is also a three-candidate Democratic primary. Penny Ronning, Mark Sweeney and Skylar Williams debated in Havre on April 28.

The three-candidate Libertarian primary is new ground for the party, Daoud said. It wasnt until 2020 that Montana allowed Libertarians to have a primary. One occurred earlier in a Missoula race for state Legislature.

Neither the Libertarians nor Buchanan have had a chance to share a stage with other candidates this spring. There is an all-comers forum scheduled for May 8 in Billings at Art House Cinema and Pub. The event is organized by Forward Montana.

It remains to be seen how Libertarian or independent candidates shape the outcome of the race, especially in a district where Republican candidates have voting margin to burn without losing.

There are more Republican-leaning voters in the Eastern district, as we know. So, how important is this or who is affected? Johnson said. Obviously, just for the demographics of the Eastern District, the expectation is all other things being equal the Republican has a big advantage. So, theres a lot of hill to climb.

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Third-party candidates are on the rise in Montana. But, will it matter? - Billings Gazette