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South Carolina GOP tries to close primaries, and fails (thankfully)

IndependentVoting.org, a national association of independent voters and a defender of South Carolina's open primary system, hailed a federal court judge's ruling in Spartanburg today that the Greenville Republican Party did not have standing to sue to close the South Carolina primaries. In June, the State Republican Party withdrew from the lawsuit leaving the Greenville GOP as the sole plaintiff in the case which has been pending since 2010. IndependentVoting.org and a coalition of defendant/intervenors argued that without the state Republican Party's involvement, the Greenville plaintiffs did not have standing. Judge Mary G. Lewis agreed and granted the motion to dismiss.

Harry Kresky, Esq., who appeared with local counsel Fletcher N. Smith, argued the standing issue on behalf of the intervenors and said, "Today's ruling was a setback for the Greenville faction of the South Carolina Republican Party which hoped to use the court to strengthen its influence in the state party. The voters would have paid a price."

Jacqueline Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org which assembled the defendant/intervenor coalition said, "Political crossfire inside the Republican Party gave rise to this lawsuit but African American and independent voters would have been the big losers if the primaries had been closed as a result."

State Representative Joe Neal, part of the defendant/intervenor coalition added, "Today the South Carolina federal court has upheld the rights of voters in South Carolina, especially the minority community, to free and unfettered access to the polls."

Salit added "The common interest between African American and independent voters is becoming pivotal in the next wave of voting rights struggles in America."

In addition to IndependentVoting.org, the coalition of defendant/intervenors included: thirteen members of the South Carolina Black Legislative Caucus, the South Carolina Independence Party, the Progressive Network, the Constitution Party and the Columbia Tea Party.

"South Carolinians have always been fiercely independent.  As an intervenor, I am proud that we stopped the Republican Party from closing our state's primary elections," stated Wayne Griffin chair of the South Carolina Independence Party.

The Other Salt Lake Comic Con

If any non-fictional character has the power to push the Earth off its axis, it had to be some of the talented artists at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists' convention in Salt Lake City this week.
I had a chance to visit with Daryl Cagle, Bill Day, Howard Tayler, Steve Benson, and of course Pat Bagley. I was lucky enough to get a photo with a couple of the celebs; Daryl Cagle on the left and Pat Bagley in the photo on the right (on my left).

Daryl Cagle is the mastermind behind caglecartoons.com a clearinghouse for editorial cartoons worldwide. Pat Bagley doodled his first political cartoon while in a finance class at Brigham Young University. The school paper published it and shortly afterwards it ran in Time Magazine. I guess that's a pretty good way to start off. He works primarily for the Salt Lake Tribune currently.

Independents and the Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court didn't exactly gut the Voting Rights Act today, rather, they ruled that the antiquated tabulation metrics are unconstitutional. So Congress must act or the Voting Rights Act sits like a beached whale. But will they? Approval for congress is at historic lows, something has got to give. Among other things the VRA needs to address apparent discrimination based on partisan loyalty that has supplanted racial discrimination in elections.

In the video on the right, this Wall Street Journal reporter can't hide her giddiness. The Fox News guest makes some good points and some that don't get to the real issues of how election prejudice has evolved away from racial prejudice to ideological prejudice. The video on the left is titled "Court guts voting rights act" and also brings up some good points but still does not get to the meat of the matter.

Bipartisanship Fails Again

Bipartisanship is not a de facto virtue. Ever. Partisanship leads to a reality where public policies and institutions are manipulated to benefit the priveleged or powerful few at the expense of We The People.

Headline photo courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune

Republicans doubling down?

Well, it appears so. "There are not enough 50-year-old white guys who are mad (at the world) to win elections.” Yet that’s the audience House Republicans are playing to in the way they craft legislation
Read more at The Moderate Voice

And locally the Democrats appear to be doubling down on a similar bet. The Tribune is reporting that at the Democratic Party State convention, delegates rejected a measure to support a switch to an open primary [full story]

Utah Legiswatch 2013--SB66

It seems the Utah Legislature tests the limits of what it can get away with every year it is in session. Two years ago in 2011 it was the showdown between the Legislature and We the People over HB477 which sought to make all correspondence with legislators secret. This year, the legislature is seeking to double or even triple the signature requirement for municipal Initiatives and Referenda (I and R) depending on location. Was this bill drafted because of the outcry of constituents? Who does the Utah Legislature actually work for? Link to SB66

Let your legislator know they work for you.

Partisan Game Ends in Sequestermate

2013 Conference of independent Voters

Independent voters and organizers from around the country gathered for a conference in New York City last Saturday. Fun was had by all and this is a small sample of the many friendly and independent faces.

Take Me to your Non-partisan Leader Earthling