Archive for the ‘Libertarian’ Category

New minor party pushes for fusion voting in New Mexico – KRQE News 13

by: MORGAN LEE Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) A political group that helped a slate of progressive-minded legislative candidates prevail in New Mexicos Democratic primary has registered as a political party.

The New Mexico Working Families Party on Thursday announced its certification by state election regulators as a minor political party, taking its place alongside the Green, Constitution and Better for America parties.

Party leaders said they hope to establish so-called fusion voting in which more than one political party can support a common candidate on the general election ballot.

They also want minor party members to be able to vote in major party primaries. The state operates a closed primary election system in which only registered major party members can vote.

Working Families Party state director Eric Griego said in a statement that the organization is dedicated to challenging candidates who are out of step with core progressive issues or beholden to corporate special interests.

The group helped upstart candidates defeat powerful incumbent Democrats in key leadership and committee posts including Sens. Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces, John Arthur Smith of Deming and Clemente Sanchez of Grants.

The Working Families Party backed successful Democratic primary challengers for Senate that including Leo Jaramillo of Espanola, Siah Hemphill Correa of Silver City, Pam Cordova of Belen, Neomi Martinez-Parra of Lordsburg and Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces.

Founded in 1998 in New York, the organization has branches and chapters in 15 states mostly in the eastern U.S.

Campaign finance disclosures show the local affiliate has spent more than $300,000 in the 2020 election cycle.

New Mexico has three major parties that appear on primary ballots though Libertarian Party members do not hold any state elected office.

Former Gov. Gary Johnsons strong local showing as a presidential candidate in 2016 helped the Libertarian Party qualify as a major party.

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New minor party pushes for fusion voting in New Mexico - KRQE News 13

Board of Elections to certify Primary Election results Thursday | News, Sports, Jobs – Evening Observer

MAYVILLE Returned absentee and affidavit ballots from the June 23 Primary Elections will be counted and added to election night totals this week, announce Election Commissioners Norman P. Green and Brian C. Abram.

A total of 5,431 Democratic Presidential Primary absentees were mailed out and 4,276 have been returned, with an additional 44 affidavit ballots. Election Day returns found 1,351 voters had ballots scanned at the polls. A percentage total of 23% of Democrats voted and of that total 75% of all Democrats voting cast their ballots from home. Democratic absentee/affidavit ballots will be opened today, July 1 following confirmation from the NYS Board of Elections that no voters transferred their voter registrations to another county. Once totaled, the votes will be certified and sent to the state to add to Statewide and Congressional district totals.

A total of 341 Busti Town Republican absentees were mailed out and 268 have been returned, with an additional two affidavit ballots. Election Day returns found 278 voters had ballots scanned at the polls. A percentage total of 25% of Republicans voted and of that total 49% of Busti Republicans cast ballots from home. Republican absentee/affidavit ballots will be opened at 9 a.m. Thursday and a winner of the Busti Republican Town Council Primary will be determined that day.

There were 19 Libertarian State Committee absentee ballots that were mailed out for a western New York 8th Judicial District run off to determine area leadership for the party. A total of eight ballots have been returned, with an additional two affidavit ballots. Libertarian absentee/affidavit ballots will be opened at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

By order of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, every eligible county voter was mailed an absentee ballot application due to the COVID19 pandemic. Affidavit ballots are provided to voters who have moved into the jurisdiction, or if the voters poll record is missing. These ballots are researched to determine if the voter is eligible to vote and has not cast a ballot elsewhere. The affidavit and absentee totals are added to the election night totals.

We will be counting about 5,300 absentee and affidavit ballots using our high speed absentee ballot counter this week for the primary, said Abram. Our paperwork will be completed for this election on Thursday.

We received plenty of absentee counting practice earlier this month when we counted over 15,000 school election ballots for eleven county school districts. The remaining seven school districts hand counted, added Green.

Final totals will be available at the votechautauqua.com immediately following the tabulations.

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Board of Elections to certify Primary Election results Thursday | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

The new national narrative of making everything and anything protest material – The Highland County Press

As a registered voter (Republican for 35 years and current Libertarian) and political observer for more than 40 years, there has been one political constant. Liberals (progressives, if you prefer) are never, ever satisfied with a political victory.

They never enjoy a political victory. Instead, they immediately seek out another cause du jour. It's always "one more" with the liberals. Oh, and there's this. Liberals are always upset that somewhere in these great United States of America, someone is enjoying life. That is simply unacceptable for the progressive mindset. Rally the troops for another protest and vandalism orgy.

This week, a suburban Cincinnati school district caved to the whining minority of spoiled children and voted to change the Anderson High School mascot, the "Redskins," during a special meeting on July 2.

According to a report in The Cincinnati Enquirer, board member Patty Taylor had the common sense that God gave a goose and voted against the motion.

Taylor said she would like to postpone the vote, stating she was against the "method" of changing the mascot without public discussion outside of emails.

"If I disagree, I'm not a racist, and I refuse to accept that," Taylor said. "Everyone has a right not to be offended. But if I do not agree with your narrative, then I'm the problem?"

No, Taylor is not the problem. The problem is the new national narrative of making everything and anything protest material by the largely uninformed and willfully uneducated.

Once Anderson High School and other schools acquiesce to the mini-mobsters on one issue, they must be prepared to acquiesce on more issues.

If the mini-mobsters find "Redskins" offensive, they also must find "Indians" offensive. "Cowboys" must be offensive, too. In Ross County, a school nickname is (or was) the Sherman Tanks, referencing William Tecumseh Sherman. Uh-oh.

Then, there are those insensitive Highland County public school animal nicknames like Lions, Tigers, Wildcats and Mustangs.

What if some precious child does not want to identify with a lion, a tiger, a wildcat or a mustang? What then? How about naming all schools donkeys? The left seems to embrace that braying beast of burden known also by a three-letter moniker.

Then, of course, we have those insensitive color nicknames.

The Cincinnati Reds (commies?) comes to mind. The St. Louis Blues (cool musicians?) also comes to mind. What about the Red Sox and White Sox in Major League Baseball? Aren't these potentially racist, pitting white against red? If people are offended by Redskins, wouldn't they be similarly offended by Red Sox?

Giving in to the mini-mobsters has to stop. Soon.

Today I was asked by a public official how long it would be until the Highland County Courthouse statue along High Street was vandalized. I did not have an adequate answer. But I do know this: There were acts of local vandalism during previously scheduled protests in Hillsboro.

When public officials insist that everything is peaceful, that's not always the case. If we, as law-abiding citizens, decide that local law enforcement is no longer necessary, we must live with the consequences. We need to let local law enforcement know they are appreciated. Think, for just a moment, where you might be without them.

And if we allow a rewriting of American history, we'll have to live with that as well.

As we celebrate Independence Day, please remember that those brave and noble 56 signers of our Declaration of Independence gave us a great republic if we can keep it.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.

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The new national narrative of making everything and anything protest material - The Highland County Press

Generation Putin comes of age as Russians vote on extending his rule – Metro US

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MOSCOW (Reuters) Twenty-year-old Russians Yekaterina Mikhailova and Iya Barsegyan have only ever known life under President Vladimir Putin who rose to power in 1999, before they were even born.

The pair may be of the same generation, but politically they are worlds apart, a contrast that shows how the divisions created by Putins politics could last for years.

This week, Russians are taking part in a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that would clear the way for Putin to remain in the Kremlin until 2036.

Mikhailova wants Putin out, and is fiercely opposed to the idea of letting him serve two more terms in the Kremlin, instead of stepping down in 2024, accusing him of persecuting his political opponents, stymying Russias development and ushering in an era of political stagnation.

The best thing for our country now would be a change of power, said Mikhailova, a member of Russias Libertarian Party, a small organisation with no representation in the national parliament. She plans to vote no at the seven-day vote ending on July 1.

I dont want him to stay there until the end of my life.

Barsegyan, on the other hand, sees no harm in voting in Putins favour on this point, one among the dozens of reforms being put to a simple yes or no vote ending on July 1.

The majority of the amendments are important and they should be of benefit to the whole country, Barsegyan told Reuters at a square in central Moscow.

She points to a proposed minimum wage guarantee and a constitutional pledge to defend the legacy of the Soviet World War Two effort against what some Russians believe are attempts by the West to skew history in its favour.

And while Barsegyan was skeptical of some of the more socially conservative reform proposals, such as changing the constitution to define wedlock as a union between a man and a woman only, she also said had no problem with changing the law to allow Putin to reset his count of terms served to zero.

I see nothing bad in this. I doubt the current president will run for another term, she said.

Putins approval rating is at its lowest since 1999 when he was prime minister, the Levada pollster says, but at 59% it is still high, and reforms are likely to pass with ease.

Russian state opinion pollster said on Monday that its exit polls showed that 76% of Russians had so far voted to support reforms.

The Kremlins critics say the vote is rigged and describe it as a constitutional coup. Some young voters, like Alexander Kostyuk, 18, have decided to stage a boycott.

I abide by the law and Im not ready to participate in events that arent outlined by current legislation.

(Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Generation Putin comes of age as Russians vote on extending his rule - Metro US

No winners yet in congressional GOP or Saugerties judgeship primaries – The Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. Primaries for several party lines in the Saugerties town justice race had yet to be decided Thursday as the Ulster County Board of Elections also was busy counting mail-in ballots in the contest for 11 county Democratic Committee seats from Saugerties.

There also was no declared winner yet in the Republican primary in New York's 19th Congressional District.

The counting is to resume Monday, July 6.

In the Saugerties justice primaries, incumbent Claudia Andreassen and challenger Stan ODell are vying to secure theDemocratic, Working Families, Independence, Libertarian and Green lines for the November election.

Primary Day was Tuesday, June 23, but mail-in voting also was allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mail-in ballots that were postmarked no later than June 23 and received by the Board of Elections no later than June 30 were to be included in the final tally.

Votes that were cast in person on Primary Day and during the early voting period gave Andreassen the lead for the Democratic and Green lines, and O'Dell the lead for the Working Families, Libertarian and Independence lines.

There so far is no Republican candidate for the judgeship. The party has until July 22 to hold a nominating caucus.

In the Republican primary in the 19th Congressional District, Kyle Van DeWater of Millbrook carried Ulster County with 1,856 votes to 1,406 for Ola Hawatmeh of Pleasant Valley.

But with some or all of 11 counties included in the district, a final result is not expected until sometime next week, a spokesperson for the state Board of Elections said Thursday.

The winner of the GOP primary will run against Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, in November.

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No winners yet in congressional GOP or Saugerties judgeship primaries - The Daily Freeman