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Ohios Presidential Primary Election is two weeks from today, Tuesday, March 3. Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Tuesday that243,719absentee ballots have been requested by-mail or in-person and that 84,149 votes have been cast statewide.

Find out how you can vote early by visitingVoteOhio.gov.

Data was collected by the Ohio Secretary of States Office via an informal survey of Ohios 88 county boards of elections. Data as of Monday, March 2 are the following:

243,719 absentee ballots requested (203,277 by mail; 40,442 in person);

84,149 absentee ballots cast (40,442 in person, 43,707 by mail);

159,570 outstanding absentee ballots.

The ballots requested include:

138,346 Democratic;

93,519 Republican;

269 Libertarian; and

11,585 nonpartisan.

Of the ballots cast in person, so far there have been:

20,001 Democratic;

19,380 Republican;

57 Libertarian; and

1,004 nonpartisan.

Of the ballots cast in person, there have been:

21,768 Democratic;

19,380 Republican;

57 Libertarian; and

1,004 nonpartisan.

In Highland County, the breakdown includes:

251 absentee ballots requested;

238 absentee ballots cast;

13 absentee ballots outstanding;

92 Democratic ballots requested and 86 cast (55 in person, 31 by mail);

152 Republican ballots requested and 145 cast (120 in person, 25 by mail); and

Seven questions and issues ballots requested, all of which have been cast by mail.

In the 2020 presidential primary, voters across the state will have the opportunity to vote in a number of local races, as well as a total of 482 local issues and questions across 83 counties.

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LaRose announces latest early voting numbers of 2020 primary - The Highland County Press

In New Mexico, primary elections fall on June 2, 2020.(Photo: Niyazz, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

LAS CRUCES - New Mexico will be among the last four states to weigh in on the presidential primaries.

New Mexico's primary elections take place June 2, with the state's three major parties Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians selecting candidates for the Nov. 3 election.

While voters will have to wait several more weeks to mark their ballots, primary season begins in earnest next weekfor those involved with campaigns.

Besides the office of president, primary voters will select their parties' candidates for county offices, state legislatorsand for the United States Congress.

By statute, New Mexico's primary elections are limited to voters affiliated with the respective party. Independent voters, officially designated as"decline to state" in New Mexico, may not participate.

A sign at the Doa Ana County Government Center marks an early-voting site on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, ahead of Election Day for the general election. Wide-ranging races, including governor and the 2nd Congressional District, appear on the ballot.(Photo: Diana Alba Soular/Sun-News)

The "closed primary" law survived its most recent legal challenge before the New Mexico Supreme Courtin 2019.

2020 is a big political year. Keep up with asubscriptionto the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Tuesday, March 10 isthe date for party candidates to file petitions declaring their candidacies for local office with the Doa Ana County Clerk's office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

In the event an office's jurisdiction straddles multiple counties, the candidate files in the county of their residence.

Filing day for write-in party candidates is March 17.

Candidacies for statewide and federal offices were certified in February, although petitions for presidential candidates are accepted by the New Mexico Secretary of State's office through March 30, according to the office'scandidate information guide.

Click here to read the 2020 primary election candidate guide.

Independent and minor party candidates do not participate in the June 2 primaries, but to run in the general election in November they must circulate petitions and declare candidacy at their county clerk's officeon June 25.

The SOS received candidate filings for statewide and federal offices from candidates in February.

Voters must be registered as Democrat, Republicanor Libertarian to participate in the primaries,and registered voters cannot switch partiesduring same-day voter registration.

Voters can check their registration status and make changes online at http://www.NMvote.org.

Voter registration for the primaries closes on May 5.

To be legally eligible to vote, you must:

Online registrants will be asked to providethe last four digits of their Social Security numbers. If the registrant has a New Mexico-issued driver's license or state ID, the state will verify your information through the state Motor Vehicle Division.

In the event the state cannot verify that information, a follow-up letter is sent to the registrant.

If registering by mail,applicants registering for the first time need to include a copy of at least one of the following:

IDrequirements via mail

Note: A current valid photo identification card from a post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico, when accompanied by a current student fee statement that shows the student's address, is also acceptable.

If you register for the first time by mail and do not include a copy of one of the documents above, you will be required to present it when voting for the first time.

Voters filling out ballots at the Doa Ana County Government Center during the primary Election Day. Tuesday June 5, 2018.(Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)

A qualified elector may register or update voters' registrationin person at the county clerks office, or designated alternative voting locations, immediately prior to voting from when early voting begins on May 5 through May 30, 2020.

If you've seen a voter registration table at events such as farmers' markets or county fairs, then you have met a "Voter Registration Agent."

Authorized VRAs can assist you in completing and filing your voter registration, and are required to issue a receipt with their voter registration number. That number should also appear on the registration form.

Doa Ana County voters can complete their ballot at any one of 40 voting locations in the county. A complete list of locations is available on the county Bureau of Elections website,www.DonaAnaCounty.org/elections/vcc.

When you check in at the location and confirm your identity, you will be issued the ballot appropriate for your party affiliation.

If you're not in Doa Ana County, check with your county clerk's office

Early voting begins on May 5 at theDoa Ana County Clerk's office, 845 N. Motel Blvd. in Las Cruces, during business hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On May 30, the Saturday prior to the election, this location will also be available for voting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Starting May 16, early voting will be available at seven locations in the county from Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The last day for early voting will be Saturday, May 30.

A sign in the Doa Ana County Government Center on Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.(Photo: Diana Alba Soular / Sun-News)

Voters can request an absentee ballot in advance, either at the county clerk's office or an early voting location prior to Election Day. There is also an online application at the New Mexico Secretary of State's website, which will require confirmation of the voter's identity.

The ballots may be turned in at voting locations or to the county clerk's office beginning May 5.

The last day to request an absentee ballot is Friday, May 29.

Absentee ballots are provided with two envelopes. The ballot is to be inserted into the inner envelope, which is then enclosed in an outer envelope requiring the voter's signature. The ballot can be mailed or turned in at a voting location or the county clerk's office; but it has to be in the envelopes, and the envelopes need to be filled out correctly.

The ballots must be turned inby 7 p.m. on June 2.

Click here for more information about absentee voting by mail.

Voters cannot bring an unmarked absentee ballot to a polling place and complete it there.

Falsifying information on absentee ballots is a fourth-degree felony.

Under New Mexico law, a voter's caregiveror immediate family membermay deliver that voter's absentee ballot to the county clerk in person or by mail, but the voter must sign the outer envelope.

In 2019, New Mexico lawmakers passeda "tuneup" of state election laws, including some changes to the Absent Voter Act which regulates absentee voting.

Under the statute, applications for mailed ballots require the applicant's printed name, registration address and year of birth. Lawmakers alsoadded languageconcerning online applications for mailed ballots, requiring the voter to provideall the information required for a paper form, including a New Mexico driver's license number or state identification card number.

Absentee ballots have prompted questions and court filings since the 2018 election, in which more than 8,500absentee ballots were determinativefor the U.S. House seat in New Mexico's second congressional district.

The Republican candidate in that race, Yvette Herrell, impounded the county's absentee ballots and conducted an audit which identified some irregularities. Herrell did not contest the election in court, but in recent campaign ads for the 2020 primaryshe has claimed "on Election Day, we won, but the Democrats took it away."

More:Yvette Herrell ad claims Democrats 'took' the election away from her in 2018

Per theDoa Ana County Clerk's office,required voter registration information is verified before an absentee ballot is issued. When absentee ballots are received, they are scanned but not counted before Election Day. The ballots are qualified by the Absent Voter Board, an appointed body that may not include more than two judicial members from the same political party.

The volunteer board may begin qualifying ballots as early as the Thursday before Election Day, examining outer envelopes to check for voters' signatures. Absentee voters also are provided with an inner "secrecy envelope."

The state Republican Party filed suit last November accusing the county of improperly qualifying absentee ballots, and seekinga declaratory judgment by the court on the interpretation of the law.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451,adammassa@lcsun-news.comor @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

Read or Share this story: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/08/new-mexico-primary-2020-voter-guide-what-you-need-know/4954364002/

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New Mexico primaries are on June 2: Are you ready? Here's what you need to know - Las Cruces Sun-News

A list of certified write-in candidates for Californias March 3 primary election was released Friday, Feb. 21, by Secretary of State Alex Padillas office.

The list includes candidates seeking offices representing parts of the Inland Empire. Voters have to write in each candidates name and if that candidate is one of the top two vote-getters, he or she will advance to the Nov. 3 general election and be listed on the November ballot.

Ballots with write-in candidates take longer to count, and write-in candidates votes will not be included in the initial results posted on the Secretary of States website after polls close March 3.

Heres a look at the write-in candidates for offices in Inland areas:

CONGRESS

8th Congressional District (High Desert, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, Inyo and Mono counties): J. Green of San Bernardino, no party preference. Website: http://www.jgreenuscongress2020.org.

31st Congressional District (Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Redlands, Rialto, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, San Bernardino): Eugene Weems of Highland, no party preference. Website: http://www.eugeneweems.com.

36th Congressional District (the Pass, Hemet, San Jacinto, Coachella Valley, Blythe): Gina Chapa of Indio, Democrat.

41st Congressional District (Riverside, Perris, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley): Anza Akram of Riverside, no party preference.

STATE SENATE

25th Senate District (Claremont, Upland, La Verne, Monrovia, San Dimas, Pasadena, Glendora, Glendale, La Canada Flintridge): Kathleen Hazelton of Upland, Republican; Evan Wecksell of Sunland, Libertarian. Website: http://www.evan4senate.com.

31st Senate District (Riverside, Corona, Norco, Moreno Valley, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Perris): Rod D. Taylor of Norco, Republican; John K. Farr of Corona, Libertarian

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Heres a list of write-in candidates for Inland races on March 3 ballot - Press-Enterprise

(Pixabay)The public-policy expert has some interesting ideas. But they arent necessarily new ones.

Oren Cass, formerly a domestic-policy adviser to the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has launched a new organization, American Compass. Cass told the Washington Post that its goal is to think about what the post-Trump right-of-center is going to be. This debate is ongoing; Casss contributions to it will be familiar to readers of National Review.

Yet some of Casss immediate claims are worth questioning. Cass bemoans a purported domination of conservatism and the Republican Party by a market fundamentalism in many cases, held entirely in good faith; in some cases, more as a matter of political convenience. He also accuses conservatives of having for decades outsourced their economic thinking to libertarians such that libertarianism is now part of the prevailing orthodoxy (along with a progressive economics that is, he says, its mirror image).

The notion that libertarians have largely controlled the Right probably comes as a surprise to libertarians, who have watched helplessly over the past few decades as government has grown, debt and deficits have expanded, and the Federal Register accrues more pages (even as one of the consistent priorities of what Cass calls the inchoate earthquake of the Trump administration has been a concerted effort to fight this last trend).

Market fundamentalism, then, is a curious choice of villain. Few could survey the actual policy achievements of elected Republicans over the past few decades and claim they reflect that wholesale. Republicans during George W. Bushs presidency may have cut taxes, but they also increased spending (as have Trump-era Republicans), added a new federal agency, expanded an existing federal entitlement, and increased federal involvement in education. Bush himself proclaimed that we have a responsibility that when somebody hurts, government has got to move, imposed unilateral tariffs (as President Trump has done), and spearheaded the TARP bailout of the financial industry, sacrificing free-market principles to save the free-market system, in his words.

President George H. W. Bush famously raised taxes and was never fully on board with what he had called President Reagans voodoo economics. The degree to which Reagan himself was on board with what became known as Reaganomics is the subject of some debate, largely due to his utility as a totem for both sides of this argument. But he did intervene in the economy specifically in behalf of Harley-Davidson. And libertarian economics had very little sway in the actual policy of the Republican Party before Reagan. If Casss dispute is instead with conservative rhetoric irrespective of its purported practitioners actions, then he ought to make that clear. (Few would contest that many elected Republicans have been hypocrites in this regard.)

Some of the participants on Casss side of this argument, which is ongoing, sometimes act as though the very idea of government involvement in the economy were both brand new and some incredible panacea for our ills. The truth, toward which Cass gestures when he writes that he seeks to reassert ideas like these [that he proposes] for a conservative coalition that once understood them intuitively, is that skepticism of the free market has a long history within the conservative tradition. Before neoconservative became a dirty word, neoconservatives, such as Irving Kristol, were offering Two Cheers for Capitalism. As far back as 1957, National Review itself dissented from the market fundamentalism of Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, via Whittaker Chamberss famous review. Just a decade ago, there were the reformocons, who sounded a lot like Cass and company do now in arguing for modest federal support for families and middle-income earners. When these groups made arguments in public, John Galt did not take over the transmission, nor did some Cato Institute grandee keep them from making their points. What Cass seeks to reassert never really left, even if its perceived relative strength has waxed and waned.

This may all seem like angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin stuff. Indeed, much of this debate has the character of a think-tank panel that has spilled out into the real world (Casss specific chosen antagonist in his National Review article is a vice president of the Heritage Foundation). But it is easier to act as though we simply havent tried certain things instead of admitting that we have tried some, and that sometimes they do work, but sometimes they dont. Cass would have a better case that our existing government policy has been inadequate than that we do not have one at all. And why has it been inadequate? Libertarian-leaning economists have had plenty to say about that: in public choice (Buchanan), the distribution of economic information (Hayek), monetary theory (Friedman), and more.

I do not invoke the celebrated insights of some libertarians merely to reject the very idea that the government has a place in the modern economy. I happen to agree with the argument Cass makes in his book The Once and Future Worker that it is foolish to devote immense federal resources to promoting higher education while leaving all other post-high-school paths to a hodgepodge of mostly state-based and private programs. Yet federal economic intervention is hardly the herald of something entirely new, either in the economy as a whole or on the right. A compass can help you find your way, but its even more useful if you know where you already are.

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How New Is the Oren Cass Approach? - National Review

The Houses lone independent, Justin Amash, has been flirting with a Libertarian presidential bid for more than a year.

That predates Amashs decision last spring to call for an impeachment inquiry of President Trump, which, of course led to the president torching him as a loser and total lightweight. Then Republicans ostracized Amash, culminating in his dramatic July 4 declaration that he was ditching the party to become an independent.

The buzz has died down a bit, as the Cascade Township congressman pulled out the rare feat last quarter of outraising all his rivals in West Michigans 3rd District, Democrat and Republican alike (several challengers have now dropped out).

But with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as the Democratic presidential frontrunner, solidified by a strong victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, the odds of an Amash third-party bid probably just went up. And while the conventional wisdom has been that his entry would siphon conservative votes from Trump and boost Democrats particularly in must-win Michigan theres some evidence that assumption may be wrong.

So why would Amash run, injecting uncertainty into an already combustible race?

Sanders wins Nevada, Biden a distant 2nd

Like many pundits, hes fond of the both sides critique of Democrats and Republicans. His take isnt rooted in amorphous cocktail-party-chatter centrism, but rather in libertarian economic principles that he believes both parties regularly violate.

He was elected in 2010 during the height of the Tea Party wave, supposedly fueled by righteous right-wing anger over President Obamas spending to lift us out of the Great Recession. Amash became a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and joined forces with civil liberties groups to critique many of Obamas national security policies, like warrantless wiretapping.

But the party was over when Trump pulled out a surprising win in 2016. Suddenly, the Freedom Caucus was good with a president insatiably exploiting executive powers for his border wall and spiking the deficit, confirming progressives critique that the Tea Party was a hyperpartisan group angered by the first Black president.

Amash seemed to keep the faith that his brethren would see the light, but he resigned after coming out for impeachment hearings in 2019. Soon after, Amash abandoned the GOP completely. In December, he joined Democrats and voted for both articles of Trumps impeachment.

The conservative lawyer said Trump thinks people owe loyalty to him, but people are elected to Congress with an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not an oath to support and defend one person, the president who happens to be from your own party.

But Amash is still no fan of Democrats and is particularly critical of Sanders self-described democratic socialism, arguing his spending is unsustainable and squelches freedom. Last night, Amash helpfully suggested that Trump and Sanders read Henry Hazlitts libertarian bible, Economics in One Lesson.

He seems to be thoroughly relishing his independent status, telling the Advance last fall that he switches which side of the House floor hell speak on, depending on which party he plans to anger that day.

Being in one of these parties is kind of miserable, Amash said. You come to work and the leadership tried to focus you on partisan fights the whole time and messaging, and they dont really care about policy. They certainly dont care about principles. And thats just a miserable state to be in.

So Amash could take a principled stand and run as a third-party presidential candidate. It would instantly mean a national platform for his libertarian ideas and allow him to draw sharp contrasts with Democrats and the GOP Sunday shows and cable news would be chomping at the bit to book him. Recall that in 2016, talking heads valiantly tried to elevate Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson (whose laughable ignorance of foreign policy didnt stop the conservative Detroit News editorial page from endorsing him). But Amash would bring real intellectual heft.

I do think that one of the things President Trump revealed with his election is that one person can influence a lot of people by becoming president, and I certainly think thats important, Amash told the Advance last fall. I think that I could have a positive influence on the way people treat each other.

Amash: Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct

There also would be practical reasons for Amash to run for president.

Lets face it. Its an uphill battle to win a Michigan congressional seat as an independent. Unlike states like Maine, we have no real modern tradition of that. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, a former moderate Republican who used to represent part of the 3rd, has weighed independent bids for both Congress and governor, and ultimately decided it was a quixotic quest. (In case youre wondering, he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and told me he absolutely will not vote for Trump this year).

So if Amash suspects hes going to lose in 2020, he may decide to do so while wielding a bigger microphone on a much bigger stage.

And now for the multi-billion-dollar question: What impact would Amash have on the presidential race? If Michigan proves decisive and is close as it was four years ago when Trump won by 10,704 votes a somewhat known, hometown third-party candidate could be a spoiler.

Last May, a Detroit News poll tried to test that theory out, pitting Trump against then-frontrunner Joe Biden with Amash in the mix. The results were somewhat startling, pollster Richard Czuba said, with Amash at 10%, thanks to drawing independents from the Democrat not Trump.

Amash has long been a party of 1 in the Michigan delegation

He will not take away Republican votes from Trump, Czuba said. What he will do is give independent voters who dont want to support President Trump an outlet to not vote for the Democrat. And if you look at who or what would be moving toward Amash, it is particularly independent men.

Amashs presence could also hurt Democrats further down the ticket, as fewer people would likely be voting straight-ticket.

A lot has changed in the election since the poll was taken, of course. But it is a helpful reminder that knee-jerk assumptions in politics are often wrong.

Amash says he believes Trump will lose Michigan in 2020, since hes turned off suburban voters. But it would really be something if the one of the highest-profile conservatives who refused to pledge undying loyalty to Trump ended up securing his reelection after all.

Read more from the original source:
Susan J. Demas: Dems nominating Sanders could up the odds Amash runs 3rd party. But what will it mean? - Michigan Advance