Special Election for US Senate - Second Poll

[ron_newman]

Three weeks ago, I posted a poll that resulted in a dead heat -- 32 votes each for Capuano, Coakley, and Undecided. Since then, we've had several televised debates and lots more news coverage, so let's see if the Undecided voters have settled on a choice by now. This LJ poll will remain open until the real poll closes next Tuesday at 8 pm.

As before, please feel free to leave comments telling us why you support your candidate (or oppose another candidate).

[Poll #1494259]

Comments

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I don't get to vote in the primaries

You would get to vote in a Green-Rainbow Party primary or a Libertarian primary if they were having one (depending on which of those parties you're registered as affiliated with).

If you want to have a choice of all primaries to vote in, registering as an unaffiliated voter would enable you to do that.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Actually, there will be three ballots: Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Not according to the state elections website (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elespeif/senatorincongressma_can.htm). The Libertarian Party website is so confusing and out of date that I can't figure out what they think is going on.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Well, what that website says is that there are no candidates, not that there won't be a ballot. I believe that is why the Green party isn't listed.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

If the state of Massachusetts is issuing blank Libertarian Party primary ballots next Tuesday, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party doesn't seem to know about it.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

http://www.somervillema.gov/alert.cfm?alert_id=246

Blank primary ballots aren't actually that uncommon.

[ron_newman]

From the Secretary of State's page Running for Office as a Sticker or Write-In Candidate:

"To be nominated in a primary, a write-in or sticker candidate must be the top vote getter among the other candidates for the office and the number of write-in votes for the candidate must at least equal the number of signatures required on nomination papers to qualify to be printed on the primary ballot as a candidate"

which means, for US Senate, at least 10,000 votes.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I suppose that's why Joe Kennedy is going directly for the "collect signatures, get on general election ballot" rather than running as a Libertarian--it gives them another month to marshal support?

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Huh.

Well, that's kind of a waste of money and time.

I sit corrected.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sure there's some reason it happens, but I don't know exactly what. I bet Ron looks it up and posts within the next hours, though.

(I would have posted that link in the first place but it didn't occur to me until then to look for that info on the City web site.)

[ron_newman]

It has something to do with being a "major party" if you got more than N% of the vote for a statewide office in the last state election. But I don't remember any of the details.

[ron_newman]

Who are the Libertarian candidates? I did not list them above because I didn't know they existed. None are listed on the Secretary Galvin's website.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

There aren't any.

The person who's endorsed on the Massachusetts Libertarian Party website, Joe Kennedy, is running as either an "Independent" or "Liberty Party" candidate in the January general special election, if he gets enough signatures (http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/joe-kennedy-running-for-massachusetts-senator) to get on the ballot. I can't verify if he has enough signatures or not, because his website is a giant mess.