CD 8 Special Election Update: It’s not easy being Green (Part 2)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week I posted that Democratic Party activist Luke Knipe had filed a challenge to the petitions of Green Party candidate Charlie Mankolis for the reason that Mr. Mankolis is a registered Democrat and not even a member of the Green Party. Doh! CD 8 Special Election Update: It's not easy being Green.

Well folks, remember the Green Scheme Siphon Scandal the GOP pulled with "sham" Green Party candidates in 2010? Republican voter fraud "Green" scheme. An alumnus from this group of sham Green Party candidates, Richard Grayson from Apache Junction in Pinal County, has filed to run as a write-in candidate again, this time in the CD 8 Special Election. See the Arizona Secretary of State web site "Full Listing 2012 Special Primary Election – CD 8."

You may recall that the Arizona Green Party sued to keep these sham Green Party candidates off the ballot in 2010, Green Party sues to remove 11 "sham" candidates from the ballot, but a federal judge allowed them to remain on the ballot under Arizona's quirky law pertaining to newly recognized political parties, as the Arizona Green Party was in 2010. Update: Federal judge allows GOP-recruited "sham" Green Party candidates to remain on the ballot.

The number of write-in votes needed for Democrats, Libertarians and Republicans is based on the number of signatures they would have needed to qualify for the ballot in the first place. But newly recognized parties – which the Green Party was in 2010 – needed only a plurality of votes, meaning an unopposed write-in candidate could win the nomination with a single vote. A.R.S. Sec. 16-645(D).

From the Arizona Green Party Complaint in Arizona Green Party v. Sham Candidates (.docstoc):

43. Defendant Richard Grayson is a write-in candidate purporting to be affiliated with the Arizona Green Party (AGP). Grayson is a write-in candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 6. Upon information and belief, he switched his political party registration from Republican to Green sometime in late 2009. Grayson filed as a write-in candidate on May 28, 2010. His filing papers are attached hereto as Ex. 3.

* * *

60. (b). Grayson secured the AGP nomination and will advance to the general election as the Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 6 with only 3 votes. [See Ex. 33]. A Republican write-in candidate would have had to obtain 1,055 votes, a Democratic write-in candidate would have had to obtain 610 votes, and a Libertarian write-in candidate would have had to obtain 17 votes. If the AGP was subject to the same statutory requirement for write-in candidates as the other parties, Grayson would have had to obtain 154 votes. [See Ex. 34].

The Arizona Green Party is no longer a newly recognized political party as it was in 2010, so it will be subject to the same statutory requirement as the other political parties in 2012. Even so, the qualifying number of write-in signatures for Libertarian and Green Party candidates is ridiculously low. I do not know what the "magic number" is in this CD 8 Special Election Primary for Mr. Grayson — but I am sure he will find out and post it in the comments. 

It appears that Mr. Grayson is still feuding with the Arizona Green Party over his sham candidate status in 2010. He was not their endorsed candidate. You will want to check out his diatribe in the comments at Green Party Watch » Blog Archive » Arizona Greens Hope for High Turnout on Tuesday’s Primary which is cross-posted at http://grayson-green.blogspot.com/ as Richard Grayson Arizona Green Party for Congress: Reflections on the Election of 2010 and the Arizona Green Party:

And just to piss them off and give them advance notice of 20 months, we are today announcing that we will be a candidate for the Arizona Green Party nomination for Congress in the 2012 primary. That is, if they can do the work to make sure we're on the ballot again. All we need is one write-in vote to win! And our name's easier to spell than "Murkowski."

Grayson needed one write-in vote in 2010. Greens are subject to the same statutory requirement as the other political parties in 2012. He's going to have to work for votes this time. Given his history with the Green Scheme Siphon Scandal and his carpetbagger status in CD 8, this will not be easy. Even with the ridiculously low number of votes required.