[candidate-development] Tassinari letter - 2nd attempt
Daniel Melnechuk
isis at isisdesign.com
Wed Mar 5 13:07:10 EST 2008
Two things.
A. In all the interactions with Michelle Tassinari, i have never had
anything but the most helpful, fair, and i would say reasonable
responses from Michelle as a lawyer representing the commonwealth and
the laws. We have worked with her on issues that have never been
broached before in Massachusetts (such as changing the name of a
party) and each time she has given it her full attention. She has a
duty to perform as the legal counsel for the elections division and
that includes delivering equal performance for all parties lest she
get the state in trouble. If there is any problem with Michelle, it
is that she is overloaded and is sometimes hard to get a hold of.
That is why i included the references to sections from our plan and
the MGLs. Both are on file and not being up front and totally
transparent about the situation would not be helpful is we are asking
her for a legal opinion from the state regarding our plan and the MGLs.
B. As for the 3 candidates, i was wondering about that. So i know
that Elaine and Jared have stepped down. I guess the 3rd is Ralph.
The last i heard is that said he is running and in one article seemed
to make it clear that he said he still does not know it what fashion,
independent or as green party candidate. From the responses here, it
sounds like i missed something and that there has been some
communication from the Nader campaign that he is running as in
independent and not seeking the nomination as a green party
presidential candidate.
Here is a rewrite, which includes what seems to be an obvious
question that was missing from the first go around:
--------------------------
Dear Ms. Tassinari:
We have received the results of the 2008 Green-Rainbow Presidential
Primary. Three candidates in our primary who garnered 44% of the vote
have either dropped out of the race (Ball and Brown) and one (Nader)
is running as an independent and not seeking the nomination of
president in our national Green party. Our presidential delegate
selection plan that we filed with your office by the deadline of
October 1st, 2007, does not explicitly cover this situation.
Our plan does state:
"If a candidate does not provide a list of their delegates, then the
State Committee will select those delegate positions when it selects
uncommitted delegates. The delegates so selected will be designated
as delegates for the particular candidate."
There is similar language in our plan for incomplete lists of
committed delegates from candidates. MGL Chapter 53, Section 70I,
"Delegates and alternate delegates to national conventions; voting
for president on first roll call" states:
"If there is a roll call vote for president at the national
convention of a political party, all delegates and alternate
delegates whose selection is subject by party rule to the approval of
a presidential candidate shall vote on the first such roll call for
that presidential candidate unless released by such candidate."
And finally MGL Chapter, Section 70B, "Delegates to national
conventions; election; number" states:
In any year in which candidates for presidential electors are to be
elected, the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to
national conventions of political parties shall be by that system
adopted by the state committee, provided such system shall not
include the placing of the names of delegates on the presidential
primary ballot; and provided, further, that the distribution of
delegates under any such system shall reflect the preference
expressed by the voters on the presidential preference portion of the
ballot at the presidential primary. The system adopted by the state
committee shall be set forth in written rules and procedures covering
all aspects of the delegate selection process and a copy of such
rules and procedures shall be filed with the state secretary on or
before October first of the year preceding the year in which
presidential electors are to be elected. The number of district
delegates and alternate district delegates, not less than two from
each congressional district, and the number of delegates and
alternate delegates at large shall be fixed by the state committee,
who shall give notice thereof to the state secretary on or before the
first Tuesday in January.
Here are our questions which we seek your guidance on from the point
of following state laws:
1. In your opinion, does our plan or MGL compel our party to actually
assign delegates to candidates who have left the race for nomination
as the Green presidential candidate by either dropping out or by
running as an independent and not in our party?
2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, or we go ahead anyway and
assign committed delegates to either the candidates that have left
the race for nomination as the Green presidential candidate by
dropping out or by running as in independent, must these committed
delegates still vote for that candidate on the first roll call? Or is
a candidate's public announcement of withdrawal in either way from
the race constitute releasing a candidate's delegates to vote for
someone else on the first ballot?
3. Since our delegate selection plan does not include handing these
situations, we are contemplating making changes to our plan. Seeing
no laws in MGL that say we can't, are we permitted to file a revised
plan at this time, or must enactment of any changes of our plan wait
until after the current presidential election cycle is over?
Thank you, in advance, for your help on these issues. (If you to
discuss this, or have questions regarding our questions, please
contact Dave England, co-chair of the Candidate Development and Legal
Committee, at 617-277-2827.
----------------------
Peace,
Dan
On Mar 5, 2008, at 9:50 AM, Gracegrnrnbw at aol.com wrote:
> Please remember that these lists are public.
>
> To my knowledge we have never had a reason to believe that Michelle
> Tassinari has done her job in any way but meticulously.
>
> Given that she and others could read this list, we need to not be
> implying that she is not to be trusted unless we have a basis for
> that...
>
> Thanks, Grace
> In a message dated 3/5/08 4:56:39 AM, john.walsh at umassmed.edu writes:
>
>
>> I hope we consider this proposal VERY carefully since I am not sure
>> of all its implications.
>> We must consider that this office is run by a Dem operative and that
>> they can use anything we send against us in the future.
>>
>> I am especially concerned about point one.
>> Are we asking her to throw out the votes for Nader or asking her to
>> equate withdrawal with saying that one is not seeking the nomination?
>> Will this leave the Draft Nader/Gonzalez movement out in the cold?
>> Sometimes when a public figure says "no," he is speaking like the
>> proverbial diplomat for whom "no" means "yes," or at least "maybe."
>> Ralph/Matt may just be saying that.
>>
>> Let us be careful.
>> john walsh
>>
>>
>> On Mar 4, 2008, at 11:12 PM, Daniel Melnechuk wrote:
>>
>> > Hi Dave,
>> >
>> > While your letter was good, I have added the relevant sections
>> of our
>> > pres delegate selection plan and MGL for Michelle to read which
>> > hopefully will make it easier for her to respond quickly. I also
>> > prefaced the questions with the point of view that we are asking
>> her
>> > about following state law, which is the only thing that she can do
>> > technically.
>> >
>> > I hope you find this helpful.
>> >
>> > Peace,
>> > Dan
>> >
>> > -------------------------
>> >
>> > Dear Ms. Tassinari:
>> >
>> > We have received the results of the 2008 Green-Rainbow Presidential
>> > Primary. Three candidates in our primary who garnered 44% of the
>> vote
>> > have since dropped out. Our presidential delegate selection plan
>> that
>> > we filed with your office by the deadline of October 1st, 2007,
>> does
>> > not explicitly cover this situation.
>> >
>> > Our plan does state:
>> >
>> > "If a candidate does not provide a list of their delegates, then
>> the
>> > State Committee will select those delegate positions when it
>> selects
>> > uncommitted delegates. The delegates so selected will be designated
>> > as delegates for the particular candidate."
>> >
>> > There is similar language in our plan for incomplete lists of
>> > committed delegates from candidates. MGL Chapter 53, Section 70I,
>> > states:
>> >
>> > "If there is a roll call vote for president at the national
>> > convention of a political party, all delegates and alternate
>> > delegates whose selection is subject by party rule to the
>> approval of
>> > a presidential candidate shall vote on the first such roll call for
>> > that presidential candidate unless released by such candidate."
>> >
>> > Here are our questions which we seek your guidance on from the
>> point
>> > of following state laws:
>> >
>> > 1. Must committed delegates, selected by our own rules above for a
>> > candidate who has withdrawn from the race, still vote for that
>> > candidate on the first roll call? Or is a candidate’s public
>> > announcement of withdrawal from the race constitute releasing a
>> > candidate’s delegates to vote for someone else on the first ballot?
>> >
>> > 2. Since our delegate selection plan does not include handing this
>> > situation, we are contemplating making changes to the plan. Are we
>> > permitted to file a revised plan that changes the plan in any way
>> > after the primary election has been held, or must enactment of any
>> > changes wait until after the current presidential election cycle is
>> > over?
>> >
>> > Thank you, in advance, for your help on these issues. (If you to
>> > discuss this, or have questions regarding our questions, please
>> > contact Dave England, co-chair of the Candidate Development and
>> Legal
>> > Committee, at 617-277-2827.
>> >
>> > -------------------------------
>> >
>> > On Mar 4, 2008, at 7:31 PM, DvEngland at aol.com wrote:
>> >
>> >> Sorry folks,
>> >>
>> >> I've been away, and in the intervening years, you have developed a
>> >> system
>> >> that rejects Word documents. Here it is in our beloved rich-text
>> >> format.
>> >>
>> >> Dave
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL
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>> >> <Presidential primary allocation -
>> >> Tassinari.rtf>_______________________________________________
>> >> candidate-development mailing list
>> >> candidate-development at green-rainbow.org
>> >> http://www.green-rainbow.org/mailman/listinfo/candidate-
>> development
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > candidate-development mailing list
>> > candidate-development at green-rainbow.org
>> > http://www.green-rainbow.org/mailman/listinfo/candidate-development
>> >
>>
>> John V. Walsh, MD
>> Professor of Physiology
>> University of Massachusetts Medical School
>> 508-856-3360 (Office)
>> 508-868-1653 (Cell)
>> john.walsh at umassmed.edu
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> candidate-development mailing list
>> candidate-development at green-rainbow.org
>> http://www.green-rainbow.org/mailman/listinfo/candidate-development
>
>
>
>
>
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