Mississippi Governor Signs Bill Setting a 5 p.m. Deadline for Presidential Elector Paperwork

March 19th, 2010

On March 19, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour signed SB 3058. It sets a 5 p.m. deadline for presidential elecctor paperwork. The old law set the deadline date, but not an hour. This bill only came into existence because of the 2008 incident at which the Secretary of State’s office rejected the paperwork for Brian Moore, Socialist Party presidential candidate. Thanks to Brian Moore for this news.



Former Legislator to Run For North Carolina County Commission as Write-in Candidate

March 19th, 2010

This article says former North Carolina legislator Cary Allred will be a write-in candidate this year for County Commission in Alamance County. Allred is now a registered independent.

Ninth Circuit Sets Hearing Date for Arizona Public Funding Case

March 19th, 2010

The 9th circuit will hear McComish v Brewer, 10-15166, on April 12, probably in San Francisco. This is the case over certain aspects of Arizona’s public funding law for candidates. The lawsuit challenges the part of the program that provides extra public funding for candidates who have a privately-funded opponent with a great deal of funding.

The U.S. District Court had ruled that part of the public funding law to be invalid. The U.S. District Court had also said that the unconstitutional parts can’t be separated out from the remainder of the program. A majority of Arizona legislators are hostile to the program, so they are not likely to pass any bill repairing the system. This is somewhat different from the situation in Connecticut. In Connecticut, a majority of legislators favor the public funding, so the Connecticut legislature will probably repair the parts that have so far been held unconstitutional.

New Mexico Libertarian Party Finishes Party Petition

March 19th, 2010

The New Mexico Libertarian Party believes it has finished its petition to get back on the ballot. 7,500 signatures have been collected, to meet a requirement of 4,151. Assuming the petition is approved, the party will be ballot-qualified in 2010 and 2012. However, another New Mexico election law says that even though the party would be ballot-qualified, it still needs more petitions for all of its nominees, except for the presidential nominee. Those candidate petitions are due in the summer.

Connecticut Bill Advances, Would Delete Discriminatory Parts of Public Funding

March 19th, 2010

On March 17, the Connecticut Joint Government & Elections Committee passed HB 5021, the bill to amend parts of the public funding law for campaigns for state office. HB 5021 deletes the parts of the law that require petitions from all independent candidates and most minor party candidates. Under HB 5021, the rules would be the same for all candidates, regardless of party affiliation or lack of party affiliation.

HB 5021 is the Governor’s bill, and the legislative sponsor is Representative Lawrence G. Miller (R-Stratford). See this story.

The committee did not advance HB 5022, an alternate bill which retains the discriminatory features but makes them less extreme.

California Judge Tentatively Rules Against Electronic Signatures on Petitions

March 19th, 2010

Late on March 18, a California Superior Court Judge in San Mateo County ruled that signatures on petitions must be on paper. The case is Ni v Slocum. See this story.

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez Interview Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich

March 18th, 2010

Democracy Now, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, recently hosted Congresman Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader. The interchange of views of the four individuals on issues of public importance is a good read. This link has the transcript.

Maryland, District of Columbia, Fret Over Losing September Primaries

March 18th, 2010

The Washington Post has this story about the dilemma that Maryland and the District of Columbia are in, over their traditional September primaries. The new federal law that requires overseas absentee ballots to be sent at least 45 days before an election means that September primaries are no longer practical. Both jurisdictions have asked for a waiver for 2010.

California Dispute Over “Assistant Attorney General” Ballot Occupation

March 18th, 2010

California is the only state in which every candidate may list his or her occupation on the ballot. John Eastman, a Republican running for California Attorney General, has chosen “Assistant Attorney General.” His opponents are crying foul, because even though he lives in California, he is not an Assistant Attorney General in California. The title is bestowed on him by the state of South Dakota, which has hired him to work on one particular case. See this story.

California law does not permit more than three words for an occupation on the ballot.

Two West Virginia Republican Candidates Trapped on the Wrong Primary Ballot

March 18th, 2010

Two West Virginia Republicans wanted to run for Republican Party Executive Committee in their home county, Ralpigh County. Due to a mix-up with the an erroneous entry on the Declaration of Candidacy, instead they are on the ballot in Wood County, 135 miles from where they live. This story explains how it happened and why nothing can be done about it.

 

 

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Welcome to the OFFICIAL online home of Ballot Access News, a non-partisan newsletter reporting on the trials and tribulations of folks trying to put candidates on the ballot in the United States of America. There are many surprisingly restrictive ballot access laws in this country, which the average voter has no knowledge or conception of; part of our purpose here (besides reporting on progress made) is to report on these restrictive ballot access laws so that more people are aware of them. I hope you find these materials interesting and exciting; if you do, you can support the newsletter by subscribing!

Ballot Access News is edited and published by Richard Winger, the nation's leading expert on ballot access legal issues.

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  • Politics, Soviet-style by S. Philip Gordon, regarding recent ballot access issues in Georgia – the US state, not the Russian territority!

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Other information:

  • Here's how to subscribe to Ballot Access News!

  • Here's information on Presidential Ballot Access as well as the vote totals of recent Presidential elections.

  • Here are some other sites which may also be of interest:

    Project Vote-Smart

    Project Vote Smart is a citizens' organization dedicated to serving all Americans with accurate and unbiased information for electoral decision-making. It was inaugerated in 1992 by former US Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and other leaders. Its webpage offers information about all ballot-listed candidates for all federal and state office.
    [Added:040729]

    The ACE Project
    An interesting site concerning itself with the "Administration and Cost of Elections", including issues of fairness and regulatory approaches in various countries. They seem to be almost blind to the ways that third parties in the USA are harmed by campaign finance rules crafted for the problems characteristic of the larger parties, or the ways that third parties would be disenfranchised by various proposed rules, but this is nevertheless a useful resource, particularly for the international comparisons it makes.
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    "Unofficial" B.A.N. Page

    At first, it looks like there's not much here. But then you follow the "Charts" link, and click on one of the listed candidates, and you'll get some truly wonderful nationwide maps of voting patterns.
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    ThirdPartyNews.net

    A site that covers news about minor parties.
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    Third Party Central

    Collects lots of good information and links relating to various third parties into one convenient location. Nice set of writings on why one should vote third-party.
    [Checked:991014]

    Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

    A surprisingly complete listing of votes cast in Presidential elections, including numerous third-party candidates and nice maps of vote distribution by state and (on the individual state pages) by county.
    [New-URL:010309]

    D.C.'s Political Report

    Very good presentation of candidate and party information, including virtually every known third-party group in the USA. Election results, candidate information, etc.
    [Updated:991214]

    Initiative For Texas

    A group trying to establish the right to Initiative and Referendum in Texas. Their work has intriguing parallels and overlaps with ballot access work. Every page at the site seems to have some music on it, which can get annoying after awhile, but otherwise it's an interesting site.
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    Center for Voting and Democracy

    Folks concerned with alternative voting systems, and related issues, from a moderately leftist perspective. Useful articles describing how better systems of voting and electing actually work.
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The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.