U.S. District Court Rules that Fayette County, Georgia, Must Stop Electing County Commissioners At-Large

May 22nd, 2013

On May 21, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten, an appointee of President George W. Bush, issued an 81-page opinion in Georgia State Conference of NAACP v Fayette County Board of Commissioners, northern district, 3:11cv-123. The ruling finds that Fayette County, Georgia, is in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act because of its method of electing county commissioners and members of the Board of Education.

Both bodies have five members. They are elected at-large, in numbered posts. That means, instead of the ballot telling voters, “Vote for Five”, each candidate for County Commission and Board of Education runs for one particular numbered seat. Although the county is 20% black, no black has ever been elected to either body. The county uses districts, but only for the purpose of a residency requirement for candidates.

The opinion suggests that at-large elections might have been upheld if it weren’t for the numbered seats provision. If all the members were elected at-large, in a single space on the ballot, it would be easier for a discrete minority to elect one of its preferred candidates by simply voting for that one candidate, and no others. But the numbered seat provision, making each separate seat a separate contest, makes that impossible.



South Carolina Bill Would Ban Fusion

May 22nd, 2013

On May 7, South Carolina State Senator George Campsen (R-Charleston) introduced SB 683. It would provide that if a candidate is nominated by more than one party, the candidate must choose which party’s nomination he or she wants, and must decline all other nominations. There have been bills in previous sessions of the South Carolina legislature to ban fusion, but they didn’t pass. The bill, so far at least, has no co-sponsors.

California Special State Senate Election Results

May 21st, 2013

California held a special election on May 21 to fill the vacant State Senate seat, 16th district. Three Democrats, a Republican, and a Peace & Freedom Party member ran. Here are the unofficial results. Unlike regularly-scheduled elections in California, in special elections, if anyone gets 50% of the vote, there is no second election. It appears the Republican, Andy Vidak, is winning this seat outright. The district had been represented by a Democrat who resigned his seat to take a job in the private sector.

Republican Nominee for Governor of Virginia says Libertarian Should Not be Invited into Any Debates

May 21st, 2013

Even though Ken Cuccinelli, Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia this year, wants to debate 15 times with his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, Cuccinelli does not want Rob Sarvis to be invited to any of the debates. See this story. Sarvis is the Libertarian nominee and appears likely to be the only third candidate on the ballot.

California Minor Parties File New Brief in Lawsuit Challenging Top-Two System

May 21st, 2013

On May 21, the California Green, Libertarian, and Peace & Freedom Parties filed this brief in Rubin v Bowen, the case in state court that challenges the California top-two system. The parties also filed this request for Judicial Notice, pertaining to the procedures by which the top-two bills passed the legislature, as well as June 2012 and November 2012 data showing almost 2.5 times as many voters voted in California in November as in June.

New York Bill for Non-Partisan Local and State Elections

May 21st, 2013

New York State Senator Greg Ball (R-Patterson) has introduced SB 5305. It would convert all elections for state and local office to non-partisan elections. There would be no primaries for state or local office. Instead, anyone who wanted to run would do so in November. Candidates would get on the ballot with petitions. Statewide candidates would need 15,000 signatures. No party labels would appear on the ballot.

Oregon Court Won’t Adjudicate Intra-Libertarian Party Dispute

May 21st, 2013

On May 21, the Oregon State Circuit Court, 5th district, issued an opinion in Reeves v Wagner, cv12-010345. The Oregon Libertarian Party is internally divided between two factions. The Reeves faction sued the Wagner faction, hoping to obtain a court decision that the Reeves faction officers are the true officers of the state party. But the court ruled that it has no jurisdiction, and that the Oregon Libertarian Party’s Judicial Committee should decide the matter. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.

Virginia Libertarian Gubernatorial Petition Has 15,000 Signatures So Far

May 21st, 2013

The Virginia Libertarian Party’s petition to place its gubernatorial candidate on the November 2013 ballot has approximately 15,000 signatures. It needs 10,000 and is due June 11. The candidate is Rob Sarvis. If he gets on the ballot, he will be the only candidate on the ballot other than the Democratic and Republican nominees.

Last year, Tareq Salahi said he would run as an independent for Governor of Virginia, but it appears from this article that he is no longer doing that.

Alabama Legislature Adjourns, Only Passed One Election Law Bill During Entire Session

May 21st, 2013

The Alabama legislature adjourned for the year on May 20 at two minutes before midnight. The entire 2013 session only passed on election law bill, to provide for easier absentee voting for emergency relief workers during a natural disaster.

Bills that failed to pass include Senator Cam Ward’s ballot access bill; a bill for election-day registration; a bill to provide that voter registration forms ask voters to choose a party (which would enable parties to close their primaries if they wished to); to provide that write-ins should not be counted unless the write-in candidate might have won the election; to eliminate run-off primaries if someone received at least 35% of the vote; and many others of less interest.

California Secretary of State Now Says She Does Not Recommend Enforcement of Residency Requirement for Circulators

May 21st, 2013

The California Secretary of State’s web page now has a footnote in its list of instructions for candidates, concerning petitions in lieu of filing fee. The web page’s instructions to candidates continues to say “Each circulator of an in-lieu-filing-fee petition shall be a registered voter of the district in which the candidate is running. The circulator shall serve within the county in which he or she resides. Election Code section 8106(b)(4).”

But, there is now a footnote #3, which says, “The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down statutes that require petition circulators to be registered voters. Other federal courts have struck down statutes that require petition circulators to reside within the state or locality affected by a petition, especially where requiring circulators to submit to jurisdiction by agreement would achieve the same end and would be more narrowly tailored to further the state’s interest in preventing fraud. The Secretary of State is constitutionally constrained from declaring a state statute invalid, and Elections Code section 8106, subdivision (b), subsection (4) has not been declared unconstitutional by any state or federal court in California. However, given the similarities between this statute and the provisions struck down in the foregoing cases, the Secretary of State does not recommend or support the enforcement of this statute against any petition circulator, especially where the petition circulator agrees to submit to local jurisdiction.”

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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.
    [Added:001206]

    "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.
    [Checked:991014]

    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]

    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.
    [Added:000823]

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