Sarah Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska

July 3rd, 2009

On July 3, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin surprised the nation by announcing she will resign as Governor on July 25. Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell will become Governor. Palin announced this without taking questions, and without explaining why she is resigning.



Another Book Due, Lambasting Restrictive Ballot Access Laws

July 3rd, 2009

On September 15, Springer Publishing Company (one of the largest publishers of non-fiction science and social science books in the world) is set to release “Not Invited to the Party: How the Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold.”

The author is Economics Professor James Bennett. Bennett wrote a similar book last in 2008 which was published by Springer. Its name was “Stifling Political Competition: How Government has Rigged the System to Benefit Demopublicans and Exclude Third Parties.” That volume didn’t have a big impact because it was only in hardcover, was $99, and yet was relatively short. The new book is expanded and will be less expensive.

Canadian Green Party Strategy for Winning its First Seat in Canadian Parliament

July 3rd, 2009

Although the Green Party of Canada is much stronger in elections than the Green Party of the U.S., the Canadian Greens have never elected a representative to the federal Parliament in Ottawa. The party’s leader, Elizabeth May, has recently decided to move from Nova Scotia to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to campaign in the Saanich-Gulf Islands district. See this article. The Saanich-Gulf Islands district includes the towns of Saanich and Sidney.

Canada, like Great Britain, is accustomed to candidates for Parliament that have no long residential roots in the district that elects them. The Green Party came in 3rd in the 2008 Canadian election in the Saanich-Gulf Islands district, with 10.45%. The district is now represented by a Conservative Party member, who won with 43.43% in the last federal election in 2008.

No one knows when the next Canadian federal election will be held. Canadian parliamentary districts usually have a population of about 100,000 people.

Ohio Legislature Less Likely to Pass a New Ballot Access Bill This Year

July 3rd, 2009

In 2006, Ohio’s procedure by which political parties get on the ballot was held unconstitutional. Almost three years have passed, and no bill has been introduced to write a new law to replace the old void one.

Under a federal court decision won by the Ohio Libertarian Party in 2008, as long as there is no valid ballot access law in place, the state cannot keep any party off the ballot, if it can show that it has a modicum of support. As a result, it is growing increasingly likely that the Libertarian, Green, Constitution and Socialist Parties will remain on the ballot automatically in 2010. Because Ohio’s Constitution requires all qualified political parties to nominate by primary, and because Ohio has its primary in May in 2010, even if the legislature passed a bill in early 2010, it could not impose requirements that would be in effect in 2010.

The Ohio legislature is still in session, but as soon as it passes a budget bill, it will recess for the summer, but will return in the autumn of 2009.

California Proponents of “Top-Two” Ignore Recent California Gubernatorial Election History

July 3rd, 2009

Proponents of the California ballot question to impose a “top-two” election system have been quoted in many mainstream news media organizations recently. These spokespeople repeat over and over that California’s state government leadership problems are caused by politicians who are too ideological. The advocates of “top-two” say that their election system would result in a different kind of candidate being put in office.

Ironically, however, the proponents never remind people that each of the last two governors of California was initially elected in their type of system. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected for the first time in 2003, in a special election at which all voters received the same ballot, with all candidates listed on the ballot. And previous Governor Gray Davis was elected for the first time in 1998, when California was using the “blanket primary”, another system in which all voters receive identical primary ballots, ballots that list all candidates for the office from all political parties.

Proponents of “top-two” seem to have succeeded in their desire to have “top-two” labeled as an “open primary”. Definitions in this area are hopelessly confused. Most proponents of “top-two” say it is legitimate for them to label “top-two” as an “open primary”, because they say that “open primary” means any system in which independents can vote in the primaries. However, it is already the case that independents in California may vote in the major party primaries in 2010.

Working Family Party Holds Forum for Some New York City Mayoral Candidates

July 3rd, 2009

On July 2, the Working Families Party of New York City held a forum for some candidates for Mayor. An audience of 400 people heard from Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Democrats Bill Thompson and Tony Avella. The Green Party candidate for Mayor, Rev. Billy Talen, was not permitted to address the meeting. See this story.

July 4 Rally in Chicago Highlights Election Problems

July 3rd, 2009

Free & Equal, and ReTea Party, are jointly sponsoring a rally in Chicago on July 4 to highlight speakers who are concerned about election law problems in Illinois and the United States. See this list of speakers. The rally is at Gateway Park at Navy Pier between noon and 4 p.m. Among the speakers are Theresa Amato, author of “Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny”; Paul Jacob, head of Citizens in Charge (an organization trying to expand the initiative process); and Christina Tobin, founder of Free & Equal.

California Budget Crisis Slows Progress of Election Law Bills

July 3rd, 2009

Both the California State Senate Elections Committee, and the California Assembly Committee, had been expected to meet on Tuesday, July 7. Many election law bills of interest were on their agendas.

However, because of the California budget crisis, it is likely that both hearings will be cancelled. The legislature is not in session July 3-July 5, although legislative leaders continue negotiating a budget over that weekend. Assuming no budget will be in place on July 7, all non-budget legislative hearings are cancelled.

Bills of interest include AB 909, to provide that independent voters should be told at the polls on primary day that they may choose to vote in the Democratic, Republican or American Independent primaries; AB 1121, on letting 10 non-charter cities or counties use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections; AB 6, on requiring firms that pay petition circulators to register with the Secretary of State; and SB 34, to outlaw paying circulators per-signature. All these bills had been set to be heard in one of the two committees on July 7.

Also stalled is AB 1396, to deregulate the Democratic Party’s internal structure. It has passed the Assembly and the Senate Elections Committee, but won’t receive a vote on the Senate floor until the budget is settled.

New York Times Again Calls for Ballot Access Reform

July 2nd, 2009

The July 2 New York Times print edition has this editorial, calling for various types of election law reform, including ballot access reform.

Cynthia McKinney Coverage on Atlanta TV Station

July 2nd, 2009

Atlanta TV station 11 has this report on Cynthia McKinney’s status in Israel. The story is also being covered in USA Today.

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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!

Extra Features:

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]

    ThirdPartyNews.net

    A site that covers news about minor parties.
    [Checked:060414]

    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.
    [Checked:991014]

    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]

The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.