2008 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT
(updated August 7, 2008)
TOTAL STATES ON THE BALLOT
Libertarian Party
Green Party
Constitution Party
Nader (Indep.)
34
23
24
16
 
     

Appeals Court Keeps Nader off Ohio Ballot

October 19th, 2004

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that it would not grant presidential candidate Ralph Nader an injunction to block a lower court’s order that removed him from the Ohio ballot.

Nader still has a chance to get on the ballot via his case before the Ohio Supreme Court.



California Governor Supports Anti-Minor Party Ballot Measure

October 18th, 2004

This afternoon California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed Prop. 62. Prop. 62 provides that all candidates for congress and state office run on a single ballot in June. Then, only the top two vote-getters can ever appear on the November ballot.

88% of the $4,000,000 in contributions to Prop. 62 have come in chunks of $50,000 or more. The “top two” system would probably result in the two candidates with the most campaign financing in the primary season being the only two candidates on the November ballot.

Schwarzenegger had earlier promised to remain neutral.

Learning From US, Putin Moves to Restrict Political Parties

October 18th, 2004

The world has always learned from America’s example. These days we are not setting a very good one.

Now Putin is learning from the US! The Kremlin has announced a new crackdown on small parties. Currently, parties must get 100 people to sign up as members in each of half of Russia’s 89 regions. Under the new proposal, parties will be required to sign up 250 members in every single region, and 500 members in each of half the regions. In addition, they will be required to sign up 50,000 members nationwide.

This is another of Putin’s new anti-Democratic moves, following his moves to make Governors and Judges appointed instead of elected.

~ Eric Garris, Ballot Access News Webmaster

Talk Back to Ballot Access News

October 18th, 2004

Today Ballot Access News goes interactive!

All news items are now available for your comments and replies, which will be posted with each item. Write the Webmaster for assistance or with any questions.

Briefs Filed in Supreme Courts of Ohio and Pennsylvania in Nader Cases

October 15th, 2004

On October 15, all briefs were filed in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Nader’s ballot access case, and likewise all briefs were filed in his ballot access case in the Ohio Supreme Court.

Nader is still waiting for a decision from the 9th circuit in his Arizona case. All the briefs were in as of October 13.

Nader Fails to Get Injunctive Relief in Arizona

October 15th, 2004

On October 15, the 9th circuit said Ralph Nader filed his federal ballot access lawsuit too late to be entitled to an injunction. The 9th circuit said nothing about the merits of the case, which will be decided after the election is over. The issues are the June 9 petition deadline for independent candidates, and the law forbidding out-of-state circulators.

Federal Court Refuses to Place Nader and Peroutka on Hawaii Ballot

October 13th, 2004

Today a federal circuit court judge refused to consider placing Ralph Nader and Michael Peroutka on the Hawaii ballot, saying it would be too expensive to order the state to reprint the ballots. Nader and Peroutka are pursuing their case in Hawaii state court.

 

 

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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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  • 1993 Issues not yet available online

Essays by Richard Winger:

Additional articles/essays:

  • 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.