Calif. Green Party Takes Control of 2 City Councils

November 9th, 2004

The Green Party of California elected at least 15 candidates to local office and now control two city councils. All such local offices in California are elected as non-partisan.

The Greens elected two to the Arcata (Humboldt County) City Council, gaining a majority. The party retained control of the Sebastopol (Sonoma County) City Council by winning two open spots.

In San Francisco, longtime Green campaign consultant Ross Mirkarimi won the District 5 race for County Supervisor, a seat vacated by popular Green Matt Gonzalez, who chose not to seek re-election.



Montana Constitution Party Legislative Win Looks at 25 Provisional Votes; Control of State House Depends on Outcome

November 7th, 2004

The determination of 25 provisional ballots will likely decide the fate of Montana Constitution Party legislative candidate Rick Jore. The count of regular ballots put Jore in the lead by one single vote. After these provisional ballots are ruled on and counted, it is likely a full recount will occur.

The leaderhip of Montana’s House of Representatives hangs in the balance. If Jore loses, the House would be have a 50-50 split and the newly-elected Democratic Governor would name a House Speaker. If Jore wins, Republicans will control the House.

In an unusual case where a single challenged provisional ballot received publicity, election judges challenged the vote by a mentally-handicapped man whose ballot was signed by a shelter case manager since he was uable to sign it himself.

Election officials plan to review provisional ballots over the next few days at which point either candidate could ask for a recount. Given the closeness of the votes, a recount is likely.

Write-in Candidate Appears to Have Been Elected Mayor of San Diego

November 5th, 2004

City Councilwoman Donna Frye appears to have won election for Mayor of California’s second largest city as a write-in candidate. The city, like all cities in California, uses non-partisan elections. San Diego held a first round in March, at which no one got a majority. A run-off was scheduled for November 2, with the top two candidates names printed on the ballot.

However, after the first round in March, it became public knowledge that both candidates in the November run-off were objectionable. In September, Frye entered the mayoral race as a write-in candidate, and she appears to have won. Frey is already leading the vote over incumbent Mayor Dck Murphy. Since more write-in votes have yet to be counted, it is expected that Frey will easily be elected.

Instant-Runoff Voting Makes Gains

November 4th, 2004

On November 2, the voters of Ferndale, Michigan, voted to use Instant-Runoff voting in future city elections, as soon as voting equipment is available to do the job. And in Burlington, Vermont, voters passed an advisory question recommending that the city council implement IRV in mayoral elections. Both cities passed the measures overwhelmingly: 70% in Ferndale and 66% in Burlington.

Also, even more significantly, voters transferred control of the Vermont House of Representatives from the Republicans to the Democrats. The Democrats already controlled the State Senate. It is now more than likely that a bill to establish IRV in Vermont statewide elections will pass in 2005. It is not known if the Republican Governor will sign or veto the bill, should it reach his desk. During the period 2001-2004, IRV bills were repeatedly stopped by the Republican majority in the Vermont House.

Changes in “Qualified Status” for Minor Parties

November 4th, 2004

Compared to November 8, 2000 (the day after that year’s presidential election), here are the changes in “qualified status” for each political party, as a result of election results, various voter registration drives, and various legislative changes since then:

  • Libertarian: was on in 25 states then, now on in 26. Gains since Nov. 8, 2000 are Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan. Losses since then are Alabama, Massachusetts, and Washington.
  • Green: was on in 20 states then, now on in 16. Gains are Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, Vermont. Losses are Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Texas (not included in the above tally is the Connecticut status for president only, which existed after 2000 but no longer does).
  • Constitution: was on in 13 states then, now on in 15. Gains are Maryland, Michigan, South Dakota. Loss in Kansas.
  • Natural Law: was on in 11 states then, now on in 7. Gain in Michigan. Losses in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, South Carolina, Vermont.
  • Reform: was on in 12 states then, now on in 7. Gain in Louisiana. Losses in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota.

Changes in the status of parties that only exist in a single state are:

  • California: Peace & Freedom Party was not on the ballot in 2000 but is now.
  • New York: Liberal and Right-to-Life Parties were on in 2000, but not now.
  • Rhode Island: Cool Moose Party no longer exists.
  • Vermont: Grassroots Party no longer exists, but a Marijuana Party has risen to take its place.

At Least 8 Minor Party Candidates Elected to State Legislatures (updated)

November 4th, 2004

On November 2, the Green Party of Maine, the Constitution Party of Montana, and the Vermont Progressive Party, all elected state legislators.

  • The Maine Greens re-elected John Eder, who had first been elected to the legislature as a Green in 2002. The result was a surprise, since in 2003 the legislature had redrawn the lines and abolished Eder’s district. Eder then moved, and walked precincts in his new district for the last several months, and won again in a 3-party race. Eder polled approximately 54%.
  • The Constitution Party appears to have elected Rick Jore to the Montana legislature, but one vote. There will surely be a recount, so his victory is not certain. This race was also a 3-person race.
  • The Vermont Progressive Party elected six members to the Vermont house. Previously the party had four members. The six winners on the Vermont Progressive Party ticket are Bob Kiss, David Zuckerman, Sarah Edwards, Sandy Haas, Winston Dowland, and Dexter Randall. When the Progressive Party first started winning legislative seats in Vermont, all their victories were in Burlington. Now, however, 4 of their legislators (all but Kiss and Zuckerman) are from other parts of Vermont. Haas and Dowland won in seats that usually elect Republicans.

There may be other minor party victories to state legislatures as well; any others discovered will be added. Let us know if you are aware of any additional wins.

Maine Green Legistator Reelected

November 3rd, 2004

John Eder, who was elected to the Maine legislature in 2002, was re-elected on November 2, 2004, even though the legislature had redistricted the state house boundaries in 2003 and virtually abolished Eder’s district. Eder won a 2-person race with 51%.

California Prop. 62 Loses in 52 Out of 58 Counties

November 3rd, 2004

California’s proposition 62, the “top two” method that put all candidates for congress and state office on the June primary ballot, and only permitted the top two vote-getters to be on the November ballot, only carried 6 counties (Butte, Nevada, Lassen, Kings, Imperial and Modoc). It lost in all the high-population counties, even though it had been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the Sacramento-Fresno-Modesto Bees, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Some Ohio Officials Cross Out Third Party Candidate Lines

November 3rd, 2004

In Madison County, Ohio, elections officials used a marking pen on all ballots to blacken out the Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates for president, who had qualified for the ballot in Ohio and whose names had been printed on all state ballots. When voters asked why, it became apparent that the county elections office had taken the order to blacken out Nader’s name, as a blanket order to blacken out the names of all the minor party presidential candidates, leaving only Kerry and Bush.

California Defeats, Washington Passes Anti-Third Party Measures

November 3rd, 2004

With most of the votes counted in California and Washington state, it appears that California voters have defeated Proposition 62, but Washington state voters have passed I-872.

Both propositions would eliminate minor party members for congress and state office from appearing on November ballots.

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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!

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    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]

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