Oklahoma State Board of Elections will Ask Legislature to Improve Ballot Access

February 10th, 2005

Officials with the Oklahoma State Board of Elections have indicated the Board will ask the legislature to ease ballot access for minor parties in the state. Officials of the Board say they have already discussed this idea informally with certain state legislators, and the legislators’ response to the Board has been neutral or favorable.



US Court of Appeals Holds Spirited Hearing on Petitioning on Post Office Sidewalks

February 10th, 2005

On February 8, the US Court of Appeals, DC circuit, held a hearing in Initiative & Referendum Institute v US Postal Service. The issue is whether the First Amendment protects petitioning on post office sidewalks. All 3 judges were very interested in the case, and the argument was unusually spirited. A decision is likely in a few months. A more detailed account will be in the March 1 B.A.N.

Maine Bill Gets Good Response

February 8th, 2005

On February 7, the Maine House Committee that hears election law bills heard testimony on LD254 and LD329. Both bills got a good reception, with no opposition speakers. On February 9 the same committee will meet again to decide whether to pass the bills. They both make it easier for a party to remain on the ballot. One lowers the vote test from 5% to 1%, and the other bill provides that a party stays on the ballot (regardless of its vote) if its registration membership is at least 5,000 members.

San Diego Mayoral Write-In Candidate Loses First Round in Court

February 2nd, 2005

Late today, a Superior Court Judge in California ruled that Donna Frye was not elected Mayor of San Diego, even though she received more votes than any of her opponents. An appeal is being pursued.

Good Ruling from Arkansas

February 2nd, 2005

The Secretary of State of Arkansas has ruled that a group may circulate a petition to qualify a new party, at any time. However, the petition must be completed within 150 days, or approximately 5 months.

Formerly, the petition to create a new party could only be circulated in an odd year, between January and May.

It is an advantage that a group can circulate the petition to qualify as a party during an odd year, because paid petitioners charge much less money during odd years, because there isn’t as much work for them to do.

No group has ever qualified as a party by petition in Arkansas, except the Reform Party in 1996. Before 1971 Arkansas didn’t require a petition; a group merely applied, and gained status as a party by that simple request.

There is still as dispute as to how many signatures are needed to qualify a new party in Arkansas. In 1996 a federal court ruled that the number needed for a new party cannot exceed 10,000 (which is the number needed for a non-presidential statewide independent). Even though the state didn’t appeal this decision, the state claims that it need not obey the court ruling.

Arizona Judiciary Committee Approves Restriction on Write-Ins

February 1st, 2005

The Arizona Judiciary Committee approved SB 1218, even after hearing testimony from the public against it. The bill says that if someone tries and fails to get on the ballot as an independent candidate, he or she cannot then file as a declared write-in candidate. Paul Dunakin from the Nader testified against it, but no Senator made any comment in response to his testimony, and none of the Senators voted against 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:

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  • 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.