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March 18th, 2005
On March 15, the Working Families Party nominee for Mayor of Hempstead, New York was elected, defeating the 4-term incumbent Republican Mayor.
Wayne Hall, the winning candidate, is a registered Democrat, but the Democratic Party did not have any nominee in the race. Hall was on the ballot as the Working Families Party nominee.
March 17th, 2005
On March 16, the Governor of Kentucky signed HB 141 into law. It lets minor party and independent presidential candidates start circulating a petition as early as they wish. Also it removes the requirement that minor party and independent presidential and congressional candidates file a declaration of candidacy in April of an election year. Instead they can enter the race as late as August of an election year, when their petitions are due.
March 17th, 2005
On March 3, HB 119 passed the Hawaii House unanimously. Current law says a petition signer must include his or her Social Security number, or birthday. The bill changes the Social Security number requirement so that only the last 4 digits of the SS number need be shown.
March 17th, 2005
On March 15, a write-in candidate for Mayor of Baxter Estates, New York was elected. The write-in candidate, John Maher, is a member of the Independence Party.
Maher defeated the incumbent Mayor. The incumbent Mayor, James Neville, was the only candidate whose named was printed on the ballot. The Maher write-in candidacy was a “stealth” candidacy. The incumbent Mayor did not realize that a write-in campaign was being run against him. New York does not have a requirement that write-in candidates must file a declaration of write-in candidacy before the election (except that New York does have such a requirement for write-in presidential candidates).
March 16th, 2005
On March 15, the First Circuit, which includes Puerto Rico, ordered a rehearing in Igartua v United States, 04-2186. The plaintiffs insist that the U.S. Constitution, as well as international treaties signed by the U.S., requires the United States to let Puerto Rican citizens vote for president. The Puerto Rican plaintiffs had lost the case on October 14, 2004, by a vote of 2-1. Now the entire First Circuit will rehear the case.
The order setting up the rehearing wants the attorneys to address the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United States signed all three agreements, and pledged not to discriminate against any group of adult citizens in voting.
March 16th, 2005
HB 94 passed the Alaska House State Affairs committee on March 15. It sets up procedures for independent presidential candidates to get on the ballot (Alaska has never had such procedures).
Also, it changes the vote test for a party to remain on the ballot in gubernatorial election years. Currently, in gubernatorial years, the vote test requires that a party poll 3% for Governor. The bill would change this to let a party remain on if it polls 3% for any of these races: governor, US Senate, or US House.
HB 94 also changes the alternate registration test for a party to remain on, from 3% of the last vote cast, to 2% of the total number of registered voters. 3% of the last vote cast is 9,258; 2% of the number of registered voters is 9,479. The Green Party tried very hard to persuade the committee to set the registration test at 1%, not 2%, but did not succeed.
The only minor party that as many as 9,479 registrations is the Alaskan Independence Party, but the Libertarians are working to increase their registration to that level.
March 16th, 2005
On March 15, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 43 by a vote of 4-1. It says that if a voter write-ins in a candidate but forgets to “X” the box next to the write-in line, the write-in is still valid. However, elections officials need not tally such votes unless there is a recount.
March 14th, 2005
On March 14, Maine LD329 passed the Legal & Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously. Since the bill passed unanimously, it is likely to pass on the floors of both houses (in Maine, committees include members of both houses, so the bill has no more committees to pass).
LD329 makes it easier for a party to get and remain on the ballot. Current law says a party can remain on the ballot if it polled 5% for the office at the top of the ticket, in either of the last two elections. The bill keeps that provision in place, but adds an alternative, that the party has registration equal to 1% of the state total. If the party attains or keeps that registration, it need not worry about meeting the vote test.
March 12th, 2005
In these four states, groups are working to improve that state’s ballot access laws. Here are links to their web sites:
March 9th, 2005
On March 9, HB 1567 was introduced in Florida. It makes the procedures for minor party presidential candidates more specific than they were in 2004, but doesn’t make them any more difficult. Old law, which is very lenient, says any qualified party can put a presidential nominee on the November ballot if it submits a list of presidential elector candidates (all of whom must be registered voters in the party), and if it holds a national convention, and if it is a “national political party.”
The only changes made by HB 1567, relating to presidential elections, are to define two terms, “national political party” and “national convention.” “National political party” is a party that is on the ballot in at least one state other than Florida. “National convention” is “any caucus, convention, meeting or any other assembly of a political party gathered, whether or not such meeting is held in person or by telephonic or electronic means, with the intent of nominating candidates for President and Vice President of the U.S.”
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Issues
available: |
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2008:
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2007:
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2006:
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2005:
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2004:
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2003:
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2002:
- December
2002 Issue
(V:18 N:8)
- November
2002 Issue
(V:18 N:7)
- October
1, 2002 Issue (V:18 N:6)
- September
1, 2002 Issue
(V:18 N:5)
- August
1, 2002 issue (V:18 N:4)
- July
1, 2002 issue (V:18 N:3)
- June
1, 2002 issue (V:18 N:2)
- May
1, 2002 issue (V:18 N:1)
- April
1, 2002 issue (V:17 N:13)
- March
1, 2002 issue (V:17 N:12)
- February
1, 2002 issue (V:17 N:11)
- January
1, 2002 issue (V:17 N:10)
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2001:
- December
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:9)
- November
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:8)
- October
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:7)
- September
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:6)
- August
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:5)
- July
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:4)
- June
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:3)
- May
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:2)
- April
1, 2001 issue (V:17 N:1)
- March
1, 2001 issue (V:16 N:12)
- February
1, 2001 issue (V:16 N:11)
- January
1, 2001 issue (V:16 N:10)
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2000:
- December
5, 2000 issue (V:16 N:9)
- November
16, 2000 issue (V:16 N:8)
- October
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:7)
- September
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:6)
- August
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:5)
- July
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:4)
- June
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:3)
- May
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:2)
- April
1, 2000 issue (V:16 N:1)
- March
1, 2000 issue (V:15 N:12)
- February
1, 2000 issue (V:15 N:11)
- January
1, 2000 issue (V:15 N:10)
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1999:
- December
1, 1999 issue (V:15 N:9)
- November
1, 1999 issue (V:15 N:8)
- October
1, 1999 issue (V:15 N:7)
- September
1, 1999 issue (V:15 N:6)
- August
3, 1999 issue (V:15 N:5)
- July
3, 1999 issue (V:15 N:4)
- June
1, 1999 issue (V:15 N:3)
- May
3, 1999 issue (V:15 N:2)
- April
3, 1999 issue (V:15 N:1)
- March
6, 1999 issue (V:14 N:12)
- February
6, 1999 issue (V:14 N:11)
- January
6, 1999 issue (V:14 N:10)
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1998:
- December
8, 1998 issue (V:14 N:9)
- November
8, 1998 issue (V:14 N:8)
- October
4, 1998 issue (V:14 N:7)
- September
4, 1998 issue (V:14 N:6)
- August
3, 1998 issue (V:14 N:5)
- July
3, 1998 issue (V:14 N:4)
- June
3, 1998 issue (V:14 N:3)
- May
7, 1998 issue (V:14 N:2)
- April
5, 1998 issue (V:14 N:1)
- March
8, 1998 issue (V:13 N:12)
- February
8, 1998 issue (V:13 N:11)
- January
5, 1998 issue (V:13 N:10)
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1997:
- December
5, 1997 issue (V:13 N:9)
- November
1, 1997 issue (V:13 N:8)
- October
6, 1997 issue (V:13 N:7)
- September
6, 1997 issue (V:13 N:6)
- August
4, 1997 issue (V:13 N:5)
- July
2, 1997 issue (V:13 N:4)
BAN.
changed to a 12 issue per year schedule.
- June
2, 1997 issue (V:13 N:3)
- May
5, 1997 issue (V:13 N:2)
- April
7, 1997 issue (V:13 N:1)
- March
10, 1997 issue (V:12 N:13)
- February
10, 1997 issue (V:12 N:12)
- January
12, 1997 issue (V:12 N:11)
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1996:
- December
12, 1996 issue (V:12 N:10)
- November
12, 1996 issue (V:12 N:9)
- October
12, 1996 issue (V:12 N:8)
- September
9, 1996 issue (V:12 N:7)
- August
12, 1996 issue (V:12 N:6)
- July
20, 1996 issue (V:12 N:5)
- June
26, 1996 issue (V:12 N:4)
- May
28, 1996 issue (V:12 N:3)
- May
3, 1996 issue (V:12 N:2)
- April
3, 1996 issue (V:12 N:1)
- March
6, 1996 issue (V:11 N:13)
- February
7, 1996 issue (V:11 N:12)
- January
14, 1996 issue (V:11 N:11)
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1995:
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1994:
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1993:
- 1993 Issues
not yet available online
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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
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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. |
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