Working Families Party wins Mayoralty Election

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.



Kentucky Bill Signed Into Law

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.

Hawaii Bill Passes House

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.

NY Independence Party Wins a Mayor’s Race via Write-In

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).

First Circuit Requests Rehearing on Puerto Rico Presidential Vote Case

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.

Alaska Bill Makes Headway

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.

California Write-in Bill Advances

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.

Maine Bill Passes Committee Unanimously

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.

Links to State Ballot Access Groups

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:

Florida Bill on Minor Party Presidential Procedures

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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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:

  • 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.