Elaine Brown Loses Lawsuit

October 31st, 2005

On October 31, a lower state court in Georgia ruled that Elaine Brown (Green Party candidate for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia) should not be on the ballot next week. Elaine Brown v Glynn Co. Board of Elections, 05-1597-63.



No US Supreme Court Action on Redistricting

October 31st, 2005

The US Supreme Court did not announce on October 31 whether it will hear the Texas congressional redistricting case, even though that case was considered on the Court’s conference on October 29. The court will consider it again on November 4, with a decision probably announced on November 7. Travis County v Perry, 05-254.

Judge Alito’s Ballot Access Decision

October 31st, 2005

Judge Samuel Alito authored a New Jersey ballot access decision in 1999, Council of Alternative Political Parties v Hooks, 179 F 3d 64. It upheld New Jersey’s early June petition deadline for non-presidential minor party and independent candidates. Alito upheld the deadline based on the state’s interest in “voter education” (in other words, if candidates could get on the ballot as late as, say, August, there might not be even time for voters to learn about them). Also, Alito said that a state has an interest in treating all candidates equally. The major parties hold their primaries in June, the same day minor party and independent candidate petitions are due; Alito felt it would be unfair to the major parties if minor parties could enter the race later than the primary.

Alito’s decision ignored part of the US Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze. Although Alito cited that case, he didn’t mention the part that cites historian Alexander Bickel for the proposition that the party system works better when new and minor parties are permitted to enter the race after the major parties have nominated.

However, Alito’s decision is thorough and comprehensive (13 pages in the printed version) and free of factual errors. And his declaration that states have an interest in treating all candidates equally is admirable, if only he means it in other contexts. New Jersey does not treat all candidates equally. Almost all New Jersey counties use the party column format, but they only give column headings to the Democratic and Republican Parties. All the Republicans are under a column, which says in big print “Republican”; but all the minor parties and independent candidates are jumbled into columns that are headed “Nominated by Petition”, with party labels in extremely small print next to the candidates’ names.

Virginia Poll

October 29th, 2005

A Washington Post poll of the Virginia gubernatorial race shows the Democrat with 47%, the Republican with 44%, and the independent candidate, Russelll Potts, with 4%. The poll is being published Sunday, Oct. 30.

Ex-Felons Win Iowa Lawsuit

October 29th, 2005

On October 28, a lower Iowa state court upheld the right of the state’s governor to permit all ex-felons to register to vote. Iowa Governor Tom Vlisack had issued the order in July, and an Iowa county district attorney had sued to overturn the Governor’s action.

Georgia ID Law Rejected by 11th Circuit

October 27th, 2005

On October 27, the US Court of Appeals, 11th circuit, refused to re-instate the Georgia State Photo ID requirement for voters at the polls. Last week a US District Court had forbidden the state to implement the ID law.

Two of the three 11th circuit judges who heard the case are appointees of President George H. W. Bush Sr. The third judge is a President Clinton appointee. The vote was 3-0.

Elaine Brown Decision Expected Oct. 31

October 27th, 2005

The Elaine Brown hearing in Brunswick, Georgia, on October 27, seemed to go fairly well for her. The judge said he would rule on Monday, Oct. 31.

Elaine Brown Files Lawsuit

October 24th, 2005

As expected, Green Party candidate Elaine Brown filed a lawsuit today in state court to win a place on the Mayoral Ballot for Brunswick, Georgia.

Plainfield, New Jersey, Mayor Must Be a Write-in Candidate

October 23rd, 2005

A decision of New Jersey state courts is forcing the Mayor of Plainfield, New Jersey, to run for re-election on Nov. 8 as a write-in candidate. The Mayor, Albert T. McWilliams, had served two terms as a Democrat, but he lost the Democratic primary in June 2005. The Republican nominee then dropped out, giving the Republicans a chance to choose a new nominee by committee, and the Republican committee chose Mayor McWilliams. However, a State Court of Appeals ruled on October 17 that the “sore loser” law prohibits the Republicans from choosing McWilliams. On October 20, the State Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. The Republicans are left with no nominee on the ballot, and will support the Mayor’s write-in campaign.

Elaine Brown to Sue on Oct. 24

October 23rd, 2005

Elaine Brown, Green Party nominee for Mayor of Brunswick, will file a lawsuit to get on the ballot on Monday, Oct. 24. The issue is whether she meets the one-year residency requirement for Mayoral candidates.

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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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  • 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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  • 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]

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