Article on Nader Ballot Access Available

November 16th, 2005

The latest issue of the Fordham Urban Law Journal contains an article by Richard Winger on the federal court ballot access cases filed by Ralph Nader last year. A copy of the article is being sent to all subscribers to Ballot Access News. If you aren’t a subscriber, but wish a copy of the article, send $2 to Richard Winger, PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147. The article will not be posted on the internet until mid-2007, when the Fordham site will make it available.



Texas Poll, Governor’s Race

November 16th, 2005

A Zogby poll published November 15 shows these results for the November 2006 Texas governor’s race: Rick Perry (R) 41%; Chris Bell (D) 25%; Kinky Friedman (indp.) 21%. Of course, this election is so far away, it is not even certain that Perry and Bell will be the major party nominees, but it is likely.

Nader Ohio Case Dismissed on Procedural Grounds

November 16th, 2005

On November 16, the 6th circuit dismissed Ralph Nader’s lawsuit against an Ohio law making it illegal for non-residents to circulate independent presidential petitions. The court said the case is moot. It said, “Nothing in our opinion today forecloses Appellants or similarly situated parties from filing suit to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio’s residency and voter-registration requirements for circulators in the context of a future election.”

US Supreme Court Again Postpones Decision on Redistricting

November 14th, 2005

For the third weekend in a row, the US Supreme Court had the Texas redistricting case on its conference, but failed to decide whether to hear it. The next conference date is not yet been set, but will be this week. Travis Co. v Perry, 05-254. The issue is whether a legislature can re-draw the US House district boundaries in the middle of a decade, for partisan reasons.

Illinois Libertarians Won’t Petition Statewide in 2006

November 13th, 2005

The Illinois Libertarian Party state convention, Nov. 12-13, voted not to run any statewide nominees in 2006. If no other minor party qualifies statewide in Illinois in 2006 either, Illinois voters will face a Democratic-Republican monopoly for statewide offices for the first time in 40 years, next year. However, the Constitution Party plans a statewide petition.

Elaine Brown Write-ins Equal 13% of Total

November 11th, 2005

Elaine Brown, Green Party candidate for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia, was not on the ballot on November 8, but write-ins for her were tallied. In a 4-candidate race, she polled 12.9%. The totals were Thompson 1,236; Herrington 332; Brown 248; Bean 105. Bean was also a write-in candidate.

3 Independents Probably Elected to Virginia Legislature

November 9th, 2005

Three independent candidates seem to have been elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state legislature. In Richmond, independent Katherine Waddell has 13,423 votes. Her only opponent, Republican incumbent Brad Marrs, has 13,379. This race is so close the results are not considered final.

Also, independents Lacey Putney and Watkins Abbitt were re-elected without opposition.

Virginia Unofficial Gubernatorial Returns

November 9th, 2005

Virginia unofficial gubernatorial returns are: Democratic 1,023,334; Republican 910,023; independent 42,968.

New Jersey Governor Unofficial Returns

November 9th, 2005

Unofficial New Jersey gubernatorial returns are: Democratic 1,152,347; Republican 948,372; Education not Corruption 26,422; Libertarian 13,700; Green 11,179; Legalize Marijuana 8,603; One New Jersey 4,914; Repeal NJDEP 3,762; Socialist Workers 2,023; Socialist 1,850.

Unofficial Returns for New York City Mayor

November 9th, 2005

Unofficial returns for New York city mayor are: Republican 648,920; Democratic 477,903; Independence 74,715; Conservative 14,982; Green 7,901; Rent is Too High 4,341; Libertarian 3,105; Socialist Workers 2,568; Education 1,551. “Rent is Too High” and “Education” are labels for independent candidates, not organized parties.

 

 

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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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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

    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.