2008 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT
(updated August 7, 2008)
TOTAL STATES ON THE BALLOT
Libertarian Party
Green Party
Constitution Party
Nader (Indep.)
34
23
24
16
 
     

One More Week to Wait for US Supreme Court Redistricting Case

November 7th, 2005

On November 7, the US Supreme Court again declined to say whether it will hear the Texas redistricting case (can a state redistrict congressional districts in the middle of the decade for partisan reasons?). The case is now on conference for November 10, with results to be announced November 14.



New Virginia Poll

November 4th, 2005

A Maxon-Dixon Poll released November 4 shows the Democratic nominee for Governor of Virginia with 45%, the Republican nominee with 44%, and independent Russell Potts at 4%.

Oregon Secretary of State Likely to Issue Harmful Ruling

November 4th, 2005

The Oregon Secretary of State has tentatively decided to issue a regulation that would injure independent candidates. Earlier this year, the legislature passed HB 2614, which says that it is illegal for a voter to nominate more than a single candidate for the November election. HB 2614 did not say what is to be done if a voter signs an independent candidate’s petition and then votes in the primary. The Secretary of State is about to issue a regulation saying, in that case, the signature is invalid but the later act of voting in the primary is legal.

No other state has ever followed a policy of disallowing the first nominating act, and permitting the second act. West Virginia formerly had a law that didn’t permit voters to sign an independent candidate petition and vote in the primary. But in West Virginia, if a voter signed the independent candidate’s petition, the signature was considered valid even if the voter did vote in the primary afterwards. Instead, it was illegal for the voter to vote in the primary (this law was never enforced, and has since been repealed).

New York formerly had such a law, but the New York State Supreme Court ruled in Lily v Mahoney in 1977 that if a signature is valid on the day it is signed, it cannot be invalidated later by the act of the voter voting in the primary. Like West Virginia, New York later repealed its primary screen-out restriction.

Other states with a primary screen-out simply didn’t permit independent candidate petitions to circulate until after the primary. Oregon has no such restriction on when independent candidates can be circulated.

Please ask the Oregon Secretary of State not to promulgate the proposed regulation. E-mail is elections@sos.state.or.us; phone is 503-986-1518; address is Hon. Bill Bradbury, Secretary of State, State Capitol, Salem Or 97310.

8th Circuit Strikes Down one Minnesota Campaign Finance Law

November 4th, 2005

On November 4, the 8th circuit invalidated a Minnesota state campaign finance law that makes it illegal for charities to request donations from candidates. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life v Kelley, 03-4077.

Libertarian Wins City Council seat in Lakewood, Colorado

November 3rd, 2005

On November 1, Libertarian Doug Anderson was elected to the Lakewood, Colorado city council. This is the second time Anderson has won an election as a Libertarian. In 1987 he was elected to the Denver election commission. Both elections are technically non-partisan. Thanks to Third Party Watch for this news.

US House Vote on Internet & Campaign Finance

November 2nd, 2005

On the evening of November 2, the US House of Representatives failed to pass HR 1606, which would exempt the internet from campaign finance restrictions. The bill received 225 “Yes” votes and 182 “No” votes, but it needed two-thirds to pass, for procedural reasons. The bill’s sponsor, Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) will bring it up again at a time when it only needs a majority.

 

 

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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.