Pennsylvania Federal Court Hearing

January 19th, 2006

On February 2, U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones will hear the ballot access case filed by the Green and Constitution Parties (Rogers v Cortes, no. 06-0066, middle district). Due to a random circumstance, the Pennsylvania statewide petition requirement this year is 66,827 signatures. Yet in every other even-year election in the last twenty years, the Pennsylvania requirement has been between 20,000 and 30,000.



Law Review Article on Ballot Access & US Supreme Court

January 18th, 2006

Dmitri Evseev has had an article published in the Boston University Law Review, on the mediocre job the US Supreme Court has done in cases involving minor political parties. The article is in the Dec. 2005 issue and can be read on-line at www.bu.edu/law/lawreview.

Nader Michigan Appeal Dismissed on Technicality

January 18th, 2006

On January 10, the 6th circuit dismissed Ralph Nader’s Michigan ballot access case for procedure reasons. Nader v Land, 04-2428. In 2004, the Reform Party was on the ballot in Michigan. Even though the national convention of the Reform Party nominated Nader for president, one of the two factions of the Reform Party in Michigan told the Secretary of State that the state party desired to have no presidential nominee. Therefore, the Secretary of State didn’t list any Reform Party nominee in 2004, even though another faction of the state party wanted to list Nader.

Nader got on the ballot anyway in Michigan, as an independent. The 6th circuit said that since he got on the ballot anyway, he doesn’t have standing to complain about how the Secretary of State handled the Reform Party internal division.

10-day Vacation for Editor of this Page

January 8th, 2006

Richard Winger will be out of the U.S. between January 8-17, so this site is likely to be dormant for those days.

Pennsylvania Legislative Hearing

January 8th, 2006

The Pennsylvania House State Government Committee will hold an informal hearing on January 11, Wednesday, to get a consensus on a bill improving ballot access.

Texas new party petitions possible this year

January 6th, 2006

Texas requires new political parties to notify the state on January 2 of an election year, if they plan to petition that year. This year, the Green, Constitution and Reform Parties all filed the notice. Petitioning itself would be carried on in March, April and May.

New Mexico Secretary of State Proposes New Restrictions

January 5th, 2006

The New Mexico Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron, a Democrat, will ask the legislature to move the minor party nominee petition deadline from mid-July to early June, when the New Mexico legislature convenes on January 17. In 2005, she persuaded the legislature to move independent candidate petition deadlines from September to June. She had meant to move both deadlines, but due to a drafting error, only the independent petition was moved last year.

New Mexico is the only state that even requires a qualified party to submit petitions for each of its nominees. The Libertarian Party is likely to sue to overturn the “double petition” requirement later this year. A similar lawsuit in Maryland won in 2003.

Comedy About Ballot Access Opens in Ashland, Oregon

January 5th, 2006

Starting January 6, Green Party congressional candidate Terry Baum is performing a one-woman stage play about the comedy of errors involved in trying to get herself on the ballot in 2004. See www.oregonstageworks.org. The performance is in Ashland, Oregon. Later it will be performed in San Francisco.

Puerto Rico Lawsuit on Signature-Checking Due Process

January 5th, 2006

All the briefs have been submitted in Civil Action Party v Gracia Morales, U.S. District Court, Puerto Rico, 05-2064. The case was filed by two unqualified political parties in Puerto Rico who are trying to get on the ballot in future elections. They complain about the fact that petitions for such purposes in Puerto Rico can be rejected by the government, and then the petitioners are not permitted to double-check the government’s work.

Maine Independent Goes Back to Democrats

January 4th, 2006

On January 4, one of the Maine independent legislators, Joanne Twomey, changed back to the Democratic Party. She gave an emotional speech on the house floor saying she is reluctant to return, but since the Democrats needed her to keep their majority in the House, she did so.

 

 

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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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  • 1993 Issues not yet available online

Essays by Richard Winger:

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.