Illinois Ballot Access Win in State Supreme Court

February 28th, 2006

On February 27, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a lower court order from December 2005, and left three incumbent judges on the ballot. The election law required them to file in December 2005, but the State Constitution sets a later filing deadline. The Illinois Supreme Court indicated it will write an opinion striking down the statutory deadline, since it conflicts with the State Constitution. O’Brien v White, 102077.



Nader Pennsylvania Hearing

February 27th, 2006

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear “In re Nomination Paper of Nader” on March 1 in Pittsburgh. The issue is whether Ralph Nader should be required to pay attorneys fees of approximately $80,000. In Pennsylvania, when a candidate petition is challenged, the issue of whether the petition is valid goes immediately to court. Nader submitted approximately 50,000 signatures in 2004, to meet a requirement of 25,697. The state court determined he didn’t have enough valid signatures. Now the people who challenged his petition are claiming that Nader, as the loser in a court case, should be required to pay attorneys fees for the challengers. Since the Nader 2004 petition was the first minor party or independent statewide petition that had been challenged since 1938, there is no clear precedent for this type of petition, on the matter of attorneys fees. The hearing is at 801 City-County Building in the morning; court starts at 9 a.m. and the Nader hearing is 5th.

Ohio Independent Deadline Case

February 27th, 2006

Lawrence v Blackwell, the lawsuit challenging the March 1 petition deadline for Ohio independent candidates (for office other than president) is now before the U.S. Supreme Court (05-1089). That court will probably decide in May whether to hear the case. This is the first ballot access case set before the U.S. Supreme Court (for their decision on whether to hear the case) in over six months.

Charlie Wilson, Ohio Democrat, to run Write-in Campaign

February 26th, 2006

Ohio State Senator Charlie Wilson said on February 24 that he will be a write-in candidate in the May 2 Ohio Democratic primary for U.S. House, 6th district. He has two opponents for the nomination whose names will be on the ballot, but they have never been elected to any office and have little or no support from Ohio Democratic Party leaders. Wilson’s write-in campaign has been endorsed by the current congressman in that district, Ted Strickland, who is leaving congress to run for Governor.

Ohio does not have a tradition of write-in winners. The state banned write-ins between 1947 and 1968. A 3-judge federal court struck down the state’s ban on write-ins in 1968, in lawsuits filed by the Socialist Labor Party and the George Wallace campaign. Wilson has to be a write-in candidate because he failed to file 50 valid signatures to be on the ballot.

New Mexico Libertarians Gain a County Commissioner

February 24th, 2006

On February 24, Paul Edward Trujillo, chair of the Valencia County Commission, changed his registration from “Democrat” to “Libertarian”. He is running for re-election this year and will run as a Libertarian.

9th Circuit Won’t Strike Down Oregon Ban on Paying Circulators Per Signature

February 23rd, 2006

On February 22, the 9th circuit declined to strike down Oregon’s law, banning the practice of paying initiative circulators per signature. The court said “We do not hold that the law is facially constitutional. Rather, we hold that the district court did not clearly err in determining plaintiffs failed to establish that the law imposes a severe burden.” Evidence in the case presented by the plaintiffs was feeble, whereas the state did a better job of presenting evidence in support of the law. Prete v Bradbury, 04-35285. A similar law had been upheld in North Dakota, but similar laws in Idaho, Maine, Mississippi and Washington had been struck down in U.S. District Courts.

No Primary for Calif. Libertarian Party Officers This Year

February 22nd, 2006

Ever since the 1910’s decade, qualified political parties in California have chosen county party officers in their own primaries. However, in 2003, the legislature amended the law to provide that parties may abolish these elections if they wish. The Libertarian Party has become the first party to do so. The 2003 law change did not take effect until after the 2004 primary, so this year is the first year any party could make this choice. Fewer than half the states let parties choose their officers in a publicly-funded primary.

Greens Recruit Former Pasadena Mayor to run for Congress

February 21st, 2006

The Green Party candidate for California’s 29th U.S. House seat will be Bill Paparian, who was a city councilman and mayor of Pasadena between 1987 and 1999. The 29th district is now represented by Congressman Adam Schiff, a Democrat who is running for re-election. In 2004 the vote was Schiff 133,670, the Republican nominee 62,871, the Green nominee 5,715 and the Libertarian nominee 4,570. Paparian advocates bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq; he says Schiff has been too supportive of U.S. policy.

Ohio Democratic Ballot Access Woes

February 21st, 2006

Charlie Wilson, the leading Democratic contender for U.S. House, Ohio 6th district, fell short by four signatures in his attempt to get on the Democratic primary ballot. The 6th district is currently represented by another Democrat, Ted Strickland, who is leaving Congress to run for Governor. Ohio requires 50 signatures for candidates for district office to get on a primary ballot. Wilson submitted 96, but almost half of them were from outside the district. Wilson had already raised $400,000 for the race. He can still be a write-in candidate in the May 2 primary, or he can gather 2,200 signatures to be an independent candidate. Two lesser-known Democrats will be on the primary ballot in that race. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

No Democrat in Indiana US Senate Race

February 20th, 2006

The Indiana U.S. Senate race this year will have only a Republican and a Libertarian on the ballot, since no Democrat filed for the May 2006 primary. Although the Green Party is circulating a statewide petition, that petition must list candidates, and the Greens didn’t put anyone on that petition for U.S. Senate.

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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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  • 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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