Texas Ballot Access Hearing Set

April 19th, 2006

The federal court hearing in Texas over procedures for checking the signatures of independent candidates, filed by independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Strayhorn, will be on May 1 in Austin. The issues are whether independents can turn in signatures on a flow basis, or whether they are restricted to only a single turn-in; and whether the Secretary of State may refuse to use the statutory procedures for random sampling.



California Bill to Mandate Disclosure of Voting Equipment Software Passes First Hurdle

April 19th, 2006

On April 18, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed AB 2097. It requires companies that sell vote-counting machines in California to make their software public. All Democrats voting voted for it; all of the Republicans abstained. The Secretary of State and several county elections officials testified against the bill. They warned that if vote-counting manufacturers are forced to make their computer software public, that these companies will refuse to do business in California.

Missouri Bill Advances

April 19th, 2006

Missouri’s SB 726 has passed all committees in the House, and is on the consent calendar, so it will probably pass within a week. It gives new political parties more flexibility to decide whom to run for president. It is one of the few bills that help minor parties that is making any headway this year, in legislatures around the U.S.

Tennessee Greens on Ballot for Governor, US Senator

April 17th, 2006

The Green Party candidates for Governor and US Senator will be on the Tennessee ballot this year, according to the Secretary of State. No other minor party qualified any statewide nominees in that state this year. Unfortunately, since the Greens used the independent candidate procedures, they won’t have the “Green” label next to their names. They are Chris Lugo for US Senate, and Howard Switzer for Governor.

Steve Kubby Released from Jail

April 16th, 2006

Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian candidate for Governor of California, was released from the Placer County jail on April 5. He has a rare medical condition that is eased by marijuana, and he had been imprisoned solely because of his marijuana usage.

Eight States Ask for Democratic Party Permission to Hold Pre-New Hampshire Caucus

April 16th, 2006

Last month, the Democratic Party tentatively approved a rules change, to let one or two states hold a presidential caucus before the New Hampshire primary. Under current Democratic Party rules, only Iowa is permitted to hold a nominating event before New Hampshire. Eight states have applied for permission to hold an early caucus: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and South Carolina.

Michigan Democrats say that if the national party doesn’t choose them for one of the early caucus slots, that they (in combination with the Michigan Republican Party) will pass a bill in the Michigan legislature, providing for a February 5 presidential primary in that state, whether it is approved by the national party or not.

Physics Professor Seeks Libertarian Presidential Nomination in 2008

April 16th, 2006

On April 15, Physics Professor George Phillies of Massachusetts declared his intent to become the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. He has run for congress in 1996 and 1998 as a Libertarian, and has long been active in the party. He says Karen Kwiatkowski has agreed to serve as his vice-presidential running mate, if he is nominated. Kwiatkowski is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force and an expert on foreign policy.

Write-ins Suddenly Important in Tennessee May Primary

April 14th, 2006

Knox County, Tennessee, holds a primary for partisan county offices on May 2, and a general election in August. 42 people have filed declarations of write-in candidacy in the May primary. This is because last week, the State Supreme Court upheld the county’s term limits law. Many incumbents whose names are already printed on the primary ballot will be disqualified after the primary, even if they win, because they have served enough terms already.

Therefore, lots of newcomers hope to win the primaries for these soon-to-be vacant seats. Because the term limits decision came after the ballots had been printed, it was too late to remove the disqualified incumbents, and too late for new candidates to get their names on the primary ballots. Hence, the newcomers are depending on write-ins. Thanks to Michael Morrison for this story.

Victory for Access on Public University Campuses

April 14th, 2006

On April 14, the 8th circuit ruled that most of the walkways on public universities are unlimited designated public fora. Bowman v White, 04-2299. This 3-0 decision should make it easier for petitioning to be carried on, in the outdoor, open areas of publicly-owned colleges and universities, at least in the states inside the 8th circuit. Those states are North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas.

The lower court had ruled that public college campuses are not public fora at all. As a result of the 8th circuit decision, the university may still require 3 days notice before outsiders wish to engage in First Amendment activity, and the university may still ban such activity during finals week. But a university rule that let outsiders speak on only 5 days per semester was declared unconstitutional.

 

Alabama Likely to Move Presidential Primary from June to February

April 14th, 2006

Both houses of the Alabama legislature have passed bills to move the state’s presidential primary from June to February. The House passed HB 51, and the Senate passed SB 527. On Monday, April 17, the last day of the session, one or the other houses is likely to pass the bill that the other house already passed.

If so, this will continue to trend toward earlier presidential primaries, combined with later national conventions. The major parties are responsible for this trend, even though it damages the major parties. When presidential primaries in February determine the identity of each party’s presidential nominee, yet these candidates are not officially nominated until August or September, that leave a huge amount of time in which groups who don’t like either party’s choice may begin to settle on a presidential candidate from outside the major 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.