Oregon Gubernatorial Poll

September 27th, 2006

A poll commissioned by The Oregonian newspaper, and released September 27, shows these results for Governor of Oregon: Democratic 43%, Republican 38%, undecided 12%, Constitution 4%, other 3% (other includes Green and Libertarian).



New Mexico Voters in one State House District Lose their Chance to Elect a Representative

September 27th, 2006

New Mexico state house representatives have two year terms. This year, the voters who live in the 68th district have lost their right to elect a state representative.

The only person running for that seat in this year’s primary was incumbent Democrat Hector Balderas. Naturally, he was re-nominated by the Democrats. Normally his name would then have appeared on the November ballot, unopposed. Although New Mexico permits write-ins, no write-in space is printed on the ballot for a particular office if no declared write-in candidate filed by early June.

In September, Balderas was chosen by a meeting of the Democratic State Committee to be the party’s nominee for State Auditor, since the person nominated for that office in June had withdrawn due to charges of sexual harassment. Since New Mexico law does not permit anyone to run for two offices simultaneously, Balderas’ name was removed from the ballot as the Democratic nominee for State Representative, even though it was too late for anyone to withdraw. Therefore, the office has no candidates, and won’t even appear on the ballot.

Most shocking, there will be no special election to fill the seat next year. The Governor will appoint someone who will serve until the November 2008 election.

Maryland Democratic State Senator Loses Primary, then gets Republican nomination

September 27th, 2006

On September 26, Maryland Democratic State Senator John Gianetti revealed that he will be the Republican nominee for State Senate, 21st district, this year. He had lost the Democratic primary on September 12, in his race for re-election. Last week the Republican nominee for State Senate in that district withdrew, clearing the way for a Republican Party committee to fill the vacancy in the Republican nomination with Senator Gianetti. Gianetti also revealed that he had changed his registration from “Democratic” to “Republican”. Thanks to Ed Still for this news. Maryland “sore loser” law doesn’t cover cases like this, so the action is legal.

Ohio Loses Exit Polling Lawsuit

September 27th, 2006

On September 26, a U.S. District Court Judge invalidated an Ohio rule that barred exit pollsters from within 100 feet of the polls. ABC v Blackwell, sou. dist., 1:04-cv-750.

Philadelphia Inquirer Slams Harsh Ballot Access Law

September 27th, 2006

The September 27 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer has an editorial, sharply criticizing the state’s ballot access laws. This is the largest newspaper in Pennsylvania.

Ohio Gives Up On One Election Law Lawsuit

September 27th, 2006

On September 26, the Ohio Attorney General conceded defeat in a lawsuit involving voter registration procedures, and asked the 6th circuit to cancel a telephone oral argument set for September 27. The case is Amy Miller v Blackwell, 04-4299. On October 22, 2004, the Ohio Republican Party had challenged the eligibility of 35,000 registered voters. Ohio County Election Boards had then set 35,000 hearings for the period October 28-30. A federal judge had enjoined the challenges, and the 6th circuit (before the election) had agreed that the process should not go forward. Long after the election, the state has been trying to persuade the same 6th circuit judges that the injunction was improper, but the state has now given up the attempt.

Vermont AFL-CIO Endorses Progressive Candidate for Auditor

September 26th, 2006

Martha Abbott, Progressive Party candidate for Vermont State Auditor, has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO. The race has 4 candidates: a Democrat, a Republican, a Progressive, and a candidate of the Liberty Union Party.

Nevada Gubernatorial Poll

September 26th, 2006

A poll commissioned by one of Las Vegas’ daily newspapers, the Review Journal, for Governor of Nevada, shows these results:

Republican 45%; Democratic 36%; Constitution 5%; None of the Above (which is printed on Nevada ballots for statewide office) 3%; Green 1%; undecided 10%.

The Green Party needs to poll 1% to regain its party status in Nevada. It has no other statewide nominees. There is no Libertarian in the governor’s race.

Arizona Fails to Count One or Two Write-Ins, Leaving Candidate in Suspense

September 25th, 2006

Joe Cobb was a write-in candidate in the Libertarian Party primary for US House, in Arizona’s 7th district, on September 12. No names appeared on that primary ballot for that office. Under the law, Cobb needed write-ins equal to one-half of 1% of the number of registered Libertarians in that district, to be nominated. That requirement works out to eleven write-ins. The primary results were released on September 25, and he is credited with only ten write-ins in the entire district (which includes several counties).

However, he, his girlfriend, and a close friend all voted for him in the same precinct in Maricopa County, and Maricopa County says he only got one write-in in the entire county. Cobb is working to persuade the county to re-examine the Libertarian ballots in his precinct.

UPDATE: As the candidate himself commented, the problem has been solved; Maricopa County found two more ballots.

Two Statewide New York Petitions Invalidated; Third Pending

September 25th, 2006

Three statewide minor party or independent petitions that seem to lack the required 15,000 signatures were submitted in New York this year. The petitions of the Right to Life and Voice of People groups have already been rejected. The New York State Board of Elections will meet at noon on September 26 to weigh other petitions, including one statewide petition filed by the “Rent is Too Damn High” group.

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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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