Another Court Victory for Exit Pollsters

October 25th, 2006

On October 24, a US District Court invalidated Florida’s law, requiring exit pollsters to remain outside the 100 foot limit at polling places. CBS v Cobb, 06-22463, southern dist.



Two Minor Party Congressional Candidates Get Newspaper Endorsements

October 25th, 2006

On October 20, the Detroit News endorsed Libertarian Robert Hutchinson for US House, 7th district. On October 24, the Fort Morgan Times endorsed Reform Party nominee Eric Eidsness for US House, 4th district.

Massachusetts Lawsuit Against Listing Incumbents First on the Ballot

October 25th, 2006

Massachusetts is the only state that automatically prints incumbents first on the ballot. A lawsuit challenging that law, filed in 2004, but dormant since then, is finally coming to life. The case is White v Galvin, Plymouth Co., ca04-427, and it has a status conference in a few weeks.

Also pending is a federal case in Maryland against the Maryland law, putting candidates on the ballot in alphabetical order. It is Schaefer v Lamone, L-06-896.

Both sets of plaintiffs argue that states should use some random procedure to decide order of candidates on the ballot.

Libertarian in Wyoming Debate Angers Republican

October 24th, 2006

The recent Wyoming debate for Congress-at-large had an interesting aftermath. See here for the story.

Virginia US Senate Poll

October 24th, 2006

A Mason-Dixon Poll, published Oct. 24, shows these results for US Senate in Virginia: Republican 47%, Democratic 43%, Independent Green 2%, undecided 8%.

Linn Removed from Debates, Only 2 Hours Before Debate

October 24th, 2006

At 5:45 pm, east coast time, the Florida State Court of Appeals issued an order removing Max Linn from the debate set for tonight at 8 pm.

Linn Victory in Debates Lawsuit Appears Secure

October 24th, 2006

Florida Public Broadcasting Service attorneys on August 24 tried to persuade any judge in the 4th district Court of Appeal to schedule an emergency hearing, in their debates lawsuit appeal. However, as of 1:30 pm east coast time, no judge in that court appears to be willing to set such an emergency hearing. The debate is tonight at 8 pm.

Poll Shows New Green Strength in Illinois, Maine Gubernatorial Races

October 24th, 2006

Political Wire of October 24 reports on two new gubernatorial polls, both of which show significant gains for Green Party gubernatorial nominees. In Illinois, a SurveyUSA poll shows Democratic 44%, Republican 34%, Green 14%, other and undecided 8%.

In Maine, a poll (the pollster is not identified) shows Democratic 42%, Republican 34%, Green 9%, independent legislator Barbara Merrill 12%, other and undecided 3%.

In both states, “party” is defined as a group that polls 5% for Governor. Greens already have that status in Maine, and they appear likely to gain it for the first time in Illinois.

Max Linn Wins Court Order on Debates

October 23rd, 2006

On October 23, a Florida lower state court ruled that since Public TV is sponsoring the October 24 gubernatorial debate, and since the Reform Party is a ballot-qualified party, therefore the debate cannot be held unless Reform Party gubernatorial candidate Max Linn is included. Linn is the only candidate to benefit from this ruling, since the judge excluded independent candidates. The Reform Party is the only minor party that ran any candidates for any statewide office in Florida this year, under the party label (a Libertarian is also running but he is officially an independent candidate since the Florida Libertarian Party refused to nominate anyone for Governor this year).

The case is Linn v Florida Public Broadcasting Service, cace 06-016781, Broward Co. Circuit Court. It is being appealed.

Max Linn Sues Over Debate Exclusion

October 23rd, 2006

Max Linn, Reform Party candidate for Governor of Florida, filed a lawsuit in state court on October 23, over his exclusion from a debate being sponsored in part by Public Television. Linn has a real campaign, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars already on TV advertising, has a staff and a campaign headquarters. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that candidate debates sponsored by Public TV cannot exclude candidates with a substantial campaign. The case is Linn v Florida Public Broadcasting Service, filed in lower state court in Broward County.

Ironically, many other minor party and independent candidates for Governor and U.S. Senator this year have been invited into debates with their major party opponents. Such inclusive debates have been held this year in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming.

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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!

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.