3rd Circuit Admits Factual Error in Original Ballot Access Opinion

November 15th, 2006

On November 3, the three judges in the 3rd circuit who had upheld Pennsylvania ballot access law on August 23 admitted that their opinion contained a factual error. The three judges therefore granted a rehearing, but then re-issued their original unfavorable decision with the error deleted.

If the plaintiff political parties want a rehearing en banc, they must file a new petition for rehearing en banc by Friday, November 17. The 3rd circuit has 10 full-time judges, and only they will vote on whether to grant a further rehearing. The original panel of 3 judges in this case includes two part-time judges and only one full-time judge, so any vote among the 10 full-time judges would start out with zero favorable votes, but only one unfavorable vote.

The basic holding of the 3rd circuit is that ballot access can be denied to a party, even if it polled enough votes in the last election to meet the definition of “party”. Astonishingly, the 3rd circuit said that votes almost two years ago are not necessarily relevant to whether a party currently has support. Although there is logic in that point, the foundation of ballot access laws concerning qualified parties is dependent on the assumption that past vote returns do matter. The entire reason the Democratic and Republican Parties are automatically on the ballot in 39 of the 50 states is solely that they polled a large vote in the previous election. The 3rd circuit’s main holding is completely outside the mainstream of U.S. election law jurisprudence concerning political parties.



New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Favors Repeal of Straight-Ticket Voting Device

November 15th, 2006

New Hampshire is one of the 14 states with straight-ticket voting devices on ballots. The chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Kathy Sullivan, said on November 14 that Democrats should use their new power in state government to eliminate it. Democrats have been complaining about it for years, and Sullivan said it would be wrong for the party to abandon its stance, even if the temptation is there for the Democrats to leave it in place and hope it benefits them in the future.

In what was probably the most surprising result anywhere in the nation, the Democrats now have both houses of the New Hampshire legislature, even though the Republican majority in the state house had been approximately 100 seats before that election. Democrats also hold the Governor’s chair, although that had been expected.

Ballot Status Tally for President in 2008

November 14th, 2006

Only three minor parties are now ballot-qualified for president in 2008 in more than 5 states. The Libertarian Party has 23 states, the Green Party has 18 states (plus D.C.), and the Constitution Party has 13 states.

Libertarian: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin. The party will almost certainly have North Dakota in a few weeks, as soon as the state verifies its petition.

Green: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin. Also District of Columbia. The party will almost certainly have Maryland in a few weeks, as soon as that state verifies the Green petition that will be submitted in a few weeks.

Constitution: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah. The party will almost certainly have North Dakota in a few weeks, since it has finished its petition and the state is likely to approve it. It is possible New Mexico also recognizes the party; the law is very unclear.

Four years ago (just after the November 2002 election), the totals for each party were Libertarian 26, Green 18 (plus D.C.), and Constitution 12. Comparing ballot status as of mid-November 2006 to the past is somewhat misleading, unless one compares it to the same point exactly 4 years ago. By this measure, which is the most objective measure, the Libertarian Party is a little bit worse off than it was four years ago; the Green Party and the Constitution Party are a little bit better off than they were.

Technically, the Constitution Party is not on the ballot in California just now, but it will become re-qualified in February 2007 when the state does its next registration tally.

Rhode Island’s Cool Moose Party Polls 13.4% in a 3-Way Statewide Race

November 14th, 2006

Rhode Island has had a party called the Cool Moose Party since 1994. At the November 7, 2006 election, its founder, attorney Robert J. Healey, polled 13.4% of the vote for Lieutenant Governor. He campaigned on a pledge to try to abolish the office. The Democrat polled 53.1%, and the Republican polled 33.5%.

The Cool Moose is not a qualified party; only if it had polled 5% for Governor or President would it be qualified.

36% of Montana Voters Voted for a Minor Party Candidate in One Statewide Race

November 14th, 2006

Montana voters choose the Clerk of the State Supreme Court in a partisan election (Indiana is the only other state in which voters vote on that office). At last week’s election in Montana, there were 3 candidates on the ballot: a Democrat, a Constitution Party nominee, and a Libertarian. The unofficial results are: Democrat Ed Smith 221,756 (64.16%); Constitution nominee Ron Marquardt 85,972 (24.88%); Libertarian nominee Howard Scott Butler, 37,882 (10.96%).

Federal Court Says Candidates for Judge May Answer Questionaires

November 14th, 2006

On November 14, a U.S. District Court in Indiana issued an injunction against Indiana regulations that make it impermissible for candidates for State Judge to answer questionaires about their legal and political views. Indiana Right to Life v Shepard, 4:04cv-0071 (northern district).

Alaska Green Party Hearing Goes Well

November 14th, 2006

On November 13, state Superior Court Judge Stephanie Joannides heard oral arguments in Green Party of Alaska v State, 3AN-05-10787. The issue is Alaska’s definition of “party”. That definition says that a party without registration of 3% must poll 3% for Governor, in gubernatorial years. The case was filed in the past, at a time when Greens had polled 3% for U.S. Senate and U.S. House, but not Governor.

Although it is true that in 2006, the Green Party didn’t poll 3% for any statewide race, and thus will not be on the ballot automatically for 2008 even if it wins the case, both sides seemed to agree that the 2006 election results are immaterial to a judgment about the law. No one claimed the lawsuit is moot.

Judge Joannides is the same judge who earlier granted an injunction keeping the party on the Alaska ballot while the case is pending. She said she would rule as quickly as she can.

In 1982, the Alaska Supreme Court said that ballot access has greater protection under the Alaska Constitution, than under the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, ever since, all constitutional ballot access cases in Alaska have always been filed in state court, not federal court.

Pennsylvania Legislative Committee Invites Minor Party Activists

November 13th, 2006

On November 13, a staffer from the Pennsylvania House Government Committee telephoned Ken Krawchuk (a ballot access activist) and invited Pennsylvania ballot access activists to meet with some legislators on that committee about ballot access policy. This is a good sign that the 2007 session of the legislature might make some improvements.

Prohibition Party News

November 13th, 2006

For several years, there have been two factions of the Prohibition Party. The October 1, 2006 issue of Ballot Access News had noted that the faction in opposition to Earl Dodge had sets its presidential convention for September 13-14, 2007, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Now the faction in support of Earl Dodge has set its national convention at a church in Denver, Colorado, for June 11-12, 2007.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit in Pennsyvlania state court to determine which set of national officers is entitled to the bequest that is owed to the national party each year, has a hearing on January 18, 2007.

Greens Probably Qualified in Nebraska After All

November 13th, 2006

It appears that the Green Party did poll enough votes for Nebraska Secretary of State to be on the ballot automatically in 2008. However, the results won’t be completely known until December 4. Not all of the provisional ballots have been processed. The preliminary results show that the Green candidate got 27,180 votes, and needed 27,034.

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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.