Two Oklahoma Democratic Legislators Want to Repeal Straight-Ticket Device

December 31st, 2006

Oklahoma State Senator Kenneth Corn, and State Representative Neil Brannon have said they will introduce a bill in 2007 to repeal Oklahoma’s straight-ticket ballot device. Both are Democrats. The Oklahoma legislature won’t convene until February 5, 2007. That makes at least 4 states in which attempts will be made to end straight-ticket devices. The others are New Hampshire, Kentucky and Texas.



Libertarian Party Turns in Maryland Petition

December 31st, 2006

The Maryland Libertarian Party has finished its petition drive to be back on the ballot, and submitted the petition. This is the fifth petition that has been submitted around the USA in the last thtree months, to gain or regain party status. The others have been the Constitution Party in North Dakota, the Green Party in Maryland, the Libertarian Party in North Dakota, and the Independent Party in Oregon. It is very unusual for parties to submit such petitions for an election so far in the future (i.e., 2008), but it shows that people are already energized for that election.

Error-Prone NY Times Again Mislabels Jesse Ventura

December 30th, 2006

On December 29, 2006, the New York Times repeated a factual error that it has repeated many times in the past. In an article titled “In Minnesota Shift, Case Study for National Political Shake-up”, reporter Kirk Johnson says that Jesse Ventura was elected Governor in 1998 as an independent.

The truth is that the Reform Party recruited Jesse Ventura to be its candidate for Governor in 1998. He won the Reform Party primary and then he won the general election. Because he was the Reform Party nominee, he received equal public funding with his major party opponents, and he received the top line on the general election ballot. As Governor, he played an important role in the Reform Party nationally. He endorsed Jack Gargan for national chair, and Gargan was elected national chair in 1999, against the wishes of Ross Perot. When a special national convention of the Reform Party in 2000 removed Gargan as national chair, Ventura and the entire Minnesota Reform Party disaffiliated from the national Reform Party and the Minnesota Reform Party changed its name to the Independence Party. The Independence Party of Minnesota is still a ballot-qualified party. It elected a State Senator in 2002 and in 2006 polled 7% for Governor. It is unfortunate that the New York Times cannot tell the truth about this bit of important history.

New Jersey Attorney General Belatedly Asks Court for More Time to Respond to Minor Party Lawsuit

December 29th, 2006

The lawsuit filed on October 13, 2006 against certain New Jersey election laws has never received a response from attorneys for the state. Finally, on December 26, attorneys for the state asked the court for a 30 day extension to answer the complaint. The case challenges several aspects of New Jersey law that discriminate against parties that didn’t poll 10% of the vote for all legislative districts in the preceding election. It was filed by the Conservative, Green and Libertarian Parties of New Jersey.

Independent Party Submits Signatures in Oregon

December 29th, 2006

A new party in Oregon, called the Independent Party, turned in approximately 26,000 signatures on December 6, 2006. The state will know if the party has enough valid signatures by January 20, 2007 or so. The Independent Party seems to be either centrist or somewhat “progressive” and wants to stiffen Oregon campaign finance laws. It also wants to make it easier for independent candidates to get on the ballot. Because the 2005 session of the Oregon legislature made it much more difficult for independent candidates to get on the ballot, the existence of the Independent Party offers a second vehicle for such potential candidates in the future. Also, the 2005 session of the legislature passed HB 2167, which says that in the future, independent candidates are to be labeled “Non-affiliated Voter” on the November ballot, not “independent candidate”. So, there was no problem with the Oregon Independent Party’s name being rejected as too similar to the term “independent candidate”.

Oklahoma Ballot Access Case Moves a Step Further

December 28th, 2006

Libertarian Party Organization v Clingman, the ballot access case filed by the Oklahoma Libertarian Party in 2004, has moved a baby step closer to resolution. It is pending in the State Court of Appeals. That Court has just assigned the case to the Tulsa Division. A hearing date and the identity of exactly which 3 judges will hear the case will be announced later.

Missouri Clean Water Commission Must Contain One Independent or Minor Party Member

December 28th, 2006

In 2002, the Missouri Clean Water Commission was expanded from 6 members to 7 members. Unchanged at that time was an earlier law, that no more than 3 members of any political party sit on that Commission.

Recently the Sierra Club noticed that the Missouri Water Commission has 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats, and brought this to the attention of the press. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt pooh-poohed the problem, saying it is only “common sense” that one major party must be allowed to have 4 members on the Commission, notwithstanding the clear language of the law. The Sierra Club, in response, pointed out that the Governor is free to appoint an independent, or a member of some party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Missouri does not have registration by party, so it is sometimes somewhat unclear how to characterize any individual’s party affiliation. Thanks to Eric Dondero for this story.

Chicago Mayor’s Petitions Challenged

December 28th, 2006

On December 26, a challenge was filed to the petitions submitted to place Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley on the ballot. Chicago requires 12,500 signatures for anyone to get on the ballot in any citywide race. The elections have been non-partisan starting in 1999. Before 1999, Democrats and Republicans needed far fewer signatures, whereas everyone else needed 25,000.

Mayor Daley submitted 24,000 to meet the requirement of 12,500, so it is unlikely that the individual who challenged his petition will be able to show the petition is invalid.

The election is February 27, 2007. Five candidates for Mayor filed petitions; three of those five are being challenged.

Washington Secretary of State Proposes Mixed Revision of Ballot Access Laws

December 27th, 2006

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed plans to ask the legislature to revise Washington state procedures for ballot access for unqualified parties and independent candidates.

Currently, Washington state has a peculiar system that requires “conventions” of specified minimum numbers of voters in attendance, for independent candidates and the candidates of unqualified parties. These include 1,000 “attendees” for statewide office and down to 25 “attendees” for state legislature.

Since the state has always permitted outdoor “conventions”, in which anyone walking by who signs the roster is considered to be “attending”, this idea has long been rather silly. The Secretary of State proposes to give up the label “convention” and permit a straightforward petition. He proposes 1,000 signatures for statewide office, 500 for U.S. House, and 100 for state legislature and county office.

Unfortunately, he is also proposing to bring back the primary vote hurdle. Between 1978 and 2002, it wasn’t enough for independent candidates, and the candidates of unqualified parties, to show support at their own “conventions”. Such a showing of support only put them on the September primary ballot (except presidential candidates were exempt). Then they had to poll 1% in the September primary, as a condition of being on the November ballot. The September vote showing was held unconstitutional in 2004. A somewhat similar law was also struck down that year in Minnesota. Now Sam Reed proposes to bring it back, but with a smaller vote requirement (1,000 primary votes for statewide office, 500 for U.S. House, 100 for other partisan office).

National Popular Vote Plan Has Sponsors in 47 States

December 26th, 2006

The National Popular Vote Plan organization has found legislators to introduce its model bill in 47 of the 50 states. Almost all of these bills will be introduced in the first month that state legislatures convene in 2007. For most states, this is January 2007. The National Popular Vote Plan, described on this page in the past, is a means to bring about a presidential election system in which the person who receives the most popular votes nationwide will also win the electoral college.

 

 

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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 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.
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    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.
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    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.
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The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.