Georgia Special Congressional Election Likely on June 19

February 22nd, 2007

Georgia will probably not hold its special congressional election in the 10th district (to replace Charlie Norwood) until June 19. A previous posting on this site was incorrect when it said the election had to be no later than March 25.

The reason for the delay, is that several Georgia state legislators want to run for the seat, and under Georgia law, if they file as candidates, they must then resign from the legislature. Delaying the election until June 19 will enable these legislators to continue in office for most of this year’s legislative session.



Honolulu Will Let Voters Vote on Internet

February 22nd, 2007

Honolulu, Hawaii elects non-partisan neighborhood board members in odd years. This year, voters will be able to vote on the internet for this low-profile office. The city elections department is working with Commercial Data Services Inc., a company that has more than 18 years experience in providing secure online data services. Thanks to Thad Hall for this news.

West Virginia Ballot Access Improvement Bill Introduced

February 21st, 2007

On February 20, eight West Virginia legislators introduced HB 3144, to move the petition deadline for unqualified party and independent candidates from May to August. The presidential petition deadline is already in August, so the bill would change petition deadlines for office other than president to match the presidential petition deadline. The chief sponsor is Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, who is the wife of Law Professor Bob Bastress. Bastress has done virtually all of the ballot access litigation in West Virginia for 26 years, and has won many cases. He currently has a case pending in the State Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the May petition deadline.

The bill’s other Democratic sponsors are Alex Shook, Linda Longstreth, Bonnie Brown, Danny Wells, Barbara Hatfield, and John Doyle. The bill also has a Republican sponsor, Bill Hamilton.

Georgia Bill for a February Presidential Primary

February 21st, 2007

Georgia HB 487 is considered likely to pass. It would move the presidential primary from March to the first Tuesday in February. It would also change the percentage of the total vote needed to avoid a run-off election or a run-off primary from 50% to 45%. Georgia is the only state that requires candidates in general elections to receive a majority, or any particular specified percentage, of the total vote.

Unity08 Leaders Reveal More About Strategy

February 20th, 2007

Jerry Rafshoon and Doug Bailey, two founders of Unity08, answered questions on-line on February 16. Some of the most interesting questions and answers are these:

1. Question: what if the candidate we choose fares well and wins one of the major party primaries? Answer by Jerry Rafshoon: We will not be choosing our candidate until the other parties have anointed their candidate, which, as always, will happen early in the process. Therefore, it is doubtful that that candidate will try for our nomination. However, he or she is eligible to do so, but would have to choose a running mate who is not a member of his or her party.

2. Question: what about congressional candidates? Answer by Jerry Rafshoon: It is not our intention to field any candidate for Congress.

3. Question: can we get our nominee on the ballot of all states? Answer by Doug Bailey: It is doable. In some states it is remarkably doable. One reason is that third party candidates over the last 20 years have fought enough battles in the courts to lower the requirements in state after state.

To read the entire set of questions ans answers, go to www.unity08.com. The webpage also lists the organization’s Rules Committee, which is composed of these ten individuals: Co-chairs Carolyn Tieger and Thomas Collier; and members Michael Turk, Valerie Syme, Sayuri Matthews, David C. King, Dennis G. Johnson, Anna Friedinger, Will Fogal, and Peter Ackerman.

Minnesota Bill to Repeal Primary Vote Requirement

February 20th, 2007

A bill has been introduced in the Minnesota House to repeal the law that requires a certain minimum number of votes in a primary, before a party can successfully nominate any candidates in a primary. It is HF 616. The law says if a party fails to attract a number of primary voters, equal to 10% of its last general election vote, then all its primary nominees are disqualified. The law was declared unconstitutional in 2004 by the Minnesota Supreme Court, so it is a void law. Nevertheless, it’s always good for a state legislature to repeal such laws and get them off the statute books.

Maryland, Michigan Bills to Alter Primary Rules

February 20th, 2007

Maryland HB 826 would require parties to let independents vote in their primaries. Michigan HB 4098 would convert the state’s open primary into a blanket primary. Both bills, if passed, would probably be held unconstitutional if either major party objected.

US Supreme Court Takes First Ballot Access Case Since 1992

February 20th, 2007

On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear New York State Board of Elections v Lopez Torres, 06-766. This is the first ballot access case the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear since 1992. It concerns access to the primary ballot. The lower courts had invalidated New York’s petition requirements for major party members who try to get on the primary ballot for Delegate to Party Judicial Conventions. That requirement was a petition of 500 signatures, to be collected from party members in 37 days. Someone who wanted to be a judge, and who was therefore motivated to run a full slate of candidates for Delegate pledged to that person, would need between 4,500 and 12,000 valid signatures, depending on which Judicial District was involved. For Democrats, on the average, this works out to a petition requirement of 1.37% of the eligible signers; for Republicans it is 2.39%.

This is the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has ever taken a case involving the number of signatures needed to get on a primary ballot. Normally states don’t make primary ballot access especially difficult, although it is very difficult in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

Also on February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down 3 other election law cases: (1) Initiative & Referendum Institute v Herbert, over whether Utah could say that initiatives on the subject of taking wildlife need a two-thirds vote to pass; (2) Carl Romanelli’s pro se case on Pennsylvania’s procedures for checking signatures; (3) Protect Marriage v Orr, over Illinois’ random sample procedures for checking signatures on initiative petitions.

Libertarians Likely to Run Someone in Special Georgia Congressional Election

February 18th, 2007

In March, Georgia will hold a special U.S. House election to fill the vacancy in the 10th district. The Libertarian Party has never run anyone for U.S. House in Georgia (except for write-in candidates), but the party is likely to run someone in this special election. Ballot access in Georgia special elections does not require a petition, but it does require a very high filing fee, of almost $4,900 (3% of the annual congressional salary). It is believed the Libertarian candidate will be Dr. James Sendelbach. Assuming he does run, he will be the first minor party candidate on the ballot for U.S. House in Georgia, with the party label next to his name on the ballot, since 1942. For more information about him, see here (although the information is somewhat out-of-date).

Florida Bills to Alter Order of Names on Ballot

February 17th, 2007

Two Florida legislators have introduced bills to alter the law, regarding the order of candidates’ names on general election ballots. Current law says the nominees of the party that won the last gubernatorial election should be listed first. Then come the nominees of any other party that has 5% of the number of registered voters. Then, the parties with less than 5% of the number of registered voters are listed in the order in which they filed their list of nominees. Finally, independent candidates are listed last.

Senator Nan H. Rich (D-Sunrise) and Representative Keith Fitzgerald (D-Sarasota) have introduced SB 1606 and HB 415. They would require rotation for the top spot. However, only parties with 5% of the registration would be eligible for the rotation. The bills would not change anything for the parties with less than 5% of the registration, nor would they help independent candidates.

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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.