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March 30th, 2007
On March 30, the Idaho Senate defeated S1244, which would have launched a system in which voters register into political parties. Information about how many Senators voted for or against isn’t available yet.
March 30th, 2007
An earlier posting said that the chair of the Texas House Elections Committee had refused to schedule a hearing on HB 2280, the bill to eliminate the “primary screen-out”. Happily, he has changed his mind, and set a hearing for Wednesday, April 4. “Primary screen-out” means making it illegal for a primary voter to sign a petition for an independent candidate or a new party.
March 30th, 2007
On March 30, Colorado SB 83 passed the Senate on 2nd reading. It is expected to pass on third reading on April 2. It permits any adult citizen to circulate any type of petition (except that primary petitions would still need to be circulated by party members). Current law does not permit anyone to circulate a petition unless the circulator lives in the district.
The bill also lets qualified minor parties nominate anyone they wish (if the candidate meets the Constitutional qualifications for the office, of course). Current law doesn’t permit qualified minor parties to nominate someone who has been a member of another party during the past year. This is discriminatory, since qualified major parties are not subject to the restriction.
The bill has been amended to include other election law matters. For example, it permits parolees to register to vote.
March 30th, 2007
The Maryland House is expected to pass SB634/HB148 on Monday, April 2. These are identical bills to implement the “National Popular Vote Plan”. On March 30, the House defeated all the amendments that had been introduced to sidetrack the plan, such as bills to simply study the plan.
March 30th, 2007
On March 30, the Illinois State Senate passed SB733, which lowers petition requirements for independent candidates, and for the nominees of unqualified parties. Existing law requires statewide candidates to get 25,000, but the bill drops this to 5,000. Existing law requires district and county candidates to submit petitions of 5% of the last vote cast, but the bill drops this to approximately one-half of 1% (the formula is complicated and not easy to describe precisely). The bill passed unanimously. Now it goes to the State House. Thanks to Dan Johnson-Weinberger for this news.
If the bill becomes law, then every state except Alabama and Georgia will have some procedure for a new party to get its US House nominees on the November ballot for US House, that is equal to, or easier than, a petition of 2% of the last vote cast (although in some cases, as in Oklahoma, they couldn’t have the party label printed on the ballot).
March 30th, 2007
On March 28, the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on HB 5466. It would ease the definition of “Political Party”. Currently, a party is a group that either submitted a petition to qualify itself, or a group that polled 5% for President or Governor at either of the last two elections. The bill would expand the list of offices for which the vote test counts, to all the state statewide offices (Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General).
If the bill were to pass and were to be applied retrospectively, the Cool Moose Party would become a fully qualified party, since it polled over 5% for Lieutenant Governor in 2006.
March 30th, 2007
On March 28, the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill to abolish the straight-ticket device. It is HB5508; an identical bill in the Senate is SB744. Many witnesses criticized the device and no one defended it. The committee will study the issue and vote next month.
March 29th, 2007
On March 28, the Oregon House Rules, Redistricting and Public Affairs Committee took testimony on HB 3040. There were many people who wanted to testify in favor; there wasn’t time for most of them to speak. The Committee heard from representatives of the Working Families Party and the Libertarian Party. The committee won’t vote for at least a week or so, but most members seemed inclined to vote for the bill.
March 29th, 2007
North Carolina’s law for independent candidates for U.S. House is so difficult, it has never been used, in the entire history of government-printed ballots in that state. On March 29, the COFOE (Coalition for Free & Open Elections) Board voted to assist a proposed lawsuit to overturn the North Carolina independent candidate law, as applied to U.S. House candidates. The law requires a petition signed by 4% of the number of registered voters in the district, plus a large filing fee.
A lawsuit is also currently pending against the North Carolina ballot access laws for new parties. It was filed in 2005 by the Libertarian Party and still doesn’t have a decision.
March 29th, 2007
On March 29, the Arkansas Senate passed both ballot access bills that had previously been passed by the House.
HB2367 is wholly beneficial. It establishes statutory procedures for independent presidential candidates. This is the first time that Arkansas has ever had such procedures in its statutes. Back in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court had said the U.S. Constitution requires states to provide ballot access procedures for independent candidates, as well as for new and minor parties. The Supreme Court said the two approaches to politics are entirely different, and states can’t force independents to create a new party to get on the ballot. Despite this clear decision from 33 years ago, Arkansas did not create such a procedure until this year.
The other ballot access bill, HB2353, lowers the number of signatures for a new party from 3% of the last gubernatorial vote (approximately 24,000 signatures) to a flat 10,000 signatures. But it reduces the number of days to get those signatures from 150 days to 60 days. It is probable that the Green Party will sue to overturn the 60-day limitation.
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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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Issues
available: |
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2008:
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2007:
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2006:
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2005:
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2004:
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2003:
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2002:
- December
2002 Issue
(V:18– N:8)
- November
2002 Issue
(V:18– N:7)
- October
1, 2002 Issue (V:18 – N:6)
- September
1, 2002 Issue
(V:18 – N:5)
- August
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:4)
- July
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:3)
- June
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:2)
- May
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:1)
- April
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:13)
- March
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:12)
- February
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:11)
- January
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:10)
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2001:
- December
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:9)
- November
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:8)
- October
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:7)
- September
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:6)
- August
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:5)
- July
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:4)
- June
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:3)
- May
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:2)
- April
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:1)
- March
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:12)
- February
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:11)
- January
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:10)
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2000:
- December
5, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:9)
- November
16, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:8)
- October
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:7)
- September
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:6)
- August
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:5)
- July
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:4)
- June
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:3)
- May
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:2)
- April
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:1)
- March
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:12)
- February
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:11)
- January
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:10)
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1999:
- December
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:9)
- November
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:8)
- October
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:7)
- September
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:6)
- August
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:5)
- July
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:4)
- June
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:3)
- May
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:2)
- April
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:1)
- March
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:12)
- February
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:11)
- January
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:10)
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1998:
- December
8, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:9)
- November
8, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:8)
- October
4, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:7)
- September
4, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:6)
- August
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:5)
- July
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:4)
- June
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:3)
- May
7, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:2)
- April
5, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:1)
- March
8, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:12)
- February
8, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:11)
- January
5, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:10)
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1997:
- December
5, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:9)
- November
1, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:8)
- October
6, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:7)
- September
6, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:6)
- August
4, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:5)
- July
2, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:4)
BAN.
changed to a 12 issue per year schedule.
- June
2, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:3)
- May
5, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:2)
- April
7, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:1)
- March
10, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:13)
- February
10, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:12)
- January
12, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:11)
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1996:
- December
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:10)
- November
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:9)
- October
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:8)
- September
9, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:7)
- August
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:6)
- July
20, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:5)
- June
26, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:4)
- May
28, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:3)
- May
3, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:2)
- April
3, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:1)
- March
6, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:13)
- February
7, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:12)
- January
14, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:11)
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1995:
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1994:
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1993:
- 1993 Issues
not yet available online
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Additional
articles/essays:
- 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. |
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