Colorado House Moves Caucus from March to February

April 30th, 2007

Colorado has no presidential primary. All parties choose delegates to national conventions by caucus. On April 30, the Colorado House passed HB 1376 on 2nd reading. It moves the caucus date from March, to February 5.

Most states with caucuses don’t try to tell parties when to hold their caucuses, but Colorado does.



Another Flaw in Missouri HB894

April 30th, 2007

This blog and also the written May 1 newsletter have already criticized Missouri HB 894 for requiring independent presidential candidates to file a declaration of candidacy in March. That violates Anderson v Celebrezze. HB 894, an omnibus election law bill, also has another unconstitutional provision. It says “any person who files as a candidate to a public office shall be disqualified from participation in the election if such person is delinquent in the payment of any state income taxes, personal property taxes, or real property taxes.”

States cannot add to the qualifications to run for federal office. If the bill had been written by someone who is familiar with constitutional law regarding elections, the bill would have exempted candidates for federal office.

Stanhope to Announce for Libertarian Nomination on Howard Stern Show

April 30th, 2007

Comedian Doug Stanhope is expected to announce on May 3 that he will seek the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. This announcement is likely to be on Howard Stern’s show. Stanhope has been publicly supporting the Libertarian Party since 2004.

Kansas Won’t Have Presidential Primary in 2008

April 30th, 2007

The Kansas legislature, meeting over the weekend of April 28-29, dropped the appropriation for a presidential primary in 2008, so the major parties will use caucuses instead of a primary. The outcome is a disappointment to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, who is from Kansas and who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. If Kansas had decided to hold a presidential primary, it would have been on February 5.

New York Governor Asks Legislature to Lower Petition Requirements

April 30th, 2007

On April 26, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced a package of bills to improve election laws. Included in the package are proposals to “reduce the number of signatures required for designating and nominating petitions, provide automatic ballot access for presidential candidates in primaries who qualify for federal matching funds, and eliminate restrictive and unnecessary petition requirements.”

The proposal covers access for the general election as well as the primary. The proposal for presidential primaries is already policy in New York for the Republican presidential primary, but not the Democratic presidential primary. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.

Washington Democrats Will Use February Caucus, Rather than May Presidential Primary

April 29th, 2007

On Sunday, April 29, the State Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Washington state voted to use a caucus to choose delegates to the national convention. The caucus will be on February 9, 2008. This means that Washington state’s presidential primary, at least for the Democrats, will be just a “beauty contest” with no real power. That primary is now set for May, although a committee of state officials has the power to move the date.

The Democratic Party’s decision makes it likely that the Washington Republicans will now also opt for caucuses. Washington Republicans worry that if the Democratic presidential primary is meaningless, large numbers of Democrats would vote in the Republican presidential primary, possibly to make mischief. Washington state does not have registration by party.

Still no Solution to Rick Jore Recount $$ Problem

April 29th, 2007

The Montana legislature adjourned for the year without passing any bill to reform who pays, when a recount is held. In 2004, the official election returns showed that Constitution Party nominee Rick Jore had tied with the Democratic nominee for a seat in the State House of Representatives. Under Montana law, a tie meant that the Governor could appoint someone, and he appointed Jore. But Jore’s Democratic opponent asked for a recount. That meant a court got involved. The lower court upheld the tie vote, but the State Supreme Court reversed and said Jore had lost the election. Under the law, Jore then had to pay for his opponent’s lawyers. He was billed $18,000, even though he had never sued anyone. SB 117, to place the burden of a recount on the government, did not pass this year. Now part of Jore’s legislative salary has been garnished, although most of the bill remains unpaid. Jore has refused contributions from his friends and supporters to help pay the bill, and he won’t cooperate in paying off the remainder, because he feels the bill is unjust.

Michael Jingozian Discusses Campaign for Libertarian Presidential Nomination

April 28th, 2007

Michael Jingozian kindly granted a telephone interview to BAN editor Richard Winger on April 28. Jingozian had appeared at the California Libertarian Party state convention on April 21, one of the five candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination who spoke there. His campaign website is www.ResetAmerica.com. He filed with the Federal Election Commission several months ago. He will attend some, but not all, this year’s remaining Libertarian Party state conventions. His strategy for getting the nomination is to build up general support in the entire electorate first.

Filing Has Already Opened for South Carolina Republican Primary

April 28th, 2007

The South Carolina Republican Party holds its own presidential primary in February 2008. It is the only major party presidential primary completely admininstered and paid for by the party itself. The party has already opened qualifying. So far, only 3 candidates have entered: John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Sam Brownback. The filing fee is $25,000, because the party depends on filing fees to help pay for the administration of the primary.

Wayne Root Discusses Campaign for Libertarian Presidential Nomination

April 28th, 2007

Wayne Root kindly granted a telephone interview to BAN editor Richard Winger on April 28. Root had appeared at the California Libertarian Party state convention on April 21, one of the five candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination who spoke there. He will file his Exploratory Committee with the Federal Election Commission in the coming week. He will then launch his campaign web page. He does not expect to visit all the Libertarian Party state conventions held during the next few months, but he will be sending a DVD to each state party. His future reality-based TV show is not connected in any way with the recently announced MySpace proposed reality show “Independent.” Root’s proposed TV reality show, based on his campaign to win the Libertarian nomination, will be produced in connection with Burt Debrow. It will appear on cable, not broadcast TV, so the “equal time” rule won’t apply (it is not clear that the “equal time” rule would have barred the show in any event, since the rule has been weakened so drastically over the decades).

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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!

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    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]

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