2008 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT
(updated September 6, 2008)
TOTAL STATES ON THE BALLOT
Libertarian Party
Green Party
Constitution Party
Nader (Indep.)
42
31
33
39
 
     

Montana Legislature Passes Anti-Initiative Bill

April 27th, 2007

On April 26, the Montana House passed SB 96, which makes it illegal to pay initiative petition circulators on a per-signature basis, and makes it illegal for non-residents of Montana to circulate. The vote in the House was 86-14; the vote in the Senate on the previous day had been 45-5.



Restrictive Missouri Deadline Bill Passes Senate Committee

April 26th, 2007

On April 26, the Missouri Senate Financial, Government Organization & Elections Committee passed HB 894, by a vote of 3-2. The 3 Republicans voted “Yes”; the 2 Democrats voted “No.” That is unusual, since the sponsor is a Democrat.

HB 894 requires all independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy in March. The bill doesn’t even exclude presidential independents. That part of the bill is definitely unconstitutional, under the 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision Anderson v Celebrezze. Furthermore, the so-called rationale, to treat all candidates equally (in Missouri, members of qualified parties must file in March to run in the August primary) will not be realized. New party petitions aren’t due until late July, and neither this bill or any other bill proposes to require the candidates of new parties to file any declaration of candidacy in March.

The bill has already passed the House. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.

Vermont Senate Again Passes Instant Runoff Bill

April 26th, 2007

As expected, on April 26, the Vermont Senate passed SB108 on third (final) reading. This time the vote was 16-12. It had passed on April 25 on 2nd reading. As noted, it only applies to the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House race.

If it doesn’t pass the House this year, it can pass next year, since Vermont has 2-year legislative sessions. But if it passes this year, it would take effect in 2008.

Qualifying Closes for Georgia’s Special Congressional Election

April 26th, 2007

On April 26, qualifying closed for Georgia’s special congressional election in the 10th district, set for June. As expected, Dr. Jim Sendelbach, a Libertarian, qualified, since no petition is required in special elections (just a filing fee). Also qualifying were 6 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The party labels will be next to each candidate’s name on the ballot.

This will be the first U.S. House election in Georgia with a third party candidate on the ballot, with a party label, since 1942. Starting in 1943, Georgia began requiring a 5% petition for minor party and independent candidates, except in special elections. And in special elections, until very recently, party labels weren’t printed on ballots.

The New York Times article of April 26 lists all ten candidates by name and party affiliation. It is somewhat unusual for that newspaper to mention minor party candidates for Congress.

Washington State Supreme Court Exempts Talk-Show Hosts from Campaign Finance Requirements

April 26th, 2007

On April 26, the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that when radio talk show hosts support an initiative on their show, they are not subject to campaign disclosure requirements. The lower court had ruled that since two radio talk show hosts had vigorously supported the “No New Gas Tax” initiative, their commentary constituted a contribution to the organization supporting that initiative. The State Supreme Court construed the state’s campaign law to mean that the talk show commentary falls under the “press” exemption. The case is San Juan County v No New Gas Tax, 77966-0. Thanks to Brad Smith for this news.

8-Way Democratic Presidential Debate

April 26th, 2007

The first televised debate for Democrats seeking the presidency will be held on the evening of April 26, at South Carolina State University. Eight candidates will participate. Their names, followed by their showings in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken April 20-23, are below:

Hillary Clinton 36%, Barack Obama 31%, John Edwards 20%, Joe Biden 3%, Bill Richardson 2%, Dennis Kucinich 1%, Chris Dodd 0%, Mike Gravel 0%.

For general election presidential debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates applies a 15% polling standard. If that standard were applied to the April 26 Democratic debate, the field would be trimmed from 8 candidates to 3.

Vermont Senate Preliminarily Passes Instant-Runoff Bill

April 26th, 2007

On April 25, the Vermont Senate passed SB 108 on 2nd reading by a vote of 15-13. It provides that starting in 2008, Instant-Runoff Voting would be used for the U.S. House race. It will probably pass on 3rd reading on April 26.

The Vermont legislature sits until mid-May, so there is probably time for this bill to be considered by the Vermont House. Thanks to Ed Still for this news.

Federal Court Puts Candidate on Ballot Even Though His Petition Failed

April 25th, 2007

On April 19, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a Bush Jr. appointee, ordered that a candidate for city council be placed on the ballot in a special election, even though that candidate, Wellington Sharpe, had not completed the mandatory petition. The election was a special election, and the law required all candidates to submit 1,002 valid signatures in just 13 days. The case is Sharpe v Como, 07-cv-1521, eastern district.

The basis for the decision was that Sharpe’s main opponent in the April 24 special election, Mathieu Eugene, had advance knowledge of the special election, whereas his opponents did not. Therefore, Eugene had the benefit of all 13 days to collect signatures, but Sharpe did not. Furthermore, during the 9 days available to Sharpe, the weather was very bad. The key element in the decision is the judge’s conclusion that denying a candidate a spot on the ballot is an “injury of great magnitude.” Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.

Bills to Help Republican Party Advance in Two States

April 25th, 2007

The Republican Party national convention won’t choose a national ticket formally until September 4, 2008. This is beyond the legal deadline for qualified parties to certify their nominees, in a few states.

Recently, bills to ease the deadline have advanced in two states. California SB 293, which applies only to the Republican Party and only to the 2008 election, passed the Senate Elections Committee on April 18. It says the state party chair is supposed to guess who will be nominated, and certify those guesses before the party’s actual convention. The bill doesn’t really explain how to handle the situation if the chair can’t guess, or if his or her guess is wrong.

Montana HB 520 is a better approach. It says that if a party certifies its nominees later than the end of August, that the Secretary of State must accomodate the party, even if the ballots must be reprinted or otherwise altered. HB 520 passed the legislature on April 5.

Florida Special Legislative Election

April 25th, 2007

On April 24, Florida held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, 49th district. The vote was Democratic 51.9%, Republican 48.1%. In November 2006 in the same seat, the vote had been Republican 53.5%, Democratic 46.5%. The district is centered on Kissimmee.

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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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  • 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]

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