Delaware Anti-Fusion Bill Loses in House by 2 Votes

June 30th, 2007

On Saturday night at 11:04 pm (June 30), the Delaware House defeated HB 177 by 17-19. The bill would have outlawed fusion. The bill became was of the most contentious fights during the last day of the session. For more about the fight over this bill, see www.delawarewatch.blogspot.com. The Democratic Party legislative leadership was determined to pass this bill, but that Democratic leadership failed to achieve its aim.



Delaware Bill to Outlaw Fusion is Almost Certainly Dead

June 29th, 2007

The Delaware legislature only has one more day before it adjourns for the year. HB 177, which would have outlawed fusion, has not passed the House yet, nor the Senate. It is virtually certain to die. Advocates of fusion worked hard to defeat the bill.

Iowa Voter Registration Case Finally Over

June 28th, 2007

On June 27, the lawsuit filed by the Iowa Libertarian and Green Parties in 2005 was finally settled, without any need for a judicial decision. The State has agreed to let voters register into any unqualified party that (1) submits 850 signatures; (2) has placed candidates on the ballot in the last ten years. Iowa and Kansas had been the only states in which it was physically impossible for a voter to register into any party that is not a ballot-qualified party. Now, Iowa will start printing a blank line on the “political party” question, on the voter registration forms. This outcome would not have been possible without the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and its attorney, Randall Wilson.

Groups that submit the 850 signatures, and which have placed candidates on the ballot recently, will be entitled to a list of any voters, with their addresses, who register as members of such groups.

The right of a voter to register into an unqualified party has now been won, either by lawsuit decisions or by settlements, in Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and New York. However, in Oklahoma, even though the lawsuit won, the state implemented it with great stinginess; the outcomes have been far better in the other states named above.

Minnesota Secretary of State Sets Up Ranked Choice Voting Issue Group

June 28th, 2007

The Minnesota Secretary of State has set up a Ranked Choice Voting Issues Group. The panel had its first meeting on June 27. The group’s goal is to assist cities in Minnesota that desire to use Instant-Runoff Voting and other alternate vote systems. Perhaps one inspiration for the Secretary of State’s action is to avoid the problems in California, when cities like San Francisco were largely left to their own devices, after having decided to switch to IRV.

New Hampshire Now Ready for Complete Flexibility in Setting Presidential Primary Date

June 28th, 2007

On June 25, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed HB 272. It gives the Secretary of State even more flexibility to set the date of the presidential primary than he had had before. The new law not only lets him set the date of the primary itself, but also lets him sets the dates for candidates to file, and all other dates (such as absentee ballot deadlines, etc.) that relate to the election. This will enable the Secretary of State to outmaneuver other states that are also trying to make last-minute decisions about their presidential primary dates. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.

Michigan Bill for January Presidential Primary

June 27th, 2007

On June 27, a group of four Michigan Republican State Senators, including the Majority Leader of the Senate, introduced SB624. It provides for a January 29 presidential primary in 2008. It also says that if the parties that are qualified to hold a presidential primary jointly desire a different date, their wishes shall prevail. It also says that if all the parties that are entitled to a presidential primary agree to cancel the primary, it will be cancelled.

The same four Senators also introduced SB 625, which is virtually identical, except it sets the 2008 primary on February 5. Both bills also amend the existing law so that it becomes more difficult for a party to qualify for its own presidential primary. Existing law says that any party that got 5% for president in the last election (in the entire USA) is entitled to a presidential primary. The bill changes that to 25% for president in the last election, within Michigan.

Both bills provide that voters who wish to vote in a presidential primary must choose one party’s ballot, and the names and addresses of voters who choose any particular party’s ballot are provided to that political party. Currently, Michigan has an open primary in which voters decide which primary to vote in, in the secrecy of the voting booth. Thanks to Tom Jones for this news.

California Assembly Committee Passes Bill for Iraq War Referendum

June 27th, 2007

On June 27, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed SB 924. The vote was 5-2. It provides that the Secretary of State will place an advisory question on the February 2008 ballot, asking voters their view of U.S. policy in Iraq. The bill had already passed the Senate.

Legal Tangle: Two Federal Courts Disagree on Who Is Reform Party National Treasurer

June 27th, 2007

As earlier noted, a federal court jury in Tallahassee, Florida, ruled on June 25 that the O’Hara/Martin faction of the national Reform Party is the true Reform Party. The O’Hara/Martin faction’s National Treasurer was Lee Dilworth in the recent past, and is now Barbara Del Washer.

But in the lawsuit Federal Election Commission v Reform Party, which determined that the Reform Party owes the FEC $333,000, the Reform Party’s national treasurer was assumed to be Beverly Kennedy. When Barbara Del Washer had tried to intervene in that lawsuit, on the grounds that she, not Beverly Kennedy, is Treasurer, the court had denied her intervention. UPDATE: Rodney Martin, recognized by the Tallahassee court as the Reform Party national chair, e-mails me that the FEC only let Beverly Kennedy intervene as an individual, not in her capacity as national chair. He also says that the FEC has recognized Barbara Del Washer as Treasurer. However, he does not deny that she was not permitted to intevene in the FEC lawsuit. FURTHER UPDATE: The reason Barbara Del Washer wasn’t permitted to intervene in the lawsuit FEC v Reform Party was merely that she tried to intervene too late; the court did not actually try to resolve who the Reform Party Treasurer was. Ballot Access News regrets that this original post was somewhat misleading.

Run-Off Needed in California Special Congressional Election

June 27th, 2007

On June 26, California held a special election to fill the vacancy in the 37th U.S. House district. Since no one got as much as 50%, a run-off will be held on August 21 between Democrat Laura Richardson, Republican John Kanaley, Green Daniel Brezenoff, and Libertarian Herb Peters. For the June 26 election results, see here.

New Oklahoma Lawsuit on Who Can Petition

June 27th, 2007

On June 14, a new lawsuit was filed in federal court to strike down Oklahoma’s apparent ban on out-of-state petition circulators. It is Term Limits Group, et al v Savage, no. 5:07-cv-680.

The plaintiff wants to circulate an initiative petition expanding term limits to cover the state offices that are not already covered by Oklahoma’s term limits law. Although Governor and state legislators are already subject to term limits, there are no term limits on the other elected statewide executive posts, such as Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, etc.

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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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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.