California Secretary of State Demands to See ES&S Source Code

June 26th, 2007

On June 25, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen became the first election official in the United States to take legal action to force a vote-counting vender to reveal its source code. See this article. The dispute concerns ES&S.



Initiative Petition Submitted in King County, Washington, to Let Voters Choose County Elections Chief

June 26th, 2007

On June 17, supporters of an initiative to have the voters choose the King County, Washington, Elections Director, submitted 74,000 signatures. The initiative would amend the County Charter, and it needs 54,732 valid signatures. The drive was fueled by a perception by some that the incumbent county elections director is biased in favor of the Democratic Party.

California Assembly Committee Will Hear Bill to Put Iraq War on Ballot

June 26th, 2007

On Wednesday, June 27, the California Assembly Elections Committee will hear SB 924, the bill that would direct the Secretary of State to place a ballot question on the February 2008 ballot, asking the voters about Iraq policy. The bill has already passed the Senate. The committee hearing will be televised on Cal Channel, but it may be broadcast later than the hearing itself. Cal Channel covers the California legislature much as C-SPAN covers Congress.

Oklahoma Ballot Access Group Meeting

June 25th, 2007

Oklahomans who are working to improve ballot access in that state are meeting on Sunday, 1:30 pm, July 8, in Stroud, Oklahoma (between Tulsa and Oklahoma City). The exact location is Best Western Motor Lodge, 1200 N. 8th Ave. The group will discuss plans for the initiative that would ask the voters to make it easier for parties to get and remain on the ballot.

Shawn O’Hara/Rodney Martin Faction of the Reform Party Wins Jury Trial

June 25th, 2007

On June 25, a federal court jury in Tallahassee, Florida, unanimously ruled that the action of the national party convention in June 2005, changing national party officers, was invalid. Therefore, the officers who were in office prior to that convention (and the faction that supports them) are the valid national party officers. Shawn O’Hara, who had been national chair during 2004 and 2005, had since resigned and Rodney Martin of Yuma, Arizona, had taken his place.

The Tampa convention had been called over the objection of Shawn O’Hara. The Tampa convention had chosen Charles Foster of Texas as national chair. Foster and his faction had then sued the O’Hara/Martion faction, alleging that the law on trademarks was being violated by their use of the name “Reform Party.” However, the jury ruled in favor of the defendants. The specific question answered by the jury was, “Do you find by the greater weight of the evidence that the vote changing officers at the June 2005 Tampa convention was valid?” The jury answer was “No.”

Arizona Greens and Ohio Libertarians Making Petition Progress

June 25th, 2007

The Arizona Green Party now has 5,000 signatures on its petition to qualify itself as a party. 20,449 valid signatures are needed by March 6, 2008.

The Ohio Libertarian Party now has 2,500 signatures on its petition to qualify itself as a party, even though the drive only started ten days ago. 20,114 valid signatures are needed by November 26, 2007.

Pro-Fusion Bill in Oregon Fails to Pass

June 25th, 2007

HB 3040 in the Oregon legislature has not advanced far enough to have any chance of passage, since the legislative session is almost over in that state. HB 3040 is the bill to legalize fusion.

U.S. Supreme Court Says McCain-Feingold Law is Partly Unconstitutional

June 25th, 2007

On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled part of the McCain-Feingold federal campaign law unconstitutional, as applied to broadcast ads paid for by a corporation that mention a candidate for federal office but do not mention the upcoming election. Federal Election Commission v Wisconsin Right to Life, no. 06-969. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the decision, but his opinion was joined only by Justice Alito. Justices Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas would have held that part of the McCain-Feingold law to be unconstitutional on its face, not just as applied to certain types of ads.

This outcome should make it somewhat easier for minor parties to someday challenge another part of the McCain-Feingold law, the part that limits the amount of money that individuals can contribute to new or minor parties. The Supreme Court’s 2003 decision, upholding McCain-Feingold on its face, had said that the act could still be challenged by certain types of plaintiffs, in as-applied challenges. Since one type of as-applied challenge has now succeeded, it is more plausible that other such challenges will succeed. The outcome will probably also help Unity08 to win its pending lawsuit against the FEC. The issue in Unity08’s case is the FEC decision that no one may give or loan Unity08 more than $5,000.

Senator Brownback Asked About Inclusive General Election Debates

June 24th, 2007

On June 24, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback was asked whether he would agree to inclusive general election debates, if he becomes the Republican nominee. He expressed fear that there would be too many candidates, and said he would need to think about it. This occurred in Roland, Iowa. Thanks to Larry Reinsch for having raised this issue with Senator Brownback. Reinsch is also the person who asked Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama the same question earlier this month.

It should be noted that in all U.S. history, there has never been a presidential general election with more than 7 presidential candidates who were theoretically able to be elected. Specifically, there has never been an election with more than 7 presidential candidates who were on the ballot in states containing a majority of the electoral college.

There were no government-printed ballots before 1889, so for the elections before then, this statement refers to the ability of various presidential candidates to circulate private ballots. There were never more than 7 such candidates in that period either. In the period 1856 to the present, the average number of presidential candidates who could theoretically have been elected has only been 4.3 candidates.

Washington State Minor Party Activists Organize to Improve Minor Party Ballot Access

June 24th, 2007

A group of Washington state minor party activists have been meeting with each other, and have finished drafting proposed legislation which would improve ballot access for minor parties. Currently, Washington is the only state in the western half of the United States which lacks any procedure by which a group can transform itself into a qualified party, in advance of any particular election. Instead, all Washington state has are procedures for the nominees of unqualified parties to get on the ballot. If one of those statewide nominees gets 5% of the vote, then and only then does that group become a qualified party.

The draft bill would provide that if a group submits 1,000 signatures by May of an election year, then it is a qualified minor party. It then may nominate by convention, and all its nominees are automatically placed on the general election ballot. The draft also provides that if one of that party’s statewide nominees polls 1% of the vote, it retains its qualified status.

The group is looking for legislators who will sponsor the bill. To get in touch with the group, contact Linde Knighton at waprog2@yahoo.com.

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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'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]

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