North Carolina Bill for Electoral College By District

July 30th, 2007

The sponsor of North Carolina SB 353 decided to withdraw his bill on July 28. This is the bill that would have provided that each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector. Reportedly, Howard Dean, chair of the National Democratic Committee, asked that the bill be withdrawn. Thanks to Rob Richie for this news.



Valuable Reference Book Published

July 29th, 2007

Michael J. Dubin’s new book Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures 1796-2006 has just been published. To order, see www.mcfarlandpub.com (click the link for newly published books). The book is $45.

Never before has any reference work existed that tells the partisan line-up of each state legislative body, through history. The book will be especially valuable to show the extent to which parties other than the two major parties have elected state legislators.

Dubin is also the author of other very valuable reference books, especially United States Congressional Elections 1788-1997, the only book ever published that lists the vote for all candidates for Congress in U.S. history.

Arkansas Greens Start Petition on July 28

July 28th, 2007

The Arkansas Green Party began its party petition for 2008 on July 28. Under a law passed earlier this year, party petitions require 10,000 valid signatures and must be completed in any 60-day period that the group chooses.

Although the Green Party also successfully did an Arkansas party petition in 2006, at that time the law permitted four months.

Presidential Primary Poll of July 26

July 28th, 2007

On July 26, a Diageo-Hotline Poll was released. 801 voters were sampled July 19-22. The Republican results: Giuliani 20%, F. Thompson 19%, McCain 17%, Romney 8%, Brownback 4%, Paul 2%, Huckabee 1%, Tancredo 1%, T. Thompson 1%, Hunter under 1%, other and undecided 27%.

Democratic results: Clinton 39%, Obama 30%, Edwards 11%, Kucinich 3%, Richardson 2%, Biden 2%, other and undecided 13%.

California Secretary of State Web Page on Vote-Counting Machines

July 28th, 2007

See here for the California Secretary of State’s explanation of the report issued by her on July 27, concerning security flaws in vote-counting machines used in California.

District Electoral College Bill Passes North Carolina House on 2nd Reading

July 27th, 2007

On July 26, the North Carolina House passed SB 353 on second reading by a vote of 62-47. It provides that each U.S. House district will choose its own presidential elector. The bill will probably pass on 3rd reading by the same margin, very soon. If this bill had been in effect in North Carolina in 2000, Al Gore would have more votes in the electoral college than George Bush would have won. This is because Gore carried three U.S. House districts in North Carolina (the 1st, 4th and 12th districts), so Gore would have had 3 electoral votes from North Carolina and Bush would have had 3 fewer electoral votes from that state. The national total would then have been Gore 269, Bush 268, one abstention from the District of Columbia. It is likely the D.C. elector who abstained in 2000 would have voted for Gore, since she was a Democrat.

All Briefs Filed in 6th Circuit, in Case on Whether Ohio Can Criminalize Paying Petitioners Per Signature

July 27th, 2007

On July 22, the final brief was filed in the 6th circuit in Citizens for Tax Reform v Deters, no. 07-3031. This is the case over whether Ohio can outlaw the practice of paying initiative circulators per signature. The lower court had ruled the law unconstitutional.

U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Hear Another Election Law Case

July 27th, 2007

On July 19, the city of Modesto, California, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear City of Modesto v Sanchez, 07-88. The city argues that the California Voting Rights Act violates the U.S. Constitution. The California Voting Rights Act requires Modesto to stop using winner-take-all citywide elections to choose its 5-member city council. Since 1911, only one Hispanic city councilmember has been elected in Modesto, even though 25% of the city’s population is Hispanic. That fact pattern triggers the state law. The state law will force the city to use another election system, unless the city can persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that the California law violates the 14th amendment.

Setback for Washington State Ex-Felon Voting

July 26th, 2007

Washington state lets ex-felons register to vote, if they have been released and if they have paid all fines and made all court-ordered restitution payments. On July 26, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that nothing in the state or federal constitutions provides any relief for ex-felons who have not paid their fines or restitutions because they can’t afford to do so.

The case is Madison v State, no. 78598-8. The plaintiffs had argued that the effect of the law (requiring that fines and restitutions be paid before an ex-felon may register) amounts to a poll tax. The U.S. Supreme Court had struck down poll taxes in 1966. The Washington State Supreme Court rejected this analogy, saying that since ex-felons have no constitutional right to register to vote anyway, they cannot complain. The Washington State Constitution says “Elections Shall be Free and Equal” but the Court said that is irrelevant. Most state constitutions say “Elections shall be free and equal”, but state courts rarely seem to think that phrase means anything.

North Carolina Bill for District Selection of Presidential Electors Makes Headway

July 26th, 2007

On July 25, the North Carolina House Election Law & Campaign Finance Committee passed SB 353. It provides that each U.S. House district in North Carolina would elect its own presidential elector. The bill had passed the Senate on May 24. It is likely to receive a vote in the House on July 26. The bill passed on a party-line vote, with Democrats voting “yes” and Republicans voting “no.” Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

The only states that currently let each U.S. House district choose its own presidential elector are Nebraska and Maine.

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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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  • 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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  • 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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