2008 VOTES FOR PRESIDENT
Top 4 Minor Candidates
(updated November 18, 2008: 99% Precincts Reporting Nationwide)
Nader
Independent
Barr
Libertarian Party
Baldwin
Constitution Party
McKinney
Green Party
698,798
511,324
181,818
152,811
 
     

Error-Prone Federal Election Returns Book Now in Print

August 27th, 2007

The Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives’ publication, “Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006″ is now in print. Unfortunately, none of the errors identified on this web site a month ago were corrected. The book omits the Republican nominees for U.S. Senate in Ohio and Pennsylvania; it omits the Mountain Party nominee for U.S. Senate in West Virginia; it omits the Moderate Party nominee for U.S. House in the 8th Illinois district. There may be other errors as well.

Because the Republican vote for U.S. Senate was omitted in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the chart in the back, tallying the national vote for U.S. Senate by party, is grossly wrong. It shows that 31,397,838 voters voted for a Democrat for U.S. Senate, and that 21,247,120 voters voted for a Republican for U.S. Senate.

It is always possible that the Clerk will re-print the book.



Local Option California IRV Bill Advances

August 27th, 2007

On August 27, California AB 1294 passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. It makes it possible for any city or county to use Ranked-Choice Voting for electing its own officers. Now the bill goes to the full Senate. The legislature adjourns for the year on September 11. Currently, only charter cities and charter counties may use ranked-choice systems.

Maine Green Party Again Gets More Income Tax Check-Off Donations than Republican Party Does

August 27th, 2007

For the second year in a row, the Maine Green Party has received more revenue from the state’s income-tax check-off choice for political parties than the Maine Republican Party received. State income tax returns that have been sent in during 2007 yield $12,146 to the Democratic Party; $4,467 to the Green Party; $4,349 to the Republican Party.

Twelve states let state income taxpayers choose to send a small donation to the political party of their choice, although in Ohio and North Carolina, only the Democratic and Republican Parties are ever listed (even when there are other ballot-qualified parties).

Louisiana State Treasurer Switches Parties Just Before Running for Re-Election

August 27th, 2007

On August 27, Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy said he has changed his registration from “Democratic” to “Republican” and that he will run for re-election on October 20, 2007 as a Republican. Louisiana elects all its state officials on that day. Kennedy has already had two terms as State Treasurer.

Dennis Kucinich Announces Plan to Woo Voters Who Aren’t Major Party Members

August 27th, 2007

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, released a press release on August 25 which says he plans to meet with political leaders who aren’t Democrats and Republicans, and to make an active plea for support from voters who aren’t registered into the two major parties. The press release says he has already met with several leaders of the Committee for a United Independent Party (CUIP).

The press release says, “Independent voters are a critical and growing constituency in American politics that must be related to and recognized as a major progressive force in our democracy. Independents are in the forefront for political reform and social change.”

Senator Feinstein Will Introduce Constitutional Amendment for Direct Election of President

August 27th, 2007

On August 25, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein said she will introduce a constitutional amendment when Congress returns on September 4, for the purpose of electing the president by popular vote. Feinstein is chair of the Senate Rules & Administration Committee, and a member of the Judiciary Committee, so she is likely to succeed in getting it through all committee hurdles. But in the Senate itself, as well as in the House, it can’t pass without a two-thirds vote.

The New Republic Magazine Looks at Unity08

August 26th, 2007

On August 25, The New Republic released this interesting article about Unity08. Thanks to Jerry Kunz for this item.

Judge Confirms Jury Verdict in Internal Reform Party Court Fight

August 26th, 2007

On August 22, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle, of Tallahassee, Florida, released an order in Reform Party of USA v O’Hara, 4:05cv426. He ruled that there is no basis to set aside the jury verdict of June 25, 2007. That verdict had found that the true national chair of the Reform Party is Rodney Martin, not Charles Foster. The order can be seen here. It is 18 pages and will be a useful and interesting read for anyone interested in Reform Party history. Thanks to John Pittman Hey for this news.

COFOE Web Page Updated

August 26th, 2007

The Coalition for Free & Open Elections (COFOE) has its own web page, www.cofoe.org. That page now has the COFOE national board meeting minutes for the June 16, 2007 meeting. Thanks to Kevin Murphy for this news. COFOE has existed since 1985, and is a loose coalition of most of the nation’s nationally-organized minor political parties. Recently, the Working Families Party joined COFOE.

Green Party National Committee Passes “Run Full Out” Resolution

August 26th, 2007

On August 23, the Green Party National Committee passed this resolution: “Be it resolved that the GPUS affirms one of its main purposes to be that of posing an electoral challenge to the corporate-funded and controlled two-party system. Be it resolved that the GPUS therefore declares its intention to run electoral campaigns full out, in order to promote its messages for peace, civil liberties, social justice, and environmental protection; in order to give voters an opportunity to cast votes for these values and create a new mandate; and in order to build the Green Party to be able to pose even stronger challenges. Full-out campaigns include running in all states possible as actively and as eagerly as possible, running on all Green Party ballot lines possible, participating in Green Party primary elections wherever possible, and running for all levels of public office for which the party is able to find credible candidates to run as Greens and sustain Green Party campaigns. Be it resolved that the GPUS encourages state and county Green Parties to stand firm against the pressure of lesser evilism, and to use it as an opportunity to promote the reforms of ranked voting (i.e., instant runoff voting and proportional representation).”

The resolution was voted on during the period April 17-23. It passed 63-15, with 8 abstentions. The 15 “no” votes were single votes from Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Tennessee, and two “no” votes from Indiana, Iowa, and Maine. Most states only have two votes on the Green National Committee, but a few states have additional votes. Thanks to Greg Jocoy for this news.

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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]

The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.