Illinois Legislature Adjourns for the Year without Passing National Popular Vote Bill

November 30th, 2007

On November 29, the Illinois legislature went home for the year, without having passed HB 1685, the National Popular Vote Plan for presidential elections. It is possible the Governor will recall the legislature in December, however. The state has much pressing legislative business unresolved.



North Carolina Libertarians Have 86,400 Signatures on 2008 Party Petition

November 30th, 2007

As of November 30, the North Carolina Libertarian Party has 86,400 signatures on its petition to be on the 2008 ballot. The legal requirement is 69,734. Libertarians estimate they need 95,000 raw signatures. The validity rate has been running at 73%, which is fairly good. This petition has been underway for over two years. Fortunately North Carolina lets a group takes as long as 3.5 years to get the job done. In the meantime, the lawsuit in state court against the petition requirement is still pending.

North Carolina Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Redistricting Case

November 30th, 2007

On November 26, North Carolina asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Bartlett v Strickland, no. 07-689. On August 24, 2007, the North Carolina Supreme Court had struck down the 2003 legislative districting plan, in regard to State House district 18. The Attorney General hopes to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that the State Supreme Court was wrong, and that the 2003 districts should be upheld. Here is the state’s cert petition.

The issue involves a possible conflict between the North Carolina Constitution, which requires that counties not be divided unnecessarily, and section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects racial and ethnic minorities when districts lines are drawn. The 2003 districting plan drew House district 18 from part of Pender County and part of New Hanover County, to enable African-Americans to elect a state representative. African-Americans have been able to elect a state representative in the 18th district. However, the State Supreme Court had said that the legislature should not have drawn district 18, because it violates the State Constitution (about keeping counties undivided, to the extent possible). Furthermore, the State Supreme Court had said that the federal Voting Rights Act does not apply to district 18, since it is still less than 50% African-American.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has had many cases involving the Voting Rights Act, it has never decided if section 2 of that Act applies when the district drawn to protect racial minorities is still barely majority-white.

Meanwhile, a new federal lawsuit was filed recently, charging that if the State Supreme Court was right, many North Carolina legislative districts violate the State Constitution. Also that new lawsuit charges that since the State Supreme Court had held district 18 to be unconstitutional, it should have ordered new legislative district boundaries immediately, instead of saying the matter could wait until 2010.

The U.S. Supreme Court is already pondering two election law cases (from New York and Washington state), and has agreed to hear two other election law cases (concerning Indiana’s government photo-ID law, and the power of the Alabama Governor to fill vacancies on county commissions).

Pennsylvania Legislator Interested in Replacing Petitions with Filing Fees

November 30th, 2007

Pennsylvania Representative Kerry Benninghoff has been seriously considering introducing a bill to let candidates get on ballots by paying a filing fee, instead of submitting a mandatory petition. The Pennsylvania legislature is still in session and will keep working during the first part of December 2007. Benninghoff is a Republican from Bellefonte and has served in the House since 1996.

Utah Libertarian Party Needs 540 More Valid Signatures

November 29th, 2007

On November 29, the Utah state elections office finished checking the Libertarian Party’s petition, and told the party that the petition needs 540 more valid signatures. The party is free to get more signatures, as long as it gets the job done by February 15, the deadline for a Utah petition to recognize a new party.

Virginia Republican Presidential Primary Oath

November 29th, 2007

On November 26, the Virginia State Board of Elections approved the Republican Party’s request that no one be permitted to vote in the February 12, 2008 Republican presidential primary, unless the voter signs an oath. It reads, “I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for President.”

In the past, some other Southern states have had such pledges for primary voters, but they had all been abandoned. The Democratic Party of Virginia will not require any pledge for its presidential primary, also being held on February 12.

Virginia never had presidential primaries until 1988, and has never had such an oath for any presidential primary. The U.S. Supreme Court approved a somewhat similar oath for candidates in 1952 in Ray v Blair, 343 US 214. That case was from Alabama.

The Republican request seems unpopular, from the commentary. Also, it seems unlikely that many Democrats would be voting in the Virginia Republican primary, since Democrats have their primary the same day.

Idaho Republicans Lose Lawsuit for Open Primary

November 29th, 2007

On November 28, a U.S. District Court Judge in Idaho dismissed the lawsuit filed earlier this year by 72 Republican Party legislators, party officers and activists, asking for a closed primary. The judge noted that the Idaho Republican Party itself had not filed the lawsuit. He said the people who did file the lawsuit don’t have standing to act for the party. Beck v Ysursa, 07-299. The decision is 15 pages and can be read here.

The people who filed the lawsuit will not appeal. Instead, they will try to persuade the 2008 session of the legislature to pass a bill, letting parties close their own primaries to party membes. However, Ben Ysursa, Secretary of State, says he will fight the bill if it tries to take effect in time for the May 2008 primary. He says there isn’t enough time to make the change.

Thanks to Steve Rankin for the link to the decision.

John Fund Writes on Possibility of Ron Paul Running for President as Libertarian

November 28th, 2007

John Fund, editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, has a short essay on the possibility that Ron Paul will run for president in the general election as the Libertarian nominee, should Paul fail to win the Republican nomination. See it here.

Obama Statement on Voting Rights

November 28th, 2007

On November 26, U.S. Senator Barack Obama issued a press release on voting rights. It says, “Voting is our most basic right and one of our most important responsibilities as Americans. Any law that creates discriminatory barriers to the exercise of this fundamental right should be immediately revoked.”

The purpose of the press release is to publicize the pending U.S. Supreme Court hearing in Indiana Democratic Party v Rokita, also known as Crawford v Marion County Election Board. The hearing is January 9, 2008. The issue is Indiana’s law requiring voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. Senator Obama and 40 members of the U.S. House are listed as “in support” of the amicus curiae brief filed by Congressman Keith Ellison in that case. The Ellison brief can be read here. That brief is one of 23 amici curiae briefs in opposition to the Indiana law. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

Pennsylvania Greens Ask State Supreme Court for Reargument

November 28th, 2007

On November 28, the Pennsylvania Green Party candidate for U.S. Senator in 2006, Carl Romanelli, asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for reargument in the case over whether he must pay over $80,000 plus interest for the costs of removing him from the 2006 ballot. The petition for reargument focuses not only on the federal precedents that the Pennsylvania Court failed to consider, but also on the ambiguities in that court’s November 20 opinion.

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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!

Extra Features:

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.