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December 31st, 2007
On December 31, Alan Keyes paid his $2,500 filing fee to be on the Texas Republican presidential primary ballot. That ballot now has 9 candidates on it. Fred Thompson still hasn’t filed, but he is free to do so on January 2, the deadline.
December 31st, 2007
On December 28, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court construed one particular state law favorably to ballot access, in the case titled In re: Nomination Petition of Paulmier, no. 172 EAL 2007.
The issue was a provision in the Pennsylvania Ethics Act that requires candidates for state and local office to reveal the sources of their income. The act does not apply to federal candidates. The Court ruled that if a candidate files the financial disclosure on time, and the form has an omission or error, the candidate may correct the error later. By contrast, the lower court had tried to keep the candidate off the ballot (the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had ordered him back on to the ballot, but until December 28, had not explained its reasoning).
The particular candidate in this case was Greg Paulmier, a Democrat who was running for Philadelphia city council.
The Court also ruled that in the case of a self-employed candidate, the law doesn’t require him or her to list all the people whom he does business with. It is sufficient for the candidate to reveal the name of his or her business, without trying to list all the customers of that business.
December 31st, 2007
On December 31, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a Republican, appointed fellow Republican Roger Wicker to the vacant U.S. Senate seat. Wicker is the current Congressman from the 1st district (the northeast part of the state).
Mississippi election law is not clear. Jim Hood, Attorney General, says since the vacancy occurred in 2007, there must be a special election in the spring of 2008. The Governor doesn’t agree and says the special election should be in November 2008. Hood had previously said that if the Governor stuck to that position, he would bring a lawsuit to resolve the matter. In any event, there must be a special election in the spring to fill the new vacancy in the U.S. House seat.
Eight states have had vacancies in the U.S. House this year: Georgia, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, and now Mississippi. Thanks to Steve Rankin for the news.
December 31st, 2007
The Virginia Green Party (which is affiliated with the national Green Party) is preparing to get on the 2008 ballot for president. Virginia is one of the eleven “bad” states in which an unqualified party can’t get on the ballot, except by means of a petition that lists a candidate. Fortunately, Virginia allows stand-ins. The Green Party won’t know who its presidential candidate will be until its national convention, July 10-13, in Chicago. So the Virginia Green Party will list Jared Ball as its presidential candidate. If he is not nominated in Chicago in July, he will resign and the state party will be permitted to substitute the actual candidate.
December 31st, 2007
This article appeared on Salon.com on December 31. The author researched what Mayor Mike Bloomberg has said and done about foreign policy issues during this decade. Thanks to Jack Ross for this.
December 31st, 2007
Four parties have told the Texas Secretary of State that they will try to qualify for the 2008 ballot: Green, New American Independent, Reform, and Texas Independence. The deadline for filing this form is Wednesday, January 2. Unity08 has indicated it will also file this form, but it has not done so yet. The Libertarian Party doesn’t need to file it since it is already on the ballot.
December 30th, 2007
The latest issue of The Militant (weekly newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party) has this article about Ron Paul and the people who support him.
December 30th, 2007
Former Oklahoma U.S. Senator David Boren has long been known to be sympathetic to the creation of a new, centrist political party. Boren is retired from the U.S. Senate and is president of the University of Oklahoma. He is hosting a meeting on January 7 for other prominent individuals who seem to be in sympathy with his views, or the somewhat similar ideas of Unity08. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sam Nunn, Charles Robb, Chuck Hagel, John Danforth, and others say they will attend. See this story in the December 30 Washington Post.
December 29th, 2007
Frank MacKay, state chair of the New York Independence Party, has been trying to create a national Independence Party. His first goal has been to bring the handful of other state Independence Parties into a national Independence Party organization. The Minnesota Independence Party will hold a state convention on January 26 and decide whether to become part of that national party. Other ballot-qualified parties that share that name, or a similar name, include parties in Delaware, Oregon and South Carolina.
More recently, MacKay has wooed the Reform Party, specifically the national faction headed by Rodney Martin, which has been on a winning streak in various lawsuits during 2007 to establish itself as “the” Reform Party. That faction of the Reform Party is holding a national conference in Sacramento on December 29-30, and MacKay will speak to the group.
MacKay hopes that Mike Bloomberg will become the presidential nominee of the Independence Party, should Bloomberg decide to run for president.
December 29th, 2007
“The Jewish Week” of New York published this article on December 26, surveying the field of potential strong minor party and independent presidential candidates in 2008. The article quotes political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia.
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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
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Ballot
Access News is edited and published by Richard Winger,
the nation's leading expert on ballot access legal issues.
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Issues
available: |
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2008:
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2007:
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2006:
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2005:
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2004:
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2003:
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2002:
- December
2002 Issue
(V:18– N:8)
- November
2002 Issue
(V:18– N:7)
- October
1, 2002 Issue (V:18 – N:6)
- September
1, 2002 Issue
(V:18 – N:5)
- August
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:4)
- July
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:3)
- June
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:2)
- May
1, 2002 issue (V:18 – N:1)
- April
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:13)
- March
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:12)
- February
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:11)
- January
1, 2002 issue (V:17 – N:10)
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2001:
- December
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:9)
- November
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:8)
- October
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:7)
- September
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:6)
- August
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:5)
- July
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:4)
- June
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:3)
- May
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:2)
- April
1, 2001 issue (V:17 – N:1)
- March
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:12)
- February
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:11)
- January
1, 2001 issue (V:16 – N:10)
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2000:
- December
5, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:9)
- November
16, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:8)
- October
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:7)
- September
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:6)
- August
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:5)
- July
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:4)
- June
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:3)
- May
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:2)
- April
1, 2000 issue (V:16 – N:1)
- March
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:12)
- February
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:11)
- January
1, 2000 issue (V:15 – N:10)
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1999:
- December
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:9)
- November
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:8)
- October
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:7)
- September
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:6)
- August
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:5)
- July
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:4)
- June
1, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:3)
- May
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:2)
- April
3, 1999 issue (V:15 – N:1)
- March
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:12)
- February
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:11)
- January
6, 1999 issue (V:14 – N:10)
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1998:
- December
8, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:9)
- November
8, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:8)
- October
4, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:7)
- September
4, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:6)
- August
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:5)
- July
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:4)
- June
3, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:3)
- May
7, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:2)
- April
5, 1998 issue (V:14 – N:1)
- March
8, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:12)
- February
8, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:11)
- January
5, 1998 issue (V:13 – N:10)
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1997:
- December
5, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:9)
- November
1, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:8)
- October
6, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:7)
- September
6, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:6)
- August
4, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:5)
- July
2, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:4)
BAN.
changed to a 12 issue per year schedule.
- June
2, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:3)
- May
5, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:2)
- April
7, 1997 issue (V:13 – N:1)
- March
10, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:13)
- February
10, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:12)
- January
12, 1997 issue (V:12 – N:11)
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1996:
- December
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:10)
- November
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:9)
- October
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:8)
- September
9, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:7)
- August
12, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:6)
- July
20, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:5)
- June
26, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:4)
- May
28, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:3)
- May
3, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:2)
- April
3, 1996 issue (V:12 – N:1)
- March
6, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:13)
- February
7, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:12)
- January
14, 1996 issue (V:11 – N:11)
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1995:
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1994:
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1993:
- 1993 Issues
not yet available online
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Additional
articles/essays:
- 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. |
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