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
 
     

Elaine Brown Withdraws from Green Party Presidential Race

December 28th, 2007

On December 28, Elaine Brown withdrew from the race for the Green Party presidential nomination. She also said she is no longer a member of the Green Party.



Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter File for Texas Presidential Primary

December 28th, 2007

On the afternoon of December 28, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter paid their $2,500 to be on the Texas Republican presidential primary ballot. Hugh Cort of Alabama also did so. Everyone whom one would expect to file for this primary has now done so, except for Fred Thompson. But he is free to file on December 31 or January 2.

Hugh Cort is now on the ballot in 7 Republican presidential primaries, more than any other little-known candidate for that nomination. He is also on in Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Filing of Tennessee Ballot Access Lawsuit Postponed to First Week of January

December 28th, 2007

The long-planned ballot access lawsuit against Tennessee’s law for new parties to get on the ballot will be filed during the first week in January 2008. The plaintiffs will be the Constitution, Green and Libertarian Parties of Tennessee. The most likely date for the filing is January 3.

Florida Loses in 11th Circuit on Voter Registration

December 28th, 2007

On December 27, the 11th circuit refused to disturb the injunction that had been granted by a U.S. District Court on December 18, concerning Florida voter registration practices. The case is Florida State Conference of the NAACP v Browning, no. 07-15932. The vote was 3-0.

The issue is a Florida law that won’t let voters register, unless the Florida drivers license number the voter provides (or the last four digits of his or her Social Security number), matches a government database. Because the 11th circuit refused to disturb the injunction, 16,000 voters who have been trying to register will now become registered, in time to vote in the January 29 presidential primary.

Two of the three judges on the 11th circuit are Republican appointees: Joel Dubina of Alabama (appointed by President Bush Senior), and Gerald Tjoflat of Florida (appointed by President Ford). Tjoflat is a very conservative judge in election law matters. The third judge was Clinton appointee Rosemary Barkett of Florida.

The 11th circuit also accelerated the part of the case that will determine if the Florida requirement is constitutional. The briefs are due January 14.

Eleven Presidential Primary Candidates Have Filed So Far in Texas

December 28th, 2007

The Texas deadline for presidential candidates to file in presidential primaries is January 2. Candidates pay a fee of $2,500; there is no petition.

So far, these Democrats have filed: Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama, and Richardson. Also Joe Biden has paid his fee but not yet submitted his declaration of candidacy.

So far, these Republicans have filed: Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Romney, and Tran Hoa, a physician who lives in Houston, Texas.

Hearing Set in Michigan Democratic Primary Case

December 28th, 2007

The U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will hold a heareing in Hayes v Michigan Democratic Party on Monday, January 7, at 10 a.m. This is the case in which a Democratic Party activist argues that the presidential primary (set for January 15) should be cancelled or postponed. The case number is 1:07-cv-1237. It is before Judge Robert J. Jonker, who only became a U.S. District Court Judge this year.

Peace & Freedom Presidential Debate

December 27th, 2007

The California Peace & Freedom Party will host a presidential candidate debate. All seven candidates in the party’s presidential primary are invited. It will be in San Francisco, Saturday, January 12, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., at the Brava Theater, 2781 24th St., upstairs.

The seven presidential candidates on the PFP primary ballot are: Stewart Alexander, John Crockford, Stanley Hetz, Gloria LaRiva, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore, and Ralph Nader. Since Nader has not declared yet that he is running for president, it seems unlikely that he will attend.

Local Election in Arkansas to be Held on New Years’ Day

December 27th, 2007

An anomaly in Arkansas election law will require a special election to be held on January 1, 2008. It is virtually unheard of for any jurisdiction to ever hold a public election on a holiday. However, Arkansas law requires an election “run-off” (of this type) to be held exactly three weeks from the first election.

In this particular case, the two cities of Farmington and Prairie Grove, in northwest Arkansas, each voted to annex a particular subdivision. Since it is obvious that both cities can’t annex the particular area, the law provides that the voters in the area to be annexed should vote on which city to join. That type of election must be held exactly three weeks after the original election. Since the previous election was held on December 11, there is no escaping that the new election must be on January 1.

Details of Pennsylvania Ballot Access Reform Bill

December 27th, 2007

Pennsylvania Representative Kerry Benninghoff’s bill to reform Pennsylvania ballot access is still not in print, but he has revealed some details of the bill. He would permit anyone to get on any ballot (primary or general) with a filing fee alternative to the existing petition requirement. He proposes that the fee would match the number of signatures, using the formula of one dollar equaling one petition signature. However, he would set a cap on the maximum fee. He has not decided on the amount of that cap, but it would probably range between $2,000 and $4,000. Of course, candidates who do not wish to pay that fee would still have the petition alternative.

Utah Personal Choice Party is Petitioning to Regain Ballot Status

December 27th, 2007

The Utah Personal Choice Party has hired a paid petition circulator to get itself back on the Utah ballot. The party has a platform somewhat similar to the Libertarian platform, but is not associated with the state or national Libertarian Party in any way. Although its presidential candidate only polled 946 votes in 2004, the party often polls large votes for less important office. Its ballot logo is the familiar round smiley-face. The party always receives a large number of state income tax donations, but it won’t be listed on the 2007 state income tax forms because it is submitting its petition so late in the season. It received $6,668 from 2005 state income tax donations, but it refused the money.

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

 

  

Paper Issues:

Blog Archives Syndication

Subscribe to Ballot Access News via PayPal. Subscriptions are $15 for 12 issues a year ($20 foreign). Additional donations are welcome.

Subscribe to Ballot Access News via PayPal.
If you use your credit card to pay via PayPal, use this button.
New Feature:
Search Ballot Access News

Search ballot-access.org
Search WWW

 
Access to this site is free. Your donations support this site and the activities of Richard Winger in lobbying for free and open elections.

To subscribe via mail, click here and print out the form to mail.

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.

Issues available:

2008:

2007:

2006:

2005:

2004:

2003:

2002:

2001:

2000:

1999:

1998:

1997:

1996:

1995:

1994:

1993:

  • 1993 Issues not yet available online

Essays by Richard Winger:

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.