Few US House Candidates in California in 2008, Compared to 2006

March 28th, 2008

Filing has closed for candidates to put themselves on California primary ballots. The primary is June 3. California has 53 U.S. House districts.

All six qualified parties in California will have fewer nominees for U.S. House in 2008 than they did in 2006, except that the Republican Party has the same number in both years. Below is the number of districts in which each party will have a nominee, in 2008; the 2006 number is in parantheses.

Democratic: 51 (52)
Republican: 46 (46)
Libertarian: 20 (25)
Green: 5 (7)
Peace & Freedom: 5 (8)
Constitution: 1 (2)

In theory, the parties could gain nominees by write-ins at the primary, but the law requires a write-in candidate in a partisan primary to poll a large number of votes, in order to be deemed nominated. Even the major parties have trouble with that requirement; no Republican or Democratic was able to gain a write-in nomination in 2006 for U.S. House.



Will Washington State Be Open to Instant-Runoff Voting in Place of “Top-Two”?

March 28th, 2008

This column by Benjamin Lukoff suggests that Washington voters, when faced with the restrictive choices on the November ballot caused by the recently revived “Top-Two” Primary system, may now be attracted to abolishing the primary in favor of Instant-Runoff Voting in November. Thanks to Steve Rankin for the link.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Reports Bob Barr May Seek Libertarian Presidential Nomination

March 27th, 2008

The March 26 Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this article about Bob Barr’s possibly becoming a candidate for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson Calls for Election Reforms

March 27th, 2008

On March 27, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) addressed the Florida State Senate. He chose to use his speech to advocate for several election law changes. Concerning the presidential primary process, he proposed a national agreement for rotating regional primaries. He also again advocated that the Democratic National Committee agree to seat half of Florida’s delegation.

Concerning the electoral college, he seemed to endorse the National Popular Vote Plan for ending the possibility that the person who places 2nd in the national popular vote could still be declared the winner.

He also advocated no-excuse absentee voting, mail voting, and experimentation with internet voting.

Missouri Bill to Impose March Petition Deadline on Independent Candidates Has Senate Hearing March 31

March 27th, 2008

The Missouri Senate Committee on Finance, Governmental Organization & Elections, will hold a hearing on HB 1310 on Monday, March 31. HB 1310 moves the independent candidate petition deadline for all office from late July to March. The bill has already passed the House.

The staff of the Senate Committee knows that in 1976, a 3-judge U.S. District Court in Missouri ruled that state’s old April petition deadline unconstitutional. The staff also knows that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Anderson v Celebrezze in 1983 that March 20 is too early for independent presidential petition deadlines. Nevertheless, anyone reading this who can attend the hearing, should do so, to testify against the bill.

Popular Vote for Dem, Rep Presidential Primary Candidates

March 26th, 2008

29 states and the District of Columbia have held presidential primaries so far this year. From official sources, these are the national totals (this just includes primaries, not caucuses):

Democrats: Hillary Clinton 13,920,268; Barack Obama 13,855,412; John Edwards 957,712; Bill Richardson 104,303; Dennis Kucinich 102,241; Joe Biden 81,091; Chris Dodd 35,092; Mike Gravel 23,872; other 640,198. The bulk of the “other” is the uncommitted slate in Michigan. The vote for that was huge, since Barack Obama and John Edwards weren’t on the Michigan Democratic ballot.

Republicans: John McCain 7,613,865; Mitt Romney 4,487,320; Mike Huckabee 3,955,006; Ron Paul 803,825; Rudy Giuliani 584,626; Fred Thompson 272,583; Alan Keyes 40,855; Duncan Hunter 37,580; other 69,137.

New Jersey Adds Conservative Party to Voter Registration Form

March 26th, 2008

In 2001, a New Jersey State Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to let voters register as members of the qualified parties, but not to let them register into unqualified parties that regularly place candidates on the ballot.

As a result of that lawsuit, New Jersey added the five parties that brought that lawsuit to the voter registration form. They were the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Natural Law, and Reform Parties.

In 2006 the Conservative Party of New Jersey sued to also get on the voter registration form. The state did not contest the lawsuit, and finally this month added that party to the form.

If the state were rational, it would either pass a law, or some regulations, setting forth objective criteria for a party to be placed on the form. However, seven years after the initial court decision, New Jersey still has no such law or regulations. This leaves the state open to future potential lawsuits by parties such as the Socialist Party, which also regularly place nominees on the ballot.

The Conservative Party of New Jersey holds its statewide convention on April 5 in Manalapan (in Monmouth County), and expects to nominate some candidates for Congress and perhaps local partisan office.

Michigan Minor Parties Win Federal Lawsuit on Access to Voter List

March 26th, 2008

On March 26, the Michigan Green, Libertarian and Reform Parties won their lawsuit against a state law that controls distribution of the list of presidential primary voters. The case is Green Party of Michigan v Land, no. 2:08-cv-10149. The law says the list of voters who vote in the Republican presidential primary and the Democratic presidential primary should be given to both those parties, but no one else. Here is the decision.

Back in 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court had summarily affirmed a 3-judge U.S. District Court ruling from New York that said much the same thing. It was called Socialist Workers Party v Rockefeller, and it said if a state gives the list of registered voters to the qualified parties, it must also give it to the unqualified parties that are trying to get on the ballot.

Mike Gravel to Run for Libertarian Party Nomination

March 26th, 2008

Mike Gravel’s campaign announced today that we would seek the Libertarian Party nomination for President.

This comes one day after Gravel announced that he is joining the LP.

Hearing March 26 in Michigan Minor Party Challenge to Voter List Distribution

March 26th, 2008

A U.S. District Court in Detroit, Michigan will hear Green Party of Michigan v Land, at 2 pm, on Wednesday, March 26. This is the case that challenges a Michigan law that the list of presidential primary voters should be given to the Democratic and Republican Parties, and no other parties. It is case 2:08-cv-10149 and is in courtroom 226, before Judge Nancy Edmunds, a Bush Sr. appointee.

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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 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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