Kentucky Secretary of State Gives Libertarians a Choice for U.S. Senate

July 28th, 2008

The Kentucky Libertarian Party has been embarassed by the recent comments of its U.S. Senate candidate, Sonny Landham. He has disparaged Arab people. Yet he is listed on the party’s statewide petition (for U.S. Senate), along with the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees.

The Kentucky Secretary of State has ruled that if the Kentucky Libertarian Party desires to disassociate itself from Landham, the Secretary of State will accept the petition, and list Landham on the November ballot as an independent, rather than as a Libertarian (assuming the petition has 5,000 valid signatures, of course). This decision respects the will of the voters who signed a petition for Landham, and it also preserves the associational rights of the Libertarian Party. The party will decide what to do at a meeting on the evening of July 28.



Maine Supreme Court Removes Herb Hoffman from Ballot

July 28th, 2008

On July 28, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously removed Herb Hoffman from the November ballot. He is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate. Maine will now be one of eight states with no one on the ballot for U.S. Senate except for the Republican and Democratic nominees.

Hoffman needed 4,000 signatures. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that all the signatures on sheets circulated by Hoffman himself should be invalidated, leaving him with only 3,929 valid signatures. It was known that three particular signers had signed the petitions (that were witnessed by Hoffman himself) while he was not actually watching the signature-gathering process. The controversy was whether to delete just those three signatures, or whether to invalidate all three entire sheets. The decision does not discuss the philosophy behind the law; it just says that since his statement that he had witnessed all the signatures gathered on those sheets was false, therefore none of his work should be counted. Here is the opinion.

Ten Presidential Nominating Conventions Coming in August and September

July 28th, 2008

At least ten presidential nominating conventions will be held in August and September:

1. The Peace and Freedom Party meets in Sacramento, California, on August 2-3.
2. The Natural Law Party of Michigan meets on August 9.
3. The Independent Party of Delaware meets on August 16.
4. The Independent/Ecology Party formed this year by Ralph Nader meets in Los Angeles on August 16. This party is on the ballot in Hawaii, New Mexico and Florida.
5. The Democratic Party meets in Denver August 25-28.
6. The Independence Party of South Carolina meets on September 6.
7. The Republican Party meets in Minneapolis, September 1-4.
8. The New York Independence Party meets September 21.

It is not known when the New York Conservative Party, or the Oregon Independent Party, will meet. America’s Independent Party, the party being organized by Alan Keyes, will hold a national convention, but neither the date nor the location has been chosen. It will probably be in August.

New Mexico Voter Registration Groups Sue New Mexico

July 28th, 2008

On July 24, several groups that conduct voter registration drives filed a lawsuit against New Mexico restrictions. A 2005 New Mexico law made it a crime for someone to fail to turn in a completed registration form within 48 hours after it comes into his or her possession. The 2005 law also limits groups that register voters to only 50 voter registration blank forms. The lawsuit was filed by the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Federation of Women’s Clubs Overseas, New Mexico Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, and the Southwest Organizing Project. The case is American Assn. of People with Disablilities v Herrera, state court, Bernalillo County, cv 2008-07673.

Usually, laws that inhibit voter registration groups are passed by Republican state legislatures. The New Mexico law is unusual because it was passed by a Democratic-controlled state legislature, and signed by a Democratic Governor, Bill Richardson.

Presidential Poll Released July 28

July 28th, 2008

A presidential poll released July 28, by the Economist/YouGov/Polimetrix, shows: Obama 41%, McCain 38%, other 5%, won’t vote 2%, undecided 14%. See here for more details. The vote is broken down by age category. The “other” vote is highest for the age group 18-29.

Alabama Almost Certain to be Only State With No Minor Party or Independent Candidates for Any Federal or State Office Other than President

July 28th, 2008

Alabama is almost certain to be the only state with no independent or minor party candidates on the ballot this year, for any federal or state office other than president. On July 18, an independent candidate for Governor of North Dakota began circulating his petition. North Dakota had been the only other state in which it was possible that there would be no minor party or independent candidates, but it now seems very likely that North Dakota will have DuWayne Hendrickson on the ballot as an independent for Governor, along with his running mate, Dana Brandenberg, for Lieutenant Governor. They only need 1,000 signatures, and the signatures are not due until September 5. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the news about Hendrickson.

Andy Shugart is expected to file a lawsuit on July 30 against the number of signatures needed for an independent candidate to get on the ballot for U.S. House from Alabama’s 6th district. Alabama is the only state which requires an independent candidate for U.S. House to obtain more signatures than an independent candidate for president. In 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Illinois State Board of Elections v Socialist Workers Party that it is unconstitutional for a state to require more signatures for a candidate running for an office that covers just part of the state, than that same state requires for an independent candidate running for statewide office. Alabama requires 5,000 signatures for an independent presidential candidate, but requires an independent in the 6th district to submit 6,155 signatures.

Independent Wisconsin Legislator Faces Hostility from His Former Party

July 27th, 2008

On July 8, as had been previously noted, Wisconsin Assemblyman Jeff Wood said that he is leaving the Republican Party and is running for re-election as an independent candidate. Because he didn’t reveal this news until just before the primary filing deadine, no one else filed a petition to be on the Republican primary ballot for the 67th Assembly district. Also, no one filed for that office in any other party’s primary either (a Libertarian, Andrew McKenzie, tried to get himself on the Libertarian primary ballot for that seat, but McKenzie failed to get enough valid signatures).

On July 9, the chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, Reince Priebus, wrote a letter to Assemblyman Wood and warned him not to destroy the petitions that Wood had circulated earlier in the year to get himself on the Republican primary ballot. Wood, of course, had not submitted these signatures, since he had changed his mind and had petitioned instead as an independent. Priebus claimed that anyone who had signed Wood’s Republican petition could not validly sign Wood’s independent candidate petition. However, Priebus dropped that claim two days later, and no formal challenge was made to Wood’s independent candidate petition.

But Priebus said that the Republican Party will find someone to run as a write-in in the Republican primary on September 9. Wisconsin election law permits write-ins in partisan primaries, but no one can be nominated unless he or she receives a number of write-ins equal to 5% of that party’s last general election vote for Governor. Any Republican who runs as a write-in will need 485 votes, not an easy task, since Wisconsin Assembly districts typically have about 25,000 votes cast even in the general election, and a small number in the primary.

Bloomberg Speech to Minnesota Independence Party Breakfast

July 27th, 2008

On July 25, New York city Mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke at a fund-raising breakfast for the Minnesota Independence party. Approximately 100 people each paid $100 to hear him speak; that money will benefit the Minnesota party. In his talk, Bloomberg advocated that taxpayers should not be required to pay for partisan primaries, if those primaries are closed to independent voters. He also praised both Barack Obama and John McCain, but declined to endorse either one. News reports before the breakfast had speculated that he might endorse McCain, but those predictions were erroneous.

Massachusetts Senate Likely to Vote On National Popular Vote Bill on Tuesday, July 29

July 27th, 2008

The Massachusetts Senate is expected to vote on HB 678 on Tuesday, July 29. That is the National Popular Vote bill, which has already passed the House.

Many Ballot Access Lawsuits About to be Filed

July 26th, 2008

The week of July 28-August 1 will probably see several ballot access lawsuits filed. Most likely states are Alabama, California, and Illinois, with possibilities also in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

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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.