Oregon Green Party Nominates Walt Brown for Attorney General

August 28th, 2008

The Green Party of Oregon (whose name is the Pacific Green Party) has nominated Walt Brown as its nominee for Attorney General. Brown was the Socialist Party presidential candidate in 2004. Also he is a former Democratic State Senator from Oregon.



Illinois Independent US House Candidates Appeals to 7th Circuit

August 28th, 2008

On August 28, Allan Stevo asked the 7th circuit to hear his appeal. He is an independent candidate for U.S. House. A U.S. District Court had upheld the law he had challenged, requiring him to get 5% of the last vote cast on his petition (approximately 10,000 signatures) even though state law would only have required exactly 5,000 signatures if he had been running in 2002 or 2012. The case is Stevo v Keith.

Obama Nomination Occurs on Lyndon Johnson’s 100th Birthday

August 28th, 2008

On August 27, 2008, the Democratic Party became the first major party to nominate a black presidential candidate. August 27, 2008 was also the 100th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson’s birth. As Robert A. Caro’s op-ed in the New York Times of August 28 says, Barack Obama’s nomination would not have been possible without Lyndon Johnson, who pushed Congress to create the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Caro says, “As I watch Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention tonight, I will be remembering another speech…That speech was President Lyndon Johnson’s address to Congress in 1965 announcing that he was about to have introduced a voting rights act, and in some respects Mr. Obama’s candidacy is the climax – at least thus far – of a movement based not only on the sacrifices and heroism of the Rev. Dr. King and generations of black fighters for civil rights but also on the political genius of Lyndon Johnson.”

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 made it possible for tens of millions of Americans to register and vote. Yes, it trampled on states’ rights; it told certain states that they could not change any election laws relating to voting and candidacy, unless the U.S. Justice Department approved those changes. But the actions of state legislatures in the deep South, constantly thinking up new barriers to voter registration as soon as old laws had been struck down, left little choice, other than a constitutional amendment federalizing election administration. The greatest achievement toward free elections taken by Congress in the 20th century (short of passing certain constitutional amendments) was passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Justice Department has consistently interpreted the Voting Rights Act to not apply to state laws that disenfranchise minor party and independent voters. Congress needs to pass a new Voting Rights Act.

Howard Lydick Dies

August 28th, 2008

On August 5, 2008, Howard Lydick died. He had been nominated for vice-president at the 2007 Prohibition Party national convention held by the Earl Dodge faction of that party. Lydick lived in Richardson, Texas, and had also been the 2004 vice-presidential nominee of the Earl Dodge faction of the Prohibition Party.

Earl Dodge, the presidential candidate of his faction of the Prohibition Party for 2008, had also died, in November 2007. After Dodge died, Lydick had quietly worked to heal the breach between the two factions of the Prohibition Party. His death in August 2008 was not a complete surprise, since he had been seriously ill for several weeks before his death.

Barr’s West Virginia Lawsuit Hearing Lasts Over Five Hours

August 27th, 2008

On August 27, a federal court in Charleston, West Virginia, heard five and one-half hours of testimony about the constitutionality of the state’s August 1 petition deadline for minor party and independent presidential candidates. The case is Barr v Ireland. The hearing went from 1:30 pm to 7 pm. On August 28, there will be an additional telephone conference call hearing in the case. The judge indicated he will decide by August 29.

Cincinnati Asks Voters to Decide Whether to Use Single Transferable Vote for City Council

August 27th, 2008

An initiative, asking the voters of Cincinnati if they wish to use the Single Transferable Vote system for electing city council members, will be on the November 2008 ballot. The initiative sponsors were told on August 27 that they have enough valid signatures. “Single Transferable Vote” is the term for Instant-Runoff Voting when multiple winners are to be elected. For some reason, the newspapers in Cincinnati call it “Proportional Representation.”

Ohio Green Party Files Ballot Access Lawsuit

August 27th, 2008

On August 27, the Ohio Green Party filed its lawsuit get on the ballot. McKinney v Brunner, U.S. District Court, 2:08-cv-819. As regular readers of this blog know, the federal courts in Ohio earlier put the Libertarian Party and the Socialist Party on the Ohio ballot, since each party showed it has some support, and the state has no valid law in place regulating which parties should be on the ballot.

Another Federal Court Challenge to Montana Deadline Filed

August 27th, 2008

On August 27, Patty Lovaas filed a federal lawsuit, challenging Montana’s March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates. The case is Lovaas v Johnson, Missoula, 9:08-cv-127. The case was assigned to Judge Donald Molloy, a Clinton appointee. Lovaas is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Montana.

The U.S. District Court in Butte has been asked to set a hearing date to consider injunctive relief against that deadline, on behalf of another independent candidate for U.S. Senate, Steve Kelly. That case, Kelly v Johnson, was filed in April 2008.

Pennsylvania Constitution Party Submits More Signatures, Will Sue to Overturn Deadline

August 27th, 2008

On August 26, the Constitution Party submitted another 8,000 signatures, to supplement the 22,000 they submitted on the legal deadline, August 1. Not surprisingly, the Pennsylvania Elections Department rejected the additional signatures. The requirement is 24,666 signatures.

The Constitution Party will sue to overturn the August 1 deadline, on two grounds: (1) it is too early and violates Anderson v Celebrezze; (2) the August 1 deadline was never passed or created by the Pennsylvania state legislature. It was created in 1984 in an effort by the Secretary of State to settle two lawsuits, filed by the Libertarian Party and the Communist Party. The statutory deadline is in May, but the state in the 1984 agreement promised to accept petitions up until August 1. Under the federal court ruling in Ohio last month, ballot access laws for president are not valid unless they were passed by a state legislature. Article II of the U.S. Constitution says, “Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.”

Texas Write-in Deadline for President Passes

August 27th, 2008

Texas has an August 26 deadline for declared write-ins to file to have their write-ins counted. Presidential candidates meeting the deadline are: Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore, Alan Keyes, Jonathan Allen, and Thaddeus Hill.

Although Chuck Baldwin appears not to have filed, it is difficult to imagine how Texas could refuse his late filing, given that the Republican and Democratic Parties failed to meet the parallel deadline for ballot-listed parties to certify their presidential and vice-presidential nominees. UPDATE: the Texas Constitution Party did file the write-in documents and can prove it.

« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »

 

  

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.

 

Search Ballot Access News

Loading

 
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:

2012:

2011:

2010:

2009:

2008:

2007:

2006:

2005:

2004:

2003:

2002:

2001:

2000:

1999:

1998:

1997:

1996:

1995:

1994:

1993:

1992:

1991:

1990:

1989:

1988:

1987:
   

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.