Georgia Supreme Court Keeps Democrat on Ballot

October 30th, 2008

On October 30, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Jim Powell, Democratic nominee for one of the statewide Public Service Commissioner races, should remain on the ballot. The Secretary of State, a Republican, had asserted that he does not live in his district, because he has two homes and his homestead exemption was on the house not in the district. But the Court said there are other methods to determine residency.



Albuquerque Newspaper Says Carol Miller May Place Ahead of her Republican Nominee, in Congressional Race

October 30th, 2008

On October 30, the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi carried a column by a political analyst who says independent candidate Carol Miller may place second, ahead of the Republican nominee, in the race for U.S. House, 3rd district. The district is in the northern third of the state; the largest city in the district is Santa Fe. The district is strongly Democratic. Miller has been included in most of the debates and has been endorsed by the daily newspaper in Los Alamos. She is only the second independent candidate for U.S. House in New Mexico history.

New Mexico independent candidates are at a disadvantage because New Mexico has a straight ticket device. A “straight ticket device” enables voters to push one button that automatically casts a vote for all the nominees of one particular party. Voters who use the device often are not even aware of who they are voting for. Independent candidates are never given a device of their own, on the ballot; only parties get them.

Daily Kos 4-Way Presidential Tracking Poll

October 30th, 2008

Daily Kos has a daily tracking poll. The October 30 results are here. For weeks now, Barr and Nader had each been at 2%. However, the October 30 results continue to show Barr at 2%, but Nader down to 1%.

Federalist Society Sponsors On-Line Debate over National Popular Vote Plan

October 30th, 2008

On October 28, the Federalist Society posting this on-line debate over the National Popular Vote Plan, between Tara Ross (who argues for the existing system) and Maryland State Senator Jaime Raskin (who supports the National Popular Vote Plan). Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the link. Ross and most other supporters of the Electoral College as it functions today usually express hostility toward minor parties and independent candidates, and this debate is no exception for her.

The irony is that Electoral College, as it functions today, actually helps minor party and independent presidential candidates. Voters nowadays are generally aware of whether their own state is considered a “swing state”, or whether it is hopelessly “safe” for one of the two major party nominees. These aware voters take that information into consideration when deciding whether to vote for a minor party or independent presidential candidate or not. For instance, on October 28, Noam Chomsky said that since he lives in Massachusetts, he will be voting for Ralph Nader. Chomsky recommended that other voters who live in “safe” states, and who favor single-payer medical insurance, should likewise vote for Nader. If we had a direct popular vote for president, Chomsky would presumably be voting for Obama.

New York State Court Interesting Ruling on Voters who Own Two Homes

October 30th, 2008

On October 23, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division (3rd department) ruled that when voters own two homes, they are free to choose which one to use as their voting residence. Here is the decision, Willkie v Delaware County Board of Elections, no. 504004. Thank to Bill Van Allen for the link.

Georgia Supreme Court Still Hasn’t Ruled on Secretary of State’s Challenge to Ballot Status of Democratic Candidate for Statewide Office

October 30th, 2008

On October 20, the Georgia Supreme Court heard Handel v Powell, in which the Republican Secretary of State argues that Democratic Public Service Commissioner candidate Jim Powell should be removed from the ballot. Ten days have passed and the Court hasn’t issued any order. Here is an article about the controversy.

NAACP Wins Pennsylvania Injunction for Emergency Paper Ballots

October 29th, 2008

On October 29, U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle, a Bush Sr. appointee, issued an injunction, requiring Pennsylvania to furnish emergency paper ballots to any precinct at which at least half the electronic vote-counting machines have broken down. NAACP v Cortes, 08-cv-5048.

The state’s position had been that it would only provide such paper ballots to precincts in which all the machines had ceased to work. The decision says, “Some waiting in line, of course, is inevitable and must be expected. One must always choose between and among a number of candidates for different offices listed on the ballot and often, as in this election, there are questions to be read and considered. All of this takes time. Nonetheless, there can come a point when the burden of standing in a queue ceases to be an inconvenience or annoyance and becomes a constitutional violation because it, in effect, denies a person the right to exercise his or her franchise.” Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for this news.

Nader-Barr-Baldwin Debate Set for October 30 in Cleveland

October 29th, 2008

On October 30, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin will debate each other at the Cleveland (Ohio) City Club, between 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm. The City Club is at 850 Euclid Ave, on the 2nd floor. All three participants have confirmed they will be there. Cynthia McKinney, Barack Obama, and John McCain are also invited.

6th Circuit Strikes Down Ban on Out-of-State Circulators in Ohio

October 29th, 2008

On October 29, the 6th circuit ruled that the U.S. Constitution prohibits Ohio from banning out-of-state circulators. Nader v Blackwell, 07-4350. Here is the decision. The vote is 3-0, although because of various peculiarities about procedures in this case, each judge wrote separately. Here is a Cincinnati newspaper story about the decision. Thanks to Carter Momberger for the link.

This case has its roots in the 2004 election, when Nader was prevented from being on the ballot because four of his most active circulators seemed not to be domiciled in Ohio. Therefore, all of their signatures had been stricken, and Nader fell below the 5,000 minimum. Technically, this case was filed in 2006, not in 2004, but for all practical purposes it should be considered a resolution of a conflict that began in 2004.

Although Brian Moore this year had won in U.S. District Court against Ohio’s residency requirement, that decision actually did not invalidate the ban on out-of-state circulators. The Ohio ban on out-of-state circulators for independent candidates is not stated explicitly in the law. Instead, the Ohio law requires circulators of independent petitions to be registered voters, and since one may not be a registered voter without being an Ohio resident, the twin requirements are linked in the law. Today’s decision explicitly says that even if Ohio were to amend its law and say that only residents may circulate, that would be as unconstitutional as saying only registered voters may circulate. The decision says on page 14, “No case has been put forward in this litigation as to a compelling state interest in permitting unregistered Ohioans to circulate petitions but not unregistered citizens of other states.” Thanks to Theresa Amato for this news.

Brian Moore on Stephen Colbert TV Show

October 29th, 2008

Late Tuesday night, Socialist Party presidential candidate Brian Moore was on the Stephen Colbert show. See this article (written before the interview) from Moore’s home town newspaper in Florida.

Here is the excerpt from Comedy Central:

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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!

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  • 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.
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    "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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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The newsletter is published by and copyright by Richard Winger.