Socialist Equality Party Takes Steps to Receive Votes for President

October 29th, 2008

In September, the Socialist Equality Party announced that it is running Jerry White for president, and Bill Van Auken for vice-president. The Socialist Equality Party, and its predecessor organization, the Workers League, placed a presidential candidate on the ballot in some states in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2004. However, the party took no steps to get on the ballot in any state in 2008, and it seemed the 2008 campaign was purely symbolic. Now, however, the ticket has filed for write-in status in New York state, so it will get some recorded votes.



Arkansas Democrat Gazette Endorses a Green for Legislature

October 29th, 2008

On October 29, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette endorsed Richard Carroll for the State House, district 39. Carroll is the Green Party nominee. Here is the editorial.

Gonzalez-Root-Castle Debate Announced

October 28th, 2008

Vice-presidential candidates Wayne A. Root (Libertarian), Matt Gonzalez (independent, paired with Ralph Nader) and Darrell Castle, have agreed to debate each other in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, November 2. Rosa Clemente of the Green Party is also invited, but she hasn’t yet said whether she will accept. The debate will be at the Marietta Tiberti Grand Hall, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas.

Pew 4-Candidate Presidential Poll

October 28th, 2008

The Pew Research Center released a 4-candidate presidential poll on October 28. Among registered voters, the results are: Obama 52%, McCain 36%, Nader 3%, Barr 1%, other and undecided 8%.

Among the 15% of respondents who say they have already voted, the only results given are Obama 53%, McCain 34%. That leaves 13% unaccounted for, and they couldn’t be “undecided”, since they already voted. See here for all the results.

Constitution Party Has a Different Vice-Presidential Candidate in Kentucky

October 28th, 2008

The Constitution Party national ticket is Chuck Baldwin for president and Darrell Castle for vice-president. In Kentucky, however, the ballot lists someone else for vice-president, Robert E. Thornsberry. The reason for this is that when the Constitution Party filed its petition in Kentucky, it realized that it needed a signed declaration of candidacy from whomever it wanted on the ballot for vice-president. Since the papers were being filed on the deadline, and it was too late for Castle to sign such a document, the party made a quick pragmatic decision to have Thornsberry (a party activist) sign up for vice-president instead, since he was present at the filing. Kentucky petitions don’t list vice-presidential candidates, so at that moment the party was free to choose anyone.

Vermont Gubernatorial Debate: Republican a No-Show

October 28th, 2008

A Vermont gubernatorial debate was held in Burlington on the evening of October 27. Republican incumbent Governor Jim Douglas surprised everyone by not showing up. The debate went on without him. Participants were Anthony Pollina (independent, endorsed by the Progressive Party), Gaye Symington (Democratic nominee) and Peter Diamondstone (Liberty Union nominee). There are three other candidates on the ballot, all independents, who were not invited. See this article for more details about Douglas’s non-appearance.

Guam Presidential Ballot

October 27th, 2008

Guam is the only U.S. possession that votes for president in the general election. Since Guam has no electoral votes, the presidential vote might be termed a “beauty contest”. This year, the Guam presidential ballot only lists Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. In 2004, there were four choices. The same three parties, and independent Ralph Nader, appeared in 2004.

Since Guam is on the early side of the International Date Line, the Guam votes are known by Tuesday morning in the United States proper. However, even though Guam has been holding a presidential vote in November ever since 1980, the U.S. news media never report the vote on Tuesday, election day, even though they could report it.

23 Presidential Candidates Are on Ballot in at Least One State

October 27th, 2008

This year, 23 presidential candidates are on the ballot in at least one state. That is the highest in U.S. history except for 1992, when there were also 23. Generally there are more such candidates in periods of great public unhappiness.

Here is a list, with the predominant party label for each, and the percentage of the voters that will see their names on the ballot:

Barack Obama, Democratic, 100.0%
John McCain, Republican, 100.0%
Bob Barr, Libertarian, 94.5%
Ralph Nader, independent, 85.2%
Cynthia McKinney, Green, 70.5%
Chuck Baldwin, Constitution, 59.8%
Gloria La Riva, Socialism and Liberation, 26.8%
Roger Calero or his stand-in James Harris, Socialist Workers, 25.0%
Brian Moore, Socialist, 21.5%
Alan Keyes, America’s Independent Party, 18.1%
Charles Jay, Boston Tea, 10.0%
Gene Amondson, Prohibition, 9.6%
Thomas Robert Stevens, Objectivist, 8.0%
Richard Duncan, independent, 4.6%
John Joseph Polachek, New, 4.3%
Jeffrey Boss, Vote Here, 3.0%
Jeffrey Wamboldt, We the People, 2.5%
Ron Paul, Taxpayers/Constitution, 2.0%
Jonathan E. Allen, HeartQuake ’08, 1.7%
Bradford Lyttle, U.S. Pacifist, 1.7%
Frank McEnulty, unaffiliated, 1.7%
Ted Weill, Reform, .9%
George Phillies, Libertarian, .6%

Arkansas Supreme Court Won’t Put Dwayne Dobbins on Ballot

October 27th, 2008

On October 27, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Dwayne Dobbins should not be on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee for state rep, district. Dobbins v Arkansas Democratic Party, 08-1225. The Court did not reach the merits, but said he had waited too long to complaint, and that he should have objected within 20 days after the party ruled against him. He filed his lawsuit on October 10. Here is the 5-page decision.

This news means that the Green Party nominee, Richard Carroll, is the only name on the ballot, although two write-in candidates are running against him.

Alameda County Republican Chair Tries to Invalidate Election Results for Party Office on Ballot Access Grounds

October 27th, 2008

California election law requires candidates for partisan public office, or for party office, to have been registered members of their own party for at least three months, before they file in their own party’s primary. Also they must not have been a member of any other qualified party for the preceding year.

In this year’s June primary for party office, some candidates for Republican County Central Committee were placed on the ballot, even though they did not meet the prior affiliation requirement. They were elected. Now, the chair of the Alameda County Republican Central Committee is trying to get them removed. The case was filed July 25, 2008 and is Cummings v Stanley, Alameda County Superior Court, no. 08-400144. Here is a San Francisco Chronicle story about the case. A hearing will be held November 12.

Generally, when candidates who were elected were then charged with having been placed on the ballot improperly, courts hold that the matter is moot. On the other hand, there have been instances when an initiative passed, and was then held to have been placed on the ballot improperly, and sometimes courts have then invalidated the initiative.

 

 

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.