Maine Write-In Bill Dies

March 29th, 2009

The bill to improve Maine procedures for write-in candidates, LD 547, has not advanced, and it is now too late for it to pass. The bill would have required that the names of declared write-in candidates be posted at polling places, and also would have deleted the requirement that the voter write in not only the name of the write-in candidate, but the candidate’s town or city.



Oklahoma Bill to Ease Initiative Procedure Advances

March 29th, 2009

On March 26, the Oklahoma House Rules Committee passed SB 852, which makes it somewhat easier for an initiative to get on the ballot.

Congressional Public Funding Bill Delayed

March 27th, 2009

Three U.S. Senators had said earlier this week that they would introduce a bill for public funding of congressional campaigns on Thursday, March 26. However, the bill has been delayed, and will probably be introduced next week. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the news.

Former Republican U.S. Senator May Run as Independent for Rhode Island Governor

March 27th, 2009

Former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, who served as a Republican until he was defeated for re-election in 2006, is said to be planning to run for Governor as an independent in 2010. The news was first reported on TV station WRNI. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the news.

Mayor Bloomberg Settles Differences with N.Y. City Independence Party

March 27th, 2009

This New York Times story says that Mayor Bloomberg is now assured of receiving the nomination of the Independence Party of New York city. Those leaders, Fred Newman, Jackie Salit, and Lenora Fulani, had originally been opposed to re-nominating Bloomberg in this year’s mayoral primary, because those leaders had been opposed to overturning city term limits. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

Utah Bill, Making Two Minor Ballot Access Improvements, is Signed Into Law

March 26th, 2009

On March 24, Utah SB 27 was signed into law. Among other things, it makes modest improvements to ballot access. It deletes the requirement that independent presidential candidates must file in person. No other state had had such a law. The new law allows the candidate to choose someone else to file for him or her. In 2008, Gloria La Riva had complained about having to buy an expensive plane ticket just so that her petition and paperwork could be filed by her personally.

Also, the law now has a statutory deadline for independent presidential candidates to file, August 15. The old petition deadline for independent presidential candidates had been accidentally repealed in 1994. This had lead to confusion, since many people believed that the deadline was in March (which is the petition deadline for independent candidates for office other than president). The state had been permitting such independent presidential petitions to be filed as late as September 1, but it is always good to have such deadlines written into the statutes themselves.

Minnesota Bills for Local Instant Runoff Voting

March 26th, 2009

Bills have been introduced in both houses of the Minnesota legislature to establish guidelines for use of Instant Runoff Voting by cities and other governmental units that may wish to use IRV to elect their own officers. They are SF 1820 and HF 2052.

Illinois Bills for a Secret Choice of Party Primary Advance

March 26th, 2009

On March 12, Illinois bills in both houses of the legislature passed out of committee. They would let voters decide in the secrecy of the voting booth which party’s primary ballot to choose. That idea, if passed, would make a profound change in Illinois election procedures. Currently, elections officials make a record of which party’s primary ballot a voter chooses, and that permits the state to impose some restrictions on that voter’s later political activity, such as running for office in another party’s primary. The bills are SB 1666 and HB 825. Thanks to Steve Rankin for the news.

Link to Transcript of Oral Argument in US Supreme Court Case Over “Hillary: the Movie”

March 25th, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court held oral argument on March 24 in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, the case over the intersection between federal campaign laws and a movie that was never shown but which was critical of Hillary Clinton as a potential president. Here is the link to the oral argument.

Hawaii County Republican Party Resolves for a Semi-Closed Primary

March 25th, 2009

On March 21 the Hawaii County Republican Party, meeting in convention, resolved in favor of a semi-closed primary for the state party. The resolution also asks the state party to file a lawsuit to get that type of primary. See this article. Hawaii County is the county composed of Hawaii Island, and should not be confused with the far more populous county consisting of Oahu Island.

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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.