Referendum Proponents Ask Federal Court to Protect Secrecy of Petition Signers

July 29th, 2009

On July 28, proponents of a Referendum in Washington state asked a U.S. District Court to protect the privacy of the people who signed their petition. The case is Protect Marriage Washington v Reed, 3:09-cv-0546. The case was assigned to Judge Benjamin Settle, a Bush Jr. appointee. On July 29, Judge Settle issued a Temporary Restraining Order, preventing the names from being made public until the case is decided. See this story.

There has been few precedents on whether the names and addresses of people who sign petitions should be considered a public record. Some states provide by law that the records are not public, but most states do not. The petition in this case is to prevent a new law from going into effect, to provide for civil unions for same-sex couples. No one knows yet if the petition has enough valid signatures. Proponents submitted 138,500 signatures. They need 120,577 valid signatures, so it seems somewhat likely the petition will fall short.



Amici Briefs Begin to be Filed in U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United Case

July 29th, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court is holding a rare summer hearing in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 08-205, on September 9. Amicus curiae briefs on both sides are due July 31. Already at least two have been filed, both opposed to the McCain-Feingold law.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a brief, urging that the Court continue to protect corporations that are news media. The brief can be seen at the organization’s webpage, but there is no direct link to the brief itself. The webpage is www.rcfp.org.

Seven former Chairmen of the FEC filed a brief, urging the Court to strike down part of the McCain-Feingold law, partly on the grounds that the law has become so excessively complicated that it inhibits the free exercise of free speech. The brief is on the web page of the James Madison Center at www.jamesmadisoncenter.org. Scroll down in the left-hand column until coming to “Citizens United’s McCain-Feingold Challenge.”

Clerk of U.S. House Publishes 2008 Election Returns

July 29th, 2009

Ever since 1920, the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives has published a booklet entitled “Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election” after each presidential election. The Clerk has just published the 2008 booklet. It is 77 pages long and can be seen here.

This booklet uses arbitrary standards. For example, in the presidential table at the rear of the book, the “Independent” column contains the Ralph Nader vote, and Nader is properly credited with votes from every state but Oklahoma (because Oklahoma bans write-ins). This is true, even though Nader had different ballot labels in different states. In most states it was “independent” but in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah, it was something else. But, the “Independent” column collected all of Nader’s votes, regardless of label.

However, in the next-door column, the “Libertarian” column does not include any votes for Bob Barr from Tennessee. Instead, the authors of the table put the Tennessee Barr vote in the “Other” column, because Barr’s ballot label in Tennessee was “independent.” Also the chart omits Barr’s Maine write-in votes, even though the Secretary of State tallied them.

The book is worthwhile, however, even with its faults. Another table at the back includes the nationwide vote for each political party for each House of Congress. The table for U.S. House shows that Libertarians running for U.S. House, under their own party label (as opposed to Libertarians who were running with an “independent” label) polled 1,083,096 votes. The Libertarian Party has polled over 1,000,000 votes for U.S. House four times: 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008. It is the only party, besides the Democratic and Republican Parties, that has polled over 1,000,000 votes for U.S. House since 1912, when the Progressive Party did so. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news about the publication of the booklet.

Election Law Bills in Congress Continue Gaining Co-Sponsors

July 29th, 2009

During the last week, several interesting election law bills have continued to gain co-sponsors.

HR 1826, public funding for Congressional candidates, has gained 6 co-sponsors in the last 7 days, and now has 70. It has a hearing on July 30. UPDATE: see this Maine newspaper story about the upcoming hearing.

HR 3025, for bipartisan commissions to draw U.S. House districts, gained one co-sponsor in the last 7 days, and now has 21.

HR 2894, to outlaw certain kinds of vote-counting machines, gained one co-sponsor in the last 7 days, and now has 83.

HR 2499, for a popular vote on the future political status of Puerto Rico, gained two co-sponsors in the last 7 days, and now has 163.

HR 1503, to provide that presidential candidates must file a copy of their birth certificate with the Federal Election Commission, gained one co-sponsor in the last 7 days (Representative Louis Gohmert of Texas) and now has 10.

North Carolina Board of Elections Will Ask Legislature for Tax Check-Off Liberalization

July 29th, 2009

On July 29, Gary Bartlett, Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said he will ask the state legislature to change the law on which parties are listed on the state income tax form. Current law says state income taxpayers can use their tax form to send a small donation to any qualified party that has registration of at least 1% of the statewide total. The proposed change would delete the 1% registration requirement, so that if the change were made, any qualified party would be listed.

Currently, among the 13 states that list qualified parties on their tax forms, North Carolina and Ohio are the only states that don’t list all the qualified parties. Ohio only lists parties that polled 20% of the vote in the last election. Also Ohio doesn’t give the taxpayer the choice of which party to help, but splits the money equally between the Democrats and Republicans.

Congressional Hearing on Public Funding of Congressional Campaigns

July 28th, 2009

On July 30, at 11 a.m., the U.S. House Committee on Administration will hold a hearing on public funding of Congressional campaigns, and HR 1826, a bill to implement such an idea. See this list of witnesses. HR 1826 now has 64 co-sponsors. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for this news.

U.S. Court of Appeals Won’t Re-Hear Nader Case Against Democratic National Committee

July 28th, 2009

On July 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, refused to rehear Nader v Democratic National Committee, the case filed in 2007 over the Democratic Party’s behavior in 2004. That Court had said Nader should have filed the case a few months earlier than he did, because of the Statute of Limitations. The decision had come out June 9, 2009.

New York City Board of Elections Puts Public Advocate Candidate Back on Democratic Primary Ballot

July 28th, 2009

On July 28, the New York City Board of Elections voted 9-0, with one abstention, to put Bill De Blasio back on the Democratic Party primary ballot as a candidate for Public Advocate. See this Daily News story.

Ohio Recall Petition Invalidated Because of Missing Sentence

July 28th, 2009

On July 27, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a recall petition against the Mayor of Toledo is invalid because the petition sheets failed to carry these words: “Whoever Commits Election Falsification is Guilty of a Felony of the 5th Degree.”

The Toledo City Charter has provisions for recalls, and does not mention that recall petitions need this sentence. But the state election law does include it. The Court ruled that recall petitions need to follow both state election law and local laws.

The minority on the State Supreme Court would have thrown the case out on procedural grounds, because the Mayor filed his lawsuit directly with the State Supreme Court instead of the lower court. The case is State ex rel Finkbeiner v Lucas Co. Bd. of Elections, 2009-3657. Thanks to Steve Linnabary for this news.

Northern Mariana Islands Creates Gubernatorial Run-off Elections

July 28th, 2009

On July 24, Northern Mariana Islands Governor Benigno Fitial signed House Bill 16-220 into law. It provides that when no one gets as much as 50% for Governor, a run-off will be held. The new law takes effect in time for this November’s gubernatorial election. The election is November 7, 2009 (Saturday).

The bill is a response to the 2005 gubernatorial election, when the Covenant Party’s nominee was elected with only 28.1% of the total vote cast for Governor. An independent candidate placed second with 27.3%, followed by the Republican nominee with 26.6%, and the Democratic nominee with 18.0%.

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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.