New Jersey Supreme Court Gives Exit Pollsters a Rare Legal Defeat

September 30th, 2009

On September 30, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that no one, not even exit pollsters, should be allowed to approach voters (whether entering or leaving) within 100 feet of a polling place, on election day. The case is In Re: Attorney General’s Directive on Exit Polling, no. A-47. Here is a link to the decision.

Exit polling companies have won many lawsuits in many states, making it possible for exit pollsters to station themselves in close proximity to polling places. Exit pollsters ask voters who are leaving the polling place to fill out a one-page or two-page questionaire, and that is how TV stations can predict the results of elections so quickly. Exit polling also makes it possible for social scientists to know how demographic groups voted.



New York Daily News Carries Pro-IRV Op-Ed

September 30th, 2009

The September 29 New York Daily News has this op-ed, advocating that New York city use Instant Runoff Voting instead of old-fashioned run-offs. The author of the op-ed is Lynn Serpe, a Green Party nominee for city council this year. Thanks to GreenPartyWatch for the link.

Tulsa World Story on Exclusion of Independent Candidate from Tulsa Mayoral Debates

September 30th, 2009

The September 30 issue of Tulsa World has this story, focusing on Mark Perkins’ exclusion from a radio debate meant for candidates for Mayor of Tulsa. The election is on November 3, 2009. Tulsa is the only city in Oklahoma that uses partisan elections to choose city officials. The sponsors of the recent debate only included the Democratic and Republican nominees. Mark Perkins is also on the ballot, as an independent candidate.

Libertarians File Brief in New Hampshire Case on Presidential Stand-Ins

September 30th, 2009

On September 29, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire filed this 15-page brief in LP of NH v Gardner, 08-cv-367. The case had been filed in 2008 to challenge the refusal of the Secretary of State to permit any unqualified party from using a stand-in presidential candidate on its petitions. This brief is in opposition to the state’s brief, asking that the lawsuit be dismissed. The state argues that if the New Hampshire Libertarian Party wanted the flexibility to get on the ballot before it had chosen its presidential candidate, the party should have done the 3% petition for party status. However, that procedure, which has existed since 1996 in New Hampshire, is so burdensome, it has only been used once (by the Libertarians in 2000). In 2008 it would have required 12,524 signatures. By contrast, in 2000, the one instance at it was used, it required 9,827 signatures. UPDATE: here is the Declaration, attached to the brief, that gives the history of using stand-in presidential candidates on petitions.

Petitioning in New Hampshire is more difficult than in other states. New Hampshire is the only state in which only one signer is permitted on each petition sheet. Partly as a result, the Green Party has never even completed the 3,000-signature statewide independent petition for its presidential candidate, except in 2000. Also the Constitution Party did not complete the 3,000-signature petition for its presidential candidate in either 2004 nor 2008.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Story on Rick Nagin

September 30th, 2009

The September 28 issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has this interesting story about Rick Nagin, who is in a run-off for one of Cleveland’s city council seats. The election is non-partisan, but the public and the press are still fascinated by the fact that this particular council race is between a member of the Communist Party (Nagin) and Brian Cummins, who is a member of both the Democratic and Green Parties. Nagin does not disavow the organization, but says that he wishes the party had another name, because “Communist” has become such an emotionally charged word. Thanks to Dave Lubecky for the link.

Ohio Court Hearing on Constitutionality of Age Limit to Run for City Office

September 30th, 2009

On September 29, a U.S. District Court in Akron, Ohio, heard oral arguments in McClafferty v Portage County Board of Elections. This is the case over the constitutionality of a city ordinance that says elected city office-holders must be at least 23 years of age. Here is a description of the hearing. There is no decision yet, but one is expected very soon, as the city holds its election in November 2009. Thanks to Carter Momberger for the link.

New Poll for New Jersey Gubernatorial Race Puts Independent at 12%

September 30th, 2009

A Quinnipiac Poll released on September 30 shows these results for the New Jersey gubernatorial race: Chris Christie (Rep.) 43%, Jon Corzine (Dem.) 39%, Chris Daggett (indp.) 12%, undecided or other, 6%. See here.

Congressional Bills on Puerto Rico, and Public Funding, Gain Co-Sponsors

September 29th, 2009

In the last nine days, bills in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide for public funding of congressional candidates, and to provide for a plebescite on the political future of Puerto Rico, have continued gaining co-sponsors. HB 2499, the Puerto Rico bill, now has 170 co-sponsors, five more than it had on September 20. HR 1826, public funding, now has 90 co-sponsors, four more than it had back on September 20.

Pennsylvania Special Election Results, State Senate

September 29th, 2009

On September 29, Pennsylvania held a special election to fill the vacant State Senate seat in the 24th district. The preliminary vote: Republican Bob Mensch 66.2%; Democrat Anne Scheuring 30.3%; Libertarian Barbara Steever 3.5%.

Last time this seat was up for election, in 2006, the vote had been: Republican 56.5%, Democratic 43.5%.

South Carolina Green Party Files Strong Brief in 4th Circuit

September 29th, 2009

On September 28, the South Carolina Green Party filed this brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th circuit. The case is South Carolina Green Party v South Carolina State Election Commission, 09-1915. The state’s brief is due on October 30.

The issue is whether a state can provide that if a candidate seeks the nomination of two parties, wins the first nomination, but then loses the fight for the second party’s nomination, whether the state can then nullify the first party’s nomination and leave it without any nominee for that particular office. This issue has not come up before in any other state. Most states don’t permit fusion. And among the states that do permit it, none of the other fusion states have ever had a law like the South Carolina law at issue.

« Previous 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.