Associated Press Story Suggests Voters are Increasingly Interested in Alternatives to Major Parties

October 31st, 2009

The Associated Press has this recent story, suggesting that we are entering a period in which more voters than usual are interested in looking seriously at voting for a minor party or independent candidate.



New Jersey High School Mock Gubernatorial Vote Gives Socialist 20.1%

October 31st, 2009

Parsippany Hills High School in Morris County, New Jersey, recently held a mock gubernatorial vote. It appears that even though there are 12 candidates on the actual ballot, the school handed out ballots with only the Democratic, Republican and Socialist Party nominees, and independent candidate Chris Daggett. This may be related to the fact that there were high school students willing to act out a mock high school debate for those four particular actual candidates. The student holding himself out as Greg Pason, the actual Socialist Party nominee, said in the high school debate that he would work for free university tuition and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The results: Corzine (Democrat) 121 votes, Christie (Republican) 97 votes, Daggett (independent) 95 votes, Pason (Socialist) 79 votes. Pason’s total was 20.1% of the total vote cast. See this story. Thanks to Darcy Richardson for the link.

Former Nevada Libertarian Party State Chair Shot by Police, is in Critical Condition

October 31st, 2009

On October 30, Jim Duensing, who was chairman of the Nevada Libertarian Party until March, 2009, was shot by a Las Vegas policeman after the police had stopped Duensing for making an illegal turn and some illegal lane changes. According to this newspaper story, he was in a rental car, and he bolted and ran away from the police. He is still alive but is in critical condition. Duensing was also a Libertarian nominee for U.S. House last year.

Republican Nominee in Special N.Y. Congressional Election Suspends Her Campaign

October 31st, 2009

On October 31, the Republican Party nominee in New York’s special U.S. House election, Dede Scozzafava, said she is suspending her campaign. She declined to endorse either of her opponents, the Democratic nominee or the Conservative Party nominee. See this story.

Poll for Special California U.S. House Race Shows “Other” at 6%

October 31st, 2009

On October 30, SurveyUSA released this poll, for the special U.S. House race in California’s 10th district. The poll only asked people to choose the Democratic nominee, the Republican nominee, or “other”. The results: John Garamendi (Dem.) 50%, David Harmer (Rep.) 40%, “Other” 6%. The other ballot-listed nominees are from the American Independent, the Green, and the Peace & Freedom Parties.

It is likely most of the other vote is going to the Green and/or Peace & Freedom Parties, because the “Other” voters were far more likely to have voted for Obama than for McCain. All the voters intending to vote “other” describe themselves predominently as “liberal” rather than “moderate” or “conservative.” See details of the poll here.

Illinois Statewide Green Candidates file Petitions to Get Themselves on Green Party Primary Ballot

October 30th, 2009

On October 30, the Illinois Green Party members who are running for statewide office in 2010 filed petitions to get themselves on their own party’s primary ballot. In most states, when a candidate files to get on his or her own party’s primary ballot, that is scarcely news. But in Illinois, election laws make it difficult for candidates to get on primary ballots. The statewide candidates each needed 5,000 valid signatures. See this story. The deadline isn’t until November 2, and there will be more news after that day on how many Greens filed to get on their own party’s primary ballot for Congress, state legislature, and county office.

George Pataki Endorses Doug Hoffman

October 30th, 2009

On October 29, former New York Governor George Pataki, speaking at a Conservative Party dinner, endorsed Doug Hoffman for next week’s special U.S. House election, 23rd district. Pataki, a Republican, served as Governor 1995 through 2007. See this story.

Working Families Party May Elect City Council, School Board Seats in Bridgeport, Connecticut

October 30th, 2009

Bridgeport, Connecticut, like other towns in that state, is hold local partisan elections on November 3, 2009. In Bridgeport, and certain other Connecticut towns, no one political party is permitted to run a full slate of candidates. This guarantees that local legislative bodies will not be comprised entirely of members of the strongest party.

Because the second-biggest party is guaranteed to win some seats, generally the Bridgeport city council and School Board are composed of Democratic and Republican nominees. However, this year, observers feel that it is not clear whether the Working Families Party or the Republican Party will win the seats reserved for the second strongest party. And, in the School Board race, one Republican member, Sauda Efia Baraka, who was denied renomination by the Republican Party is running for re-election as the Working Families Party nominee. See this story.

Arizona State Court Judge Voids 2009 Law To Increase Number of County Supervisors in Pinal County

October 30th, 2009

Arizona law has long required counties with a population of more than 200,000 to have 5 county supervisors. Arizona county supervisors are elected on a partisan basis. Smaller counties may have 3 county supervisors.

In 2009, the legislature passed a bill that pertains only to Pinal County, and tells Pinal County to have a 5-member board, and to elect two new members in 2010. Pinal County had under 200,000 people in the 2000 census, so it only has 3 county supervisors. Populations estimates are that Pinal County is far above that level now, but this won’t be known officially until the 2010 census is taken, so if the 2009 bill had not passed, Pinal County wouldn’t have gone from a 3-member Board to a 5-member Board until 2011.

On October 30, a Superior Court Judge in Phoenix declared that the 2009 law violates the state Constitution, which bans “local or special laws.” The case was heard in Phoenix because all the judges in Pinal County had recused themselves. The Arizona legislature has a Republican majority, and Pinal County has a Democratic majority on its county Board, so the motivation for the bill had been Republican hopes that adding two new members to the Board in 2010 would give a Republican majority. Pinal County occupies most of the territory between Phoenix and Tucson. See this story.

New Utah Registration Data Shows Decline for Major Parties, Increase for Others

October 30th, 2009

Utah registration as of October 19, 2009, has been tallied by the Utah state elections office. It shows: independent and unqualified parties 51.51%, Republican 39.35%, Democratic 8.76%, Libertarian .22%, Constitution .16%.

A year ago, the percentages were: independent and unqualified parties 49.13%, Republican 41.60%, Democratic 8.93%, Libertarian .20%, Constitution .14%. Thanks to Frank Fluckiger for the new data.

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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!

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  • 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]

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