Same-Day Voter Registration Bills Introduced in Both Houses of Congress

October 30th, 2009

On October 28, bills were introduced in both houses of Congress to require the states to let voters register at the polls on election day. The bills would affect federal elections only. The Senate bill is S.1986, by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). It has 4 co-sponsors, all Democrats. The House bill is H.R. 3957, by Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). It has 5 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

States that already provide for election-day registration are Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Also, North Carolina permits it at early-voting centers, up until the day before the election.



Illinois Senate Unanimously Overrides Gubernatorial Veto of HB 723

October 30th, 2009

On October 30, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously to override Governor Pat Quinn’s veto of HB 723. Thus, the bill becomes law. It makes it more difficult for ballot-qualified parties to nominate candidates, after the February primary (the nation’s earliest Congressional primary in history) is over. Existing law lets ballot-qualified parties nominate by party meeting, if the primary didn’t produce a nominee. The new law still permits this, but says such nominees need a petition.

Most observers feel the bill was motivated by the fact that the Green Party became a fully-qualified party in November 2006. Major party legislators in Illinois are not accustomed to having a qualified party on the ballot (other than the Democratic and Republican Parties), and they are certainly not accustomed to having minor party or independent candidates running against them. The only parties, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, that have been fully ballot-qualified in the last 80 years have been the Green Party currently, and the Illinois Solidarity Party 1986-1990.

The petition for unqualified parties to run candidates for the legislature is 5% of the last vote cast, so generally, during the last 70 years, there have been very few minor party candidates on the general election ballot for legislature.

Candidates for Illinois primaries need petitions to get on the primary ballot, and those petitions are due November 2, 2009, for the 2010 elections.

Two Former Twin Cities Mayors Publish Op-ed in Favor of Instant Runoff Voting

October 30th, 2009

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune of October 29 has this op-ed in favor of Instant Runoff Voting. It is co-authored by Don Fraser, who was Mayor of Minneapolis 1980-1994, and George Latimer, who was Mayor of St. Paul 1976-1980. The issue is timely because St. Paul voters are voting on whether to use Instant Runoff Voting in next week’s election.

In related news, the Aspen (Colorado) Times has this editorial in favor of retaining Instant Runoff Voting in that city.

Rudy Giuliani Calls on Chris Daggett to Withdraw from New Jersey Gubernatorial Race

October 30th, 2009

This New York Post story of October 30 says that Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York city and former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has called on New Jersey independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett to withdraw from the race, to enhance the prospects of the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey in next week’s election.

Oakland, California, Moves Closer to Using Instant Runoff Voting

October 30th, 2009

According to this story in the October 30 Oakland Tribune, the Alameda County (California) Elections Department says the vote-counting machines used in that county can handle Instant Runoff Voting. Alameda County is waiting for the Secretary of State to certify those machines. Because the voters of Oakland voted to use IRV back in 2006, as soon as the vote-counting equipment is ready, it seems likely that the city will use IRV in the city elections in 2010.

One prominent candidate for Mayor of Oakland, Don Perata, seems to fear that the voters aren’t ready for IRV, and he says the city must not move too quickly. This seems unconvincing, as it will have been four years since the voters voted for that system.

Oakland is the third most populous city in the Bay Area, after San Jose and San Francisco.

Article Analyzes State Government Reaction to New Federal Law on Foreign Absentee Ballots

October 29th, 2009

This story analyzes how states with September primaries for Congress are reacting to the new federal law that requires states to mail foreign absentee ballots no later than 45 days before any federal election.

Two California Initiatives, Both Relating to Elections, Begin to Circulate

October 29th, 2009

This week, two California initiatives entered circulation that would potentially affect how elections and legislative government would work in California’s future. One provides that the voters themselves, by initiative petition, could call a state Constitutional Convention. The other provides for a part-time legislature. Each needs 694,354 valid signatures, since they each are themselves proposed constitutional amendments.

Alan Keyes Loses Lawsuit on Presidential Qualifications

October 29th, 2009

On October 29, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter dismissed Barnett v Obama, the case that had been filed on January 20, 2009, alleging that President Barack Obama does not meet the constitutional qualifications to be President. The decision is 30 pages and can be seen here.

Judge Carter ruled that the non-candidate plaintiffs, which included various military personnel and a few state legislators, do not have standing. He was hesitant to rule that Alan Keyes lacks standing, because Keyes did run against Obama in the presidential election of November 2008. On the other hand, the judge emphasized that Keyes’ showing was so weak, that he could not possibly have been elected; he was only on the ballot in three states. The decision says, “It does seem highly unlikely that the replacement of President Obama with another Democratic nominee such as Hillary Clinton would have resulted in a victory for Plaintiffs Keyes, Drake of the American Independent Party.” But, the decision says, “The Court is troubled by the idea that a third party candidate would not have standing to challenge a major party candidate’s qualifications.”

The decision then decides not to decide the question of whether Keyes had standing, and instead rules that even if Keyes does have standing, his suit must fail because it was not filed until after Obama was sworn into office (the judge notes that the case was filed at 3:26 pm Pacific time, January 20, 2009). The decision then says that the power to remove a sitting president from office resides with Congress, not the Judicial Branch. The decision says, “There may very well be a legitimate role for the judiciary to interpret whether the natural born citizen requirement has been satisfied in the case of a presidential candidate who has not already won the election and taken office. However, on the day that President Obama took the presidential oath and was sworn in, he became President of the United States.”

Poll Shows Republican in Third Place in U.S. House Race in New York

October 29th, 2009

A Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released October 29 for the U.S. House race in New York’s 23rd district shows these results: Democrat Bill Owens 33%, Conservative Doug Hoffman 32%, Republican Dede Scozzafava 21%, undecided 14%. See here for details.

Lake Park, Florida, Will Use Limited Voting

October 29th, 2009

On October 26, the city of Lake Park, Florida, settled a Voting Rights Act lawsuit that had been filed by the U.S. Justice Department, and agreed to elect its four city commissioners using Limited Voting. Although four commissioners will be elected at each future election, voters will be able to vote for only one candidate. Lake Park is 48% black, but since it was incorporated in 1923, no black candidate has ever won an election to the commission. In the 2000 census, 14% of Lake Park’s residents are of Haitian origin, and 6% are of Jamaican origin. Lake Park is in Palm Beach County. See the settlement details here. Thanks to Rob Richie for this news.

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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.