Hawaii Bill for an Earlier Primary Advances

March 30th, 2010

On March 29, the Hawaii Senate passed HB 2397 on second reading. The bill will get a third reading vote on March 31. Assuming it passes that as well, it must return to the House, because the Senate had amended it to provide that it take effect in 2011, not 2010.



Illinois Bill to Make Ballot Access Worse Suffers a Setback

March 30th, 2010

Illinois HB 6000 would make ballot access considerably more difficult for the non-partisan post of Chicago Alderman. The House had set it for a second reading floor vote on March 25, but then it was removed from the calendar and sent back to the Rules Committee.

Ohio Secretary of State Directive Forces Party-Switching Voters to Sign Loyalty Oath to Parties

March 30th, 2010

According to this news story, Ohio’s Secretary of State has promulgated a directive that requires voters who are voting in a different party’s primary this year, relative to 2008, to sign pledges of support for the party whose primary ballot that are requesting.

Ohio does not ask voters to choose a party, when they fill out a voter registration form. One would think that a state that does not have registration by party would be more relaxed about which party’s primary ballot a primary voter chooses.

Some years ago, a Democratic candidate for state court judge in Ohio sued, because she said elections officials were letting people who had voted in the Republican primary in the past choose a Democratic primary ballot currently. But, she lost. The Ohio courts said elections officials have no duty to try to stop voters from choosing a different party’s primary ballot. The Secretary of State’s directive can properly be criticized as changing the rules just before the upcoming May 2010 primary. Thanks to ThirdPartyDaily for the link.

California Court Orders Changes in Santa Clara County Ballot Pamphlet

March 30th, 2010

California Courts are still working on adjudicating various complaints about the wording of statements about issues and candidates in the government-printed Voters Handbooks. On March 29, a Superior Court in Santa Clara County made changes to candidate statements. See this story, concerning the statements of a candidate for District Attorney.

Next Stage of California American Independent Party Internal Lawsuit

March 30th, 2010

The next step in the American Independent Party lawsuit over the identity of the actual state officers, King v Robinson, is that the Defendants will answer the Complaint on or before April 5, 2010. In a civil lawsuit, the “answer” is the initial response of the Defendants. Its purpose is for the Defendants to say whether they agree or disagree with the allegations contained in the Plaintiffs’ Complaint. The Complaint was filed over a year ago. UPDATE: an earlier version of this post said the answer is due April 25, but the commenter below is right and the answer is due April 5.

Final Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court in Case on Petitioning at the Polls

March 30th, 2010

On March 29, this reply brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens for Police Accountability Political Committee v Browning, 09-861. The issue is whether Florida is violating the Constitution by letting exit pollsters station themselves within 25 feet of a polling place on election day, but refusing to let petitioners closer than 100 feet. Both groups only wish to talk to voters who are exiting the polling place.

The U.S. Supreme Court will probably decide whether to hear this case within the next three weeks. This reply brief is ten pages of text and is interesting reading. It is in response to the state’s March 19 brief, which is here.

Colorado Ballot Access Bill Advances

March 29th, 2010

On March 29, Colorado HB 1271 passed the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. This bill eases ballot access for independent candidates. It has already passed the House.

Current law says no one can be an independent candidate (except for President) who has been a registered member of a qualified party for an entire year before filing. The bill eases that to approximately five months before filing.

New York City Elections Board Lacks an Executive Director for Two Months, Just as City is Switching to New Vote-Counting Equipment

March 29th, 2010

The Gotham Gazette has this article, which explains that the New York city Board of Elections has been without an executive director since January, just as it is charged with using entirely new vote-counting equipment in this year’s elections. The story also explains how the Board has become a patronage plum for the Democratic and Republican Parties. Thanks to Gail Robinson for the link.

Film Star Russell Crowe Appears to be a Green Party Supporter

March 29th, 2010

Film star Russell Crowe has just donated $10,000 to the Australian Green Party, according to this story. The Australian dollar is roughly equivalent to the U.S. dollar.

Louisiana Independent Legislator Elected to Number Two Position in State House

March 29th, 2010

On March 29, Louisiana state representative Joel Robideaux was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the State House. Robideaux is an independent. He defeated Noble Ellington, a Democrat, by a vote of 53-48. Speaker Pro Tempore is the second most powerful position in the Louisiana House, after Speaker. Thanks to Randall Hayes 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.