Veteran Libertarian Petitioner Collects 510 Illinois Signatures in One Day

April 30th, 2010

Eric Dondero has been petitioning for twentyfive years, mostly for the Libertarian Party. He says that on April 30, he hit a new record number of signatures collected in one day, at Southern Illinois University, for the statewide Libertarian Party slate.

Only people who have themselves petitioned will truly understand how tough it is to collect 510 signatures in one day.



The Guardian, a Leading British Newspaper, Endorses Proportional Representation and the Liberal Democratic Party

April 30th, 2010

The Guardian, one of the leading daily newspapers of Great Britain, has this lengthy editorial, which resoundingly endorses proportional representation, and also endorses voting for the Liberal Democratic Party in the May 6 election. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down Long Beach Limits on How Much Money may be Contributed to a Committee Making Independent Expenditures

April 30th, 2010

On April 30, the 9th circuit issued an opinion in Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce v City of Long Beach, 07-55691. The decision strikes down limits on how much can be contributed to committees that make independent expenditures for or against candidates for city office. The vote was 3-0. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Arizona Legislature Adjourns, Doesn’t Pass Presidential Elector/Presidential Qualifications Bill

April 30th, 2010

The Arizona legislature adjourned for the year on the evening of April 29. SB 1024 did not pass. It is the bill that started out as a simple bill to delete the names of presidential elector candidates from the November ballot. It was then amended to require presidential candidates of qualified parties to submit proof that they meet all the constitutional qualifications. Although the bill had passed in both houses, the two houses passed different versions, and there was no time for a conference commitee.

The legislature also failed to pass any bills to cut off funding for the Public Funding program for candidates for state office.

Crist to be Listed Last in a List of Nine Candidates

April 30th, 2010

Charlie Crist will be listed ninth (i.e, last) on the November 2008 ballot for the U.S. Senate race in Florida. See this CNN story. Florida lists the nominee of the party that won the governorship first. It lists any other party that has registration of 5% of the voters next. It lists the nominees of other parties next. Finally, at the bottom, are the independent candidates, listed in the order in which they filed. Besides Crist, four other independent candidates filed.

Of course, Crist or any other candidate is free to sue over the ballot order. In 2007 the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the all candidates must have an equal opportunity for the first line on the ballot. Other courts that have made similar decisions are the California Supreme Court, and the 8th circuit, and U.S. District Court decisions in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Three Tea Party Candidates File for U.S. House in Florida

April 30th, 2010

The Tea Party is a ballot-qualified party in Florida. Three candidates filed in the Florida Tea Party’s primary for U.S. House.

In the 8th district, which includes much of Orlando, the Tea Party candidate is Peg Dunmire. The 8th district is a swing district which elected a Republican in 2006 but a Democrat, Alan Grayson, in 2008.

In the 12th district, centered on Polk County in interior Florida, the Tea Party candidate is Randy Wilkinson. This is a safe Republican district.

In the 25th district, which includes the southwestern corner of the state as well as western Dade County, the Tea Party candidate is Roly Arrojo. The Republican incumbent, Mario Diaz-Balart, won in 2008 by a fairly close margin, 130,891 to 115,820 for the Democratic nominee, Joe Garcia. Thanks to Darcy Richardson for this news.

Center for Governmental Studies Issues Neutral Report on Prop. 14

April 30th, 2010

The Center for Government Studies has issued this 102-page report on California’s Proposition 14, the “top-two” ballot measure on the June 8, 2010 ballot. The study, by Molly Milligan, studies whether Proposition 14 would create more moderate California politicians. The study suggests that the measure would tend to create more moderates in the State Senate.

The study also finds that campaign spending would increase, because many candidates who now have a completely safe primary process would need to spend enough money to win twice before the entire electorate. The study also says, on page 17, in footnote 11, that in the Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election of January 2010, if Massachusetts had used top-two, Scott Brown would not have qualified for the second round. In the real world, Brown won the election.

Finally, the study concludes that there would be a good share of legislative races, and some U.S. House races, in which the November election would be between two Democrats. However, the study does not believe there would be November elections between two Republicans.

The study does not mention that Proposition 14 makes it more difficult for ballot-qualified minor parties to remain ballot-qualified. It makes passing references to the aspects of the measure that eliminate write-in voting, and that make it very unlikely that any minor party or independent candidate would qualify for the November ballot, except in instances at which only one major party member is running. The study does not mention the adverse impact that Proposition 14, if passed, would have on Proposition 15, the public funding measure. Finally, the study does not mention the problem of no party labels for candidates who are members of unqualified parties.

Alaskan Independence Party Veteran Runs for Governor Again

April 30th, 2010

Donald R. Wright has filed to run for Alaska Governor this year in the Alaskan Independence Party primary. He also ran as that party’s gubernatorial nominee in 1978, 2002, and 2006. See his wiki article here.

Political Science Professor Op-Ed on California Proposition 14

April 30th, 2010

The San Luis Obispo Tribune has this op-ed in the April 8 edition, about California’s Proposition 14. It is by Michael Latner, assistant professor of political science at Cal Poly. The title is “California Needs More Moderates.”

Chuck Baldwin on Arizona’s New Law Enforcement Law Concerning Immigration

April 30th, 2010

Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party’s 2008 presidential candidate, has this column endorsing Arizona’s new law concerning law enforcement and immigration.

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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.