Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Photo Voter-ID Requirement for Voting at Polls

June 30th, 2010

On June 30, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the state’s law, requiring voters at the polls to show a government photo-ID that has not expired.  However, the Court left open the opportunity for an as-applied challenge by a voter who may be able to show that the requirement for that particular voter is burdensome.  The only plaintiff in the case decided on June 30 is the Indiana League of Women Voters.

The vote was 4-1.  Here is the decision.



Arkansas Green Party Petition Validated by Secretary of State

June 30th, 2010

The Arkansas Secretary of State has checked the Green Party’s ballot access petition and found it sufficient.  The party needed 10,000 valid signatures and submitted 14,207.  The Secretary of State says there are 11,505 valid signatures, for a validity rate of 81.0%.

This is the third election year in a row that the Green Party has successfully completed this petition.  The only other party that ever completed it was the Reform Party, in 1996.

Arkansas did not require any petition for a party to appear on the ballot until 1971.  Parties merely had to hold a nominating convention and certify the names of the nominees to the Secretary of State, before 1971.

The Arkansas Green Party is currently in court, not against the 10,000 signature petition, but against the state law that says a party should lose its qualified status after a presidential election if it doesn’t poll as much as 3% of the vote for President.

West Virginia Republican Senate Leader Says Republicans Will Sue for a Special U.S. Senate Election This Year

June 29th, 2010

According to this story, West Virginia State Senator Mike Hall, the leader of Republicans in the State Senate, says the Republican Party will sue the Secretary of State to require the state to hold a special election this November to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat.  However, it is possible the legislature will pass a bill on this subject when it comes into special session shortly.

Maine Independent Candidate Sues Over Refusal of Secretary of State to Permit Scanned Copies of Petitions to be Checked

June 29th, 2010

On June 29, independent gubernatorial candidate Alex Hammer sued the Maine Secretary of State in state court.  The Secretary of State had told town clerks not to validate signatures on petition sheets unless those sheets had been physically taken to that town clerk.  The candidate had scanned his petition sheets at high resolution and e-mailed them to various town clerks, to save time and transportation costs.  The case is Hammer v Maine Secretary of State, Penobscot County Superior Court, AP-10-15.  UPDATE:  here is a newspaper story about the case.

U.S. District Court Judge in Nebraska Likely to Rule This Week on Out-of-State Circulators

June 29th, 2010

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon held a hearing on Friday, June 25, in Citizens in Charge v Gale, 4:09-cv-3255, concerning Nebraska’s ban on out-of-state circulators.  The judge indicated he is likely to rule by Friday, July 2.  Here is a brief newspaper story about the hearing.  The plaintiffs include the Libertarian Party, which wants to qualify as a party.  It needs 5,921 valid signatures by August 1.

Jon Roland Web Page Posts Pleadings in Texas Democratic Party Lawsuit Against Texas Green Party

June 29th, 2010

Jon Roland has posted the pleadings in Texas Democratic Party v Texas Green Party on his web page here.

Some Republicans Sue Charlie Crist for Return of their Campaign Contributions

June 29th, 2010

Some Republicans who donated money to Florida Governor Charlie Crist have brought a lawsuit in state court, seeking to force him to return their campaign contributions.  They had given these contributions to Crist while he was a Republican, but now he is an independent.  See this story.  The case is Morton v Crist, 10-3846-ca, 20th circuit judicial district (Collier County).

Republicans Consider Outlawing Winner-Take-All Presidential Primaries in Early States

June 29th, 2010

The Republican National Committee will consider changing its rules for the presidential candidate selection process.  Specifically, the party is mulling over the idea that states that choose delegates to the national convention earlier than April 1 must not use winner-take-all systems.  Also the party wants to work with Democrats, and with state legislatures, to guarantee that no more presidential primaries be held earlier than mid-February.  In 2008 there were January presidential primaries in New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida.  See this story.

South Dakota Newspaper Editorial Suggests that Voters Carefully Consider Views of Non-Major Party Candidates

June 29th, 2010

This June 29 editorial in the Yankton, South Dakota Press and Dakotan urges voters to take a look at candidates for important public office who are not nominees of the two major parties.

Former President Clinton Makes a Reference to Independent Candidates

June 29th, 2010

Former President Bill Clinton has signed a fund-raising letter for Kendrick Meek, one of the two candidates for the U.S. Senate nomination in the Florida Democratic primary of August 24.  Clinton’s letter says, “I know a little something about three-candidate races…I believe that Kendrick Meek is the best candidate, and that he’s got a real shot at winning, but only if he gets our help now.”  See this article.  The article also gives a rundown of all the recent polls in that race.

 

 

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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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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.