New Mexico Secretary of State Accepts Write-in Declaration of Candidacy from Gubernatorial Candidate Without a Running Mate

September 29th, 2010

New Mexico, like three-fourths of the states, requires write-in candidates who want their write-ins tallied to file a declaration of write-in candidacy.  The New Mexico Secretary of State has accepted a write-in declaration of candidacy filing from a write-in candidate for Governor, even though he has no Lieutenant Governor running mate.  See this story.  New Mexico is one of the states in which candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run in November as a team.

The story quotes Denise Lamb, a county election official, condemning the decision.  Denise Lamb once worked in the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office as head of the elections bureau.  While she was there, she tried to persuade the legislature to ban write-ins.  She almost succeeded in 1997.  The Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bill, HB 865, included a ban on write-ins, but Governor Gary Johnson vetoed it, to Lamb’s great displeasure.

Some states that elect Governors and Lieutenant Governors as a team in November have permitted candidates on the ballot, even if they don’t have a running mate.  Others have refused.  States that permit a candidate without a running mate include Alaska, Illinois and Wisconsin.

If a candidate without a running mate were to be elected, the vacant office could be filled by special procedures that each state has for filling vacancies.  Obviously each state has such procedures, because, as everyone knows, any person can theoretically die at any time.

This year, New Mexico is the only state with no minor party or independent candidates on the November ballot for any statewide office or for any U.S. House race.  Even Washington state has an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. House in the 7th district, where this year no Republican ran in the “top-two” primary in that race, so that the independent was able to place second.



Connecticut Holds 3-Party Gubernatorial Debate

September 29th, 2010

On September 28, all three candidates on the ballot for Governor of Connecticut debated each other.  See this story.  The three nominees are Tom Foley (Republican), Dan Malloy (Democratic-Working Families) and Thomas E. Marsh (Independent Party.)

Maryland Green Party Replaces Deceased U.S. Senate Nominee

September 28th, 2010

Natasha Pettigrew, the Maryland Green Party’s original nominee for U.S. Senate this year, died on September 20 from a bicycle accident.  She was only 30 years old.  The party has substituted Kenniss Henry as its nominee.  See this story.  Kenniss Henry is the mother of Natasha Pettigrew.

Preliminary Census Data Suggests New Reapportionment for U.S. House for 18 States

September 28th, 2010

According to Election Data Services, preliminary 2010 census data suggests that 18 states will either gain or lose U.S. House seats in 2011.

The eight states that will gain are:  Texas (4), Florida (2), and one each for Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.  The ten states that will lose are:  New York (2), Ohio (2), and one each for Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  Thanks to Sam Harley for this information.

Utah Holds 3-Party U.S. Senate Debate

September 28th, 2010

The three candidates on the ballot in Utah’s U.S. Senate election debated each other on September 17.  See this story.  They are Republican Mike Lee, Democrat Sam Granato, and Constitution Party nominee Scott Bradley.  Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.

Seventh Circuit Upholds Limiting Candidates in Illinois Special U.S. Senate Election to Those who Qualified for the Regular Election

September 28th, 2010

On September 24, the 7th circuit upheld the order of a U.S. District Court, limiting the names of candidates in the special U.S. Senate election in Illinois to the same candidates who had qualified for the regular 6-year U.S. Senate election.  The 16-page decision is Judge v Quinn, 10-2836.

The 7th circuit opinion says, “Nothing in the permanent injunction excludes a particular class or group of candidates in a manner that suggests that an identifiable group of voters will be left out of the special election…The District Court’s remedy, which relies on candidates selected pursuant to the Illinois Election Code, was designed to be, and probably is, the most democratic and constitutionally sound approach the district court could have devised.”

As to the argument that Article One of the U.S. Constitution requires state legislatures to pass laws governing congressional elections (except when Congress supercedes them), the 7th circuit decision says that U.S. Senator Roland Burris didn’t make that argument in the U.S. District Court, so it is too late for him to raise that argument in the 7th circuit.  The decision is signed by the same three judges who had this same case earlier.

U.S. District Court Upholds Philadelphia’s Ban on Campaign Signs on Poles

September 28th, 2010

On September 28, U.S. District Court Judge James Gardner, a Bush Jr. appointee, upheld a Philadelphia ordinance banning temporary signs on utility poles, streetlights, and traffic and parking signs.  The plaintiffs were candidates for public office who wanted to post temporary campaign signs.  The case is Johnson v City and County of Philadelphia, 08-cv-1748.

West Virginia Republican Party Won’t Appeal in Case On Whether Two Ballots Should be Printed

September 28th, 2010

On September 28, the West Virginia Republican Party said it won’t appeal its loss in lower state court, in the case over whether the special election for U.S. Senate should be on the same ballot as the other offices.  See this story.

States in which lawsuits are still undecided, and which must be decided before ballots can be printed, are Florida, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.  See this story about an unresolved Florida lawsuit.

Virginia State Board of Elections Files Response in U.S. Supreme Court in Petitioner Residence Case

September 28th, 2010

On the evening of September 27, the Virginia State Board of Elections filed a response with the U.S. Supreme Court in Lux v Rodrigues, 10A-298.  This is the case that challenges a law that no one may circulate a petition for a candidate for U.S. House, if the circulator doesn’t live in that district.  UPDATE:  on the afternoon of September 28, Lux filed his 10-page response.

The state’s response says that the two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have struck down restrictions on who can circulate a petition do not apply in this case, because both those two decisions involved initiatives, not candidates.  Also the state says that even if the U.S. Supreme Court tells the state to check the Lux petition, he probably wouldn’t have enough valid signatures anyway.  The state bases this idea on the fact that elections officials did check the petition validity of the Lux petitions that were circulated by residents, and if one extrapolates, Lux doesn’t have enough valid signatures.  However, only 161 of the Lux signatures were circulated to residents of the district, whereas 1,062 of the Lux signatures were gathered by the candidate himself.  It is quite possible that the candidate himself, Herb Lux, did a better job of petitioning than other people who circulated his petition.  The state has never checked the validity of the signatures gathered by the candidate himself.

Rhode Island Supreme Court Will Hear Case over Withdrawals

September 28th, 2010

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has agreed to hear Russo v Mollis, su-10-0339.  See this story.  The issue is whether the candidate who won the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor should be barred from withdrawing.  After the primary was over, she withdrew and endorsed an independent candidate for Lieutenant Governor.  The case was filed by the person who placed second in the Republican primary, Kara Russo.  She either wants the winner of the primary to remain on the November ballot, or she wants to replace that person.

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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!

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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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