Libertarian Party Files Opening Brief in 8th Circuit in North Dakota Ballot Access Case

November 27th, 2010

On November 26, the Libertarian Party filed its opening brief in the 8th circuit in Libertarian Party of North Dakota v Jaeger.  The case challenges a law that says a ballot-qualified party with its own primary cannot place any of its legislative nominees on the November ballot, unless approximately 10% to 15% of all the voters choose that party’s primary ballot and vote for that party’s legislative nominees.  The law is so restrictive, no minor party has had any nominees on the November ballot since 1976, when the American Party was able to overcome the hurdle.

The U.S. District Court had upheld the law anyway.  The North Dakota law is very strange, because it is only severe for the party’s candidates for legislative office.  There is also a minimum primary vote test for the statewide offices, but it is far less onerous.  For statewide office, the law requires that 300 people choose the party’s primary ballot and vote for one of the party’s nominees.  300 people in the whole state works out to about 6 voters per legislative district.  By contrast, if the party wants to have legislative candidates, it needs between 110 and 130 people to choose its primary ballot in any particular legislative district.  The contrast between a requirement of six voters, versus 130, is extreme and illogical.



Joe Miller Lawsuit Over Lisa Murkowski Write-ins Gets Tangled Up in Side Issues

November 26th, 2010

On November 22, Joe Miller, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Alaska, filed a lawsuit in state court, alleging problems with the state’s vote count in his race.  He filed in state court after the federal judge in his federal case said the case belongs in state court.

The first procedural dispute is which state court should hear the case.  Miller filed in Fairbanks, but the state wants it transferred to Juneau, where all the vote-counters reside and have been working.  The second procedural dispute is how quickly the case should be heard.  Incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski filed a request to intervene in the lawsuit, and raised the issue that the case needs to be settled quickly.  Then, on November 26, Miller filed a brief arguing that Murkowski should not be allowed to intervene in the lawsuit.  See this story.  The case is Miller v Lieutenant Governor, 4FA-10-03151.

Houston Chronicle Asks Texas Legislature to Eliminate Straight-Ticket Device

November 26th, 2010

The November 26 issue of the Houston Chronicle has this editorial, advocating that the 2011 session of the Texas legislature pass the bill to eliminate the straight-ticket device.

U.S. Supreme Court Asks Illinois to Respond in Senator Burris’ Lawsuit Over How Candidates Get on Ballot in Special Election

November 26th, 2010

On November 3, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the state of Illinois to respond to the lawsuit filed by U.S. Senator Roland Burris.  The case is Judge v Quinn, 10-367.  The issue was how candidates could qualify to get on the ballot in the special election for U.S. Senate, two-month term, that was held on November 2, 2010.

The lower courts had ordered that Illinois simply print on the ballot the names of people who had qualified in the U.S. Senate race for the full term, on the ballot as the candidates for the short term.  U.S. Senator Roland Burris was not running for the full term, but he wanted to run for the short term.  But the lower courts left him no possibility of qualifying to run for the short term.

Illinois’ response is due December 3, 2010.  If the U.S. Supreme Court does hear this case, it would have no effect on this particular Illinois Senate election, but it would set rules for future special elections.

Final Vote Tally Shows Republicans Did Poll the Legally Required Number of Votes in District of Columbia

November 25th, 2010

As of November 6, when most of the votes had been counted in the November 2 election, the District of Columbia returns showed that the Republican nominee for Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives had only polled 7,401 votes.  The D.C. election law requires parties to poll at least 7,500 votes in order to remain on the ballot, and the “shadow U.S. Senate” and “shadow U.S. Representative” elections don’t count.  Because the Republicans had not run for any other partisan race in D.C. in 2010, it appeared that the party had gone off the ballot.

But then, on November 6, the D.C. Board of Elections had re-interpreted the election law to say that a party only needs to meet the vote test every four years.  This saved the Republican Party’s ballot status, because it had met the vote test for President in 2008.

Now, it turns out that the Republican Party in 2010 did meet the vote test for its nominee for Delegate to the U.S. House.  That nominee, Missy Reilly Smith, polled 8,109 votes, when all the absentee and provisional votes were counted.

First Circuit Rules 2-1 that U.S. Constitution Does Not Permit Voting Members for Puerto Rico in U.S. House of Representatives

November 25th, 2010

On November 24, the First Circuit ruled 2-1 that the U.S. Constitution does not permit any voting representatives for Puerto Rico in the U.S. House of Representatives, notwithstanding treaties that the U.S. has signed to protect voting rights for all adult U.S. citizens.  The case is Igartua v United States of America, 09-2186.  The government of Puerto Rico had joined the voter-plaintiff in support of the lawsuit, and an attorney for the government of Puerto Rico had been permitted to participate in oral argument.  Here is the decision.

Each of the three judges on the panel wrote separately.  Judge Sandra Lynch wrote 31 pages for the Court.  Judge Kermit Lipez wrote 14 pages to say that although he agrees that plaintiffs should not prevail, he feels the case is important enough that all the judges of the First Circuit should have participated in an en banc hearing.  Judge Juan Torruella wrote a passionate dissent of 63 pages.  Judge Turruella notes in a footnote that in 1898, while Spain still owned Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican voters chose 6 Senators and 12 Delegates to the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes, in Madrid.  Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the link.

Politico Says Joe Lieberman Unlikely to be Re-Elected in 2012 as an Independent Candidate

November 24th, 2010

Politico has this story about the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut in 2012.  It concludes that incumbent Joe Lieberman, who was elected as an independent in 2006, would have a difficult time winning as an independent again when his term is up in two years.

First Circuit Rejects Appeal of the Lower Court Ruling that Struck Down Ban on Voter Signing Petitions for Two Candidates for Same Office

November 24th, 2010

On October 8, 2009, a U.S. District Court in Rhode Island had struck down a Central Falls city ordinance that made it illegal for a voter to sign petitions for two candidates running against each other for the same office.  The city had appealed to the First Circuit.  But on November 3, 2010, the First Circuit said the city’s appeal is moot.  This is partly because the Rhode Island legislature passed a law in 2010 that requires all towns to let voters sign as many petitions as they wish.  Fontes v City of Central Falls, 09-2516.

Even before the case started, it had already been the law in Rhode Island that voters could sign as many petitions (for the same office) for federal and state office as they wished.  The case only arose because some towns in Rhode Island had a more restrictive policy.

David Nolan’s Obituary in the New York Times Suggests that Minor Parties Exert Influence Beyond Their Numbers

November 23rd, 2010

The November 23 edition of the New York Times has a lengthy and respectful obituary for David Nolan.  The obituary is also notable for seeming to suggest that minor parties have an important influence on the free circulation of ideas, even when they are not numerically strong.

UPDATE:  the Washington Post obituary also has some of the characteristics of the Times obituary.

20 Candidates File for Mayor of Chicago, Including U.S. Senator Roland Burris

November 23rd, 2010

The Washington Post has this summary of the crowded field for the Chicago Mayoral election, including coverage of the legal controversy over whether Rahm Emanuel meets the residency requirement.  Twenty candidates filed petitions by the November 22 deadline.  The election is set for February 22.  Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.  One of the candidates is outgoing U.S. Senator Roland Burris.  Another is the man who lives in the Chicago home owned by Emanuel.

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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.