Florida Government Finally Sends Redistricting Reforms to U.S. Justice Department for Approval

March 30th, 2011

On November 2, 2010, the voters of Florida passed two redistricting reform measures, one for U.S. House districts and one for state legislative. They said that although the legislature would continue to draw the boundaries of these districts, the legislature was forbidden from drawing the boundaries for partisan advantage.

On March 30, the Florida legislature finally sent these measures to the U.S. Justice Department, Voting Rights Section, for pre-clearance. The Governor had refused to send them in, prompting a lawsuit. But then various units of state government decided that it was the legislature’s duty, not the Governor’s duty, to send them to the federal government, and that step has been taken. See this story.



Tennessee Bill, Making Miniscule Improvements to Ballot Access, Advances

March 30th, 2011

On March 30, a subcommittee of the Tennessee House passed HB 794, which changes the procedure for a new party to qualify for the ballot. It moves the deadline from March to early April, and deletes the wording on the petition that implies that the signers are members of the party. But it retains the requirement that the petition needs 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote, which is now approximately 40,000 valid signatures.

Representative Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory), a member of the subcommittee, said the procedure is still too difficult, and said he would propose an amendment to make it easier when the bill is heard in the full House Committee next week. Witnesses were not allowed to testify today, but they will be allowed to testify in full committee next week. The subcommittee had 50 bills to handle at this meeting.

U.S. District Court Tells South Carolina Republican Party that it Can’t Close its Primaries

March 30th, 2011

On March 30, U.S. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs, an Obama appointee, turned aside the Republican Party lawsuit against South Carolina’s open primary as applied to the Republican Party. The outcome was not too surprising, because South Carolina is in the 4th circuit, and the 4th circuit ruled earlier in a Virginia case that if a party has a choice of whether to nominate by primary or convention, and it chooses a primary, it must follow the state election law on who can participate. Like Virginia, South Carolina lets all parties decide whether to nominate by primary or convention.

However, the Republican Party had also argued that it isn’t truly free to choose to nominate by primary, because another state law says the party can’t nominate by convention unless 3/4ths of the delegates agree. However, the judge upheld the 3/4ths law as well. Here is the 25-page decision. The name of the case is The Greenville County Republican Party v State of South Carolina, 6:10-cv-1407. Thanks to Harry Kresky for the link.

U.S. District Court Refuses Any Relief to Michael Chamness

March 30th, 2011

On March 30, U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright denied injunctive relief to Michael Chamness, a candidate for U.S. House in the May 2011 special election, 36th district. His 19-page order is here. He said that there is not enough evidence that Chamness is injured by the state’s failure to let him have his party on the ballot, and also not enough evidence that Chamness is injured by not being allowed “Independent” either.

No precedent supports the idea that “independent” can be banned for candidates who seek that label. The 6th circuit, and the Supreme Courts of Massachusetts and Minnesota, have all ruled in the past that “independent” cannot be banned from the ballot. The case is Chamness v Bowen, U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, 2:11-cv-1479. Chamness will appeal to the 9th circuit.

News Story Contrasts Wisconsin and Ohio; Praises Ohio for Having Referendum

March 30th, 2011

Republicans control state government in both Wisconsin and Ohio, and in both states, bills have passed to limit collective bargaining for government employees. Wisconsin does not have the referendum or initiative, so people who are unhappy with Wisconsin’s new law must resort to demonstrations and recall petitions. By contrast, Ohio has the referendum and the initiative, and labor is about to launch a petition drive to repeal the new law. See this story, which suggests that Ohio is more fortunate than Wisconsin.

Maine Voters Sue to Obtain Congressional Redistricting Before 2012 Election

March 30th, 2011

On March 29, a group of Maine voters filed a lawsuit in federal court, to force the state to redraw the U.S. House district boundaries before the 2012 election. For some reason, Maine and Montana law provide that redistricting should not occur in the election that immediately follows completion of the census. Instead, both states won’t redistrict until 2013. The case is Desena v State of Maine, 1-11-cv-00117.

Montana, of course, does not need to redistrict any U.S. House district boundaries, because Montana only has one seat in the U.S. House.

Democratic Nominee Wins Rochester Mayoral Special Election, but a Majority of Voters Cast a Vote for a Minor Party Nominee

March 30th, 2011

On March 29, the voters of Rochester, New York, held a special election to elect a new Mayor. The Democratic nominee, Thomas Richards, won with 49% of the vote. However, the Working Families and Independence Parties’ nominee, William Johnson Jr., polled 42%. And the third candidate in the race, Green Party nominee Alex Green, polled 9%.

9th Circuit Requests that U.S. District Court Act Promptly on Michael Chamness Lawsuit on California Ballot Labels

March 30th, 2011

At 6:20 p.m. on March 29, the 9th circuit issued a very brief order in Chamness v Bowen, 11-70882. This is the federal lawsuit over whether California election law is unconstitutional for denying members of unqualified parties, and independent candidates, any label on the ballot except “no party preference.”

The order says, “Treating the petition as a request for a writ of mandamus to compel the district court to issue a preliminary injunction, the petition is denied. The district court is requested to act promptly on petitioner’s motion for a preliminary injunction.” The U.S. District Court held oral arguments on March 22 but still hasn’t ruled. Los Angeles County elections officials plan to start printing overseas absentee ballots on March 30, in the special election for U.S. House, 36th district. Chamness is on the ballot in that race.

Canadian Broadcast Consortium Excludes Green Party from National Debates

March 29th, 2011

The Canadian Broadcast Consortium has decided not to permit the Green Party leader to be included in the debates being planned just before the May 2 national parliamentary election. See this story. The policy is that only parties with elected members may be invited. The Green Party has high hopes of electing its first member of Parliament this year, but so far it hasn’t elected anyone to that body. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

The Canadian Green Party has a candidate in every district in Canada this year, while the Bloc Quebecois, which is included in the debate, only runs in Quebec.

Sixth Circuit Refuses to Rehear Decision on Counting Provisional Votes

March 29th, 2011

On March 29, the 6th circuit refused to rehear Hunter v Hamilton County Board of Elections, so now the provisional ballots will finally be counted in a local partisan judicial race from the November 2, 2010 election. Ohio election law says provisional ballots are not valid if they are turned in to the wrong precinct. However, several hundred voters turned in their provisional ballots at the wrong precinct (although in the right building) because poll workers gave them mis-information. Because Hamilton County had already decided to count another set of provisional ballots that were legally shaky, the U.S. District Court and the original 6th circuit panel had ruled that Hamilton County must also count these disputed ballots. The two candidates in that election have been waiting a long time for a complete vote count. Thanks to Moritz 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!

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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.