Status of Various Election Law Lawsuits

May 27th, 2011

On May 26, the Constitution Party of Kansas filed a notice of appeal in its lawsuit which seeks the ability to have voters in Kansas register as members of the Constitution Party (currently Kansas won’t let voters register as members of unqualified parties). The case is now in the 10th circuit.

On May 24, the New Hampshire Libertarian Party obtained an extension of time in which to file with the US Supreme Court, in its lawsuit over whether a party in New Hampshire has the ability to protect its name from being placed on the November ballot by candidates who were not nominated by that party. The case also involves the ability of an unqualified party to use a stand-in presidential candidate on its ballot access petition.

On May 27, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case over whether an unqualified party may use a stand-in presidential candidate on its ballot access petition. UPDATE: here is the cert petition. Even if you don’t normally read legal briefs in election law cases, this one is worth reading. The text starts on the ninth page and is 28 pages long. The entire document is much longer than that, but that is because the lower court opinions are attached. The Libertarian Party had won the case in U.S. District Court but had lost it in the First Circuit.

Finally, in the 9th circuit case over Washington state’s top-two election system, the political parties’ briefs had been due May 23, but the parties have obtained an extension until June 6.



Texas Senate Rejects House Version of Bill that Moves Primary Dates and Petition Deadlines

May 27th, 2011

On May 27, the Texas Senate rejected the House’s version of SB 100, the bill that adjusts various primary dates, and petition deadlines for independent candidates. The House had passed a version that keeps the first primary in March but moves the runoff primary from April to May. The latter change had the indirect result that the independent candidate petition deadline (for office other than President) moved from May to June.

Texas needs to make some change, in order to be in compliance with the federal government’s law requiring states to mail overseas absentee ballots at least 45 days before the election. Another proposal might be to eliminate the runoff primary. Still another proposal might be to move the primary from March to April. Existing law has too little time between the primary and the runoff primary.

U.S. District Court Says Corporations & Unions May Make Small Contributions to Candidates

May 27th, 2011

On May 26, a U.S. District Court ruled that the First Amendment protects the ability of corporations and unions to make contributions to candidates for federal office, up to the same limit that applies to individuals. Here is the 52-page opinion, United States v Danielczyk, 1:11cr85, written by Judge James Cacheris, a semi-retired Reagan appointee.

Two individuals are being criminally prosecuted for reimbursing their employees for the money they spent to buy tickets to a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton. Federal law says, “No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person.” All the pages in the decision prior to page 42 deal with the Defendants’ arguments that that law doesn’t apply to them. The decision rebuts those arguments, and upholds those parts of the indictment. But because count four of the charges against the Defendants alleges that they also broke the law that bans corporations from donating to candidates to federal office, the judge had to deal specially with that count. The judge ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban corporate donations to candidates (up to the relatively low limit that applies to individual donations) and struck count four from the indictment. That part of the decision is short and is on pages 42-46.

The famous Citizens United decision from the U.S. Supreme only struck down the ban on corporations and unions making independent expenditures. However, people who don’t like the Citizens United decision constantly say that decision struck down the limits on donations. For example, the New York Times of May 26 has an editorial that says, “Uber-PACs will compound the damage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that overturned restrictions against unlimited corporate donations.” That sentence is false. But because the New York Times and other critics of the Citizens United decision has alleged so many times that Citizens United applies to donations, these voices have inadvertently led the public to believe that corporations can already make donations, so the Danielczyk decision won’t appear very newsworthy.

Minnesota Governor Vetoes Bill for Photo-ID at Polls

May 26th, 2011

On May 26, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a bill to require voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. See this story.

Alabama Legislature Moves Primary, and Petition Deadlines, from June to March

May 26th, 2011

On May 26, the Alabama Senate passed HB 425. It moves the primary for all office, in presidential years, to the second Tuesday in March. It also moves the petition deadlines for minor parties and non-presidential independent candidates to the second Tuesday in March. The bill is now through the legislature and before the Governor. It passed the Senate 21-11.

This year has seen an epidemic of legislatures passing bills that are clearly unconstitutional. In 1991 the 11th circuit struck down Alabama’s April petition deadline for minor parties in New Alliance Party of Alabama v Hand. At the time the petition was 1% of the last vote cast. Although this precedent was pointed out to several legislators, they seemed not to pay any attention. Now Alabama’s petition is 3% of the last vote cast (it was increased in 1995, effective in 1997).

Americans Elect Submits Michigan Petition

May 26th, 2011

On May 26, Americans Elect turned in its petition to become a party in 2012 in Michigan. The requirement is 32,261 signatures, and Americans Elect submitted 67,731 signatures. Assuming this petition is valid, it will be the first time a party petition in Michigan has succeeded since 2002, when the Libertarian Party submitted a petition.

Kansas Governor Signs Bill Canceling 2012 Presidential Primary

May 26th, 2011

On May 25, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed HB 2080, eliminating the presidential primary in 2012. All parties in Kansas will use caucuses or party meetings to choose national convention delegates. Thanks to Josh Putnam of Frontloading HQ for this news.

Milwaukee Jury Acquits Two Voters of the Crime of Voting Twice

May 26th, 2011

On May 25, a jury in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, acquitted a husband and wife of voting twice in 2010. See this story. They did submit absentee ballots before election day, but when they dropped by the polling place on election day, their names in the poll book did not show that they had voted absentee. So, believing their absentee votes had been lost or otherwise not counted, they voted at the polls. If they had been convicted, they faced being sentenced to prison.

National Popular Vote Plan Bill Advances in Louisiana

May 25th, 2011

On May 24, the Louisiana House and Government Affairs Committee passed HB 388, the National Popular Vote Plan bill. All three of the bill’s sponsors are Republicans: Nickie Monica of LaPlace, Noble Ellington of Winnsboro, and Joe Harrison of Gray. The committee vote was 14-0. However, a spokesperson for Governor Bobby Jindal opposed the bill.

Texas House Passes Bill Moving Non-Presidential Independent Candidate Petition Deadline from May to June

May 25th, 2011

Late at night on May 24, the Texas House passed SB 100 on second reading, after amending it. The bill, as amended, retains the primary in March, but moves the runoff primary from April to May. Because the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates is tied to the date of the runoff primary, the bill has the effect of moving the petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates from early May to June 21, 2012.

The presidential independent petition deadline, however, is not tied to the date of the runoff primary, so it remains on May 14, 2012. Texas already easily had the nation’s earliest independent presidential petition deadline; ever since 1987 it has been the only state with a petition deadline earlier than June. If any independent presidential candidate brings a lawsuit to challenge the May independent presidential deadline, Texas will be hard-pressed to explain why the independent presidential deadline should be 38 days earlier than the petition deadline for non-presidential independents.

Under the bill, newly qualifying parties are still required to tell the state that they expect to petition on or before January 2, 2012. But, the deadline for non-presidential independent candidates moves to December 12, 2011. If this bill passes, Texas is the only state that will have ever required independent candidates to notify the government that they intend to run, in the odd year before the election. Candidates (for office other than President) seeking the nomination of a party also will need to file a declaration no later than December 12, 2011, if SB 100 passes. Thanks to Jim Riley for details about the bill.

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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.