Washington Times Runs New Story on Independent Candidates and Ballot Access in China

June 28th, 2011

The Washington Times has this interesting story about independent candidates in China, and ballot access. China does have some elections for local office but generally tries to keep all candidates off the ballot except those approved by the Communist Party.



Ninth Circuit Identifies the Three Judges who will Hear Lawsuit Against Washington State’s Top-Two System

June 28th, 2011

On June 23, the Ninth Circuit determined that the lawsuit Washington State Republican Party v Washington State Grange will be heard by Judges Raymond C. Fisher, Dorothy Nelson, and Pamela Ann Rymer. Normally no U.S. Court of Appeals identifies which judges will hear a particular case this early in the process. However, the political parties had asked for the same three judges who had had this same case back in 2006. Washington state and the Washington State Grange, on the other side, did not oppose that idea.

Back on August 22, 2006, that panel had invalidated the Washington state top-two system. Then the case had gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in March 2008 that the system wasn’t necessarily unconstitutional on freedom of association grounds, and ruled that questoin could only be determined after the system had been used. That is why the case is still alive. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 had also declined to consider the ballot access and trademark issues, because the lower courts had not ruled on those two issues.

All three judges are southern Californians. Judge Nelson is a Carter appointee, Judge Rymer is a Bush Jr. appointee, and Judge Fisher is a Clinton appointee.

Americans Elect Web Page Posts New Cumulative Signature Total

June 28th, 2011

On June 28, Americans Elect’s web page posted a new national signature count for its ballot access petitions. The new figure is 1,348,312. The last posting, five days ago, had been 1,262,665. As before, the vast majority of these signatures are from California.

South Carolina Governor Eliminates Funding for 2012 Republican Presidential Primary

June 28th, 2011

On June 28, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, deleted funds from the state budget that were intended to help pay for administration of the Republican Party primary. See this story. The Republican Party will now raise the $1,500,000 that the primary costs from private sources.

U.S. Supreme Court Goes on Summer Recess But Leaves Dallas Voting Rights Case Hanging

June 28th, 2011

Late in 2010, Dallas County, Texas, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal in Dallas County v Texas Democratic Party, 10-755. The issue involves the federal Voting Rights Act. The 3-judge U.S. District Court had ruled that Dallas County is required to pre-clear changes in the operation of its vote-counting machines. The Democratic Party had sued over the use of those machines, because the party feels that some voters are tricked into thinking they voted a straight-ticket vote, when actually they hadn’t.

The U.S. Supreme Court has now adjourned for the summer and won’t have a conference until September 26, 2011. However, the Court never disposed of the Dallas appeal. It had been on conference on January 21, March 18, and May 26, but each time the Court didn’t decide whether to hear it or not. In the meantime, the Justice Department has already pre-cleared the matter, so it is odd that the Court still hasn’t disposed of this case.

Nevada Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Special Congressional Election Case

June 28th, 2011

On the morning of June 28, the Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments in Nevada State Democratic Party v Nevada Republican Party, 58404. Here is a short newspaper article about the argument. This is the case over whether the upcoming special U.S. House election should be handled as a partisan election or a non-partisan election. Nevada has never before had a special election for U.S. House, so there are no precedents in the state. The election law is unclear. UPDATE: this Las Vegas Review-Journal story suggests the Democratic Party is somewhat likely to win the lawsuit. At least one justice, and plausibly two, seem leaning against deeming the election to be partisan.

New Hampshire Governor Vetoes Bill on Government Photo-ID to Vote at Polls

June 28th, 2011

On June 27, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch vetoed the bill to require voters at the polls to show a government photo-ID. See this story. New Hampshire is the fourth state this year in which a bill of this type has been blocked by a veto. The others are North Carolina, Missouri, and Minnesota.

Wisconsin Assemblymember Kept Off State Senate Ballot; Needed 400 Signatures but Only 398 are Valid

June 28th, 2011

John Nygren, a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, is a candidate for the State Senate in one of this year’s special elections. However, according to this story, he needed 400 valid signatures to place his name on the Republican primary ballot, and only has 398 valid signatures. One other Republican had filed for the same seat, so Republicans will have a nominee in that race. Also Nygren is free to be a write-in candidate in the primary.

Wisconsin is holding several special elections for State Senate this summer. When a recall petition is filed, and has enough valid signatures, the state simply considers that particular seat vacant, and holds a special election. The person being recalled is free to run in that special election.

In This Year’s Tucson Mayor’s Election, Green Party is the Only Party with a Choice on its Primary Ballot

June 28th, 2011

Tucson, Arizona, has partisan city elections, and this article explains that in the upcoming primary, the Green Party is the only party with more than one choice on its primary ballot for Mayor. No Republicans appear on the Republican primary ballot, and only one Democrat appears on the Democratic primary ballot. Although the Libertarian Party is a qualified party in Arizona, it is not a qualified party within Tucson because its registration is not at least two-thirds of 1% within Tucson, so there is no Libertarian primary ballot. Thanks to Nancy Hanks for the link.

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Connecticut Green Party Public Funding Case

June 28th, 2011

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not hear Green Party of Connecticut v Lenge, 10-795. This sad action maintains a 20-year record of that Court’s refusal to accept any case brought to it solely by a minor party or an independent candidate (not counting a 1997 case in which a Georgia Libertarian candidate challenged Georgia’s law requiring candidates for state office to take a drug test). Here is a brief Washington Post story about the Court’s refusal.

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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.