Fox News Airs Five-Minute Interview with Elliot Ackerman, Spokesman for Americans Elect

September 29th, 2011

On September 29, Fox News ran a five-minute interview with Elliot Ackerman, spokesman for Americans Elect See it here.

Although it is a very peripheral point, it is unfortunate that the interview gives viewers the impression that 2,900,000 signatures are required to get a presidential candidate from outside the two major parties on the ballot in all 50 states. The true figure, using the easier method in each state, is approximately 700,000 valid signatures. That number cannot be known exactly because in some states no one knows yet what the requirements will be in 2012. For example, in Pennsylvania, the number depends on voter turnout in the November 2011 statewide judicial election.

It is a little-known fact that the six most difficult states to get on the ballot for President, California, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Georgia, and Indiana, require over 60% of the nationwide combined petition requirement.



Ohio Democrats Submit Enough Signatures to Postpone Omnibus Election Law Bill from Taking Effect

September 29th, 2011

On September 29, Ohio Democrats and their allies, especially labor unions, submitted 318,460 signatures, asking for a referendum on HB 194. That is the omnibus election law bill passed by this year’s legislature. Because no one knows if there are enough valid signatures yet, the existence of the petition means that HB 194 can’t take effect yet. If the petition has at least 231,147 valid signatures, the bill is suspended until after the November 2012 election, and the public will vote on it in November 2012. Even if the petition doesn’t have enough valid signatures, the bill can’t take effect until the petition has been checked. The checking process will take at least three weeks.

HB 194 was the bill that supposedly gave Ohio a constitutional ballot access law for minor parties. The original law had been declared unconstitutional in 2006, mostly because it required the signatures for minor party qualification to be submitted in November of the year before the election. HB 194 had moved the petition deadline from four months before the primary, to three months before the primary. Now that change can’t take effect, for a while at least. All of this makes it even more likely than before that the Secretary of State will now recognize Americans Elect, the Constitution Party, the Green Party, and the Socialist Party, for the 2012 election. Because a U.S. District Court on September 7, 2011, had already enjoined the new February petition deadline, saying it was still too early, chances had already looked good that all the minor parties would be on the 2012 ballot. But now the chances are even higher, because the new statutory petition deadline reverts to November 2011, the same deadline that was already tossed out by the 6th circuit in 2006.

Arkansas Supreme Court Says Voters May Vote in Full Public View at the Polls if they Wish

September 29th, 2011

On September 29, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an opinion in Hamaker v Pulaski County Election Commission, 11-375. It reaffirms a 1904 decision from the same court, which said that if a voter wants to mark his or her ballot on a table at the polling location, in full view of anyone who happens to be standing nearby, the voter may do that. But if the voter wishes to vote in secret, he or she must be permitted to use a voting booth.

The plaintiff suggested that this policy pressures voters to vote in public view, because there aren’t enough voting booths, so a voter who wants secrecy must wait, whereas a voter who doesn’t care about secrecy need not wait. However, the Supreme Court refused to consider the part of the lawsuit that complained about the inadequate number of voting booths. The opinion is eight pages long and is unanimous.

Census Bureau Releases “Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2010″

September 29th, 2011

The Census Bureau has released “Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2010″. The report can be seen at this link. The Census Bureau has been preparing this report for many decades. A new report is released after each Congressional election. The data is from surveys, not from election returns statistics.

Oregon, Washington, and Maine, have the highest participation. Oregon and Washington are the only two states that send ballots in the postal mail to all registered voters (although in 2010, Washington state had one county that didn’t do that). And Maine, in 2010, was one of the states with election day registration. Ironically, the Maine legislature repealed provision for election-day registration this year, but that change isn’t in effect because a referendum petition was filed to let voters vote on election-day registration in November 2012.

Colorado State Court of Appeals Rules Images of Ballots Are Public

September 29th, 2011

On September 29, the Colorado State Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s public records act applies to images of ballots, and these images can be released for public scrutiny, as long as no one can tell which voter cast that particular ballot. See this story. This decision will help activists who question the operation of electronic ballots, and also will help social scientists. The lower court had ruled the ballots are not subject to disclosure. The case originated last year in Aspen.

New York City Releases Official Returns from September 13 Special Congressional Election

September 29th, 2011

New York City Board of Elections says the official vote totals for the special election, U.S. House 9th district, from September 13, are:

Bob Turner, 32,526 votes on the Republican line and 4,816 votes on the Conservative line.
David Weprin, 31,285 votes on the Democratic line, 1,425 on the Working Families line, and 946 on the Independence Party line
Chris Hoeppner, 143 votes on the Socialist Workers Party line

The Hoeppner vote, which is only .20%, is astonishingly low. Generally, when three candidates are on the ballot in a special election, it is unheard of for any of the three to poll less than one-half of 1%.

Furthermore, the day after the election, the unofficial vote totals had been announced as:

Bob Turner, 27,867 votes on the Republican line and 4,536 on the Conservative line.
David Weprin, 25,587 on the Democratic line, 1,248 on the Working Families line, and 764 on the Independence line
Chris Hoeppner, 277 on the Socialist Workers line.

The official totals are bigger than the election night returns for every party line, except for the Socialist Workers line. On the Socialist Workers line, the final total is only half as many votes as the election night total.

It is also plausible that the design of the ballot was such that it was difficult for an ordinary voter to even see Chris Hoeppner’s name on the ballot. Ballot Access News is trying to find a picture of the ballot.

Virginia Keeps Incumbent Off Ballot Because one of his Circulators Doesn’t Live in District

September 29th, 2011

Don Assaid, a two-term incumbent on the Boutetort County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors, has been omitted from the November 8, 2011 ballot, because one of his petitioners doesn’t live in Assaid’s district. See this story. Assaid sued, but the case was dropped because it is too late to alter the ballot.

On July 6, 2011, the 4th circuit had virtually struck down Virginia’s residency requirement for petitioners. The 4th circuit had eliminated Virginia’s chief defense, that the purpose of the residency requirement is to keep candidates off the ballot if they don’t enjoy voter support in the district. But the 4th circuit gave Virginia another chance to defend the requirement, and sent it back to the U.S. District Court. Unfortunately that is not soon enough for Assaid. Assaid says he will seek re-election as a write-in candidate.

Ohio Democrats Sue Over Redistricting, Adding Even More Uncertainty to Ohio Election Administration

September 28th, 2011

On September 28, Ohio Democrats filed a lawsuit with the State Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that the recently enacted bill drawing boundaries for U.S. House districts is subject to referendum. The bill includes an appropriation. The law is ambiguous as to whether the referendum process can be used for the redistricting bill. Generally, bills with an appropriation aren’t subject to referendum, but sometimes they are. See this story.

Because Ohio recently decided to hold its 2012 primary in March, instead of the expected May, the lawsuit adds even more uncertainty to Ohio’s election administration. Another uncertainty is whether the referendum petition against an earlier omnibus election law bill will succeed in getting enough signatures. The signatures are due tomorrow (Thursday, September 29). UPDATE: the lawsuit is State ex rel Ohioans for Fair Districts v Husted, 11-1646.

Righthaven, Terrorizer of Bloggers, Loses Its Second Lawsuit This Month

September 28th, 2011

On September 28, Righthaven lost its second lawsuit this month, this time in Colorado. A U.S. District Court Judge ruled that when Righthaven bought the copyright to a newspaper photograph that many blogs reproduced, Righthaven did not simultaneously win the right to sue other media that used the picture. Here is the decision, which is Righthaven v Wolf and It Makes Sense Blog. A few weeks ago, Righthaven had lost in U.S. District Court in Nevada. Thanks to How Appealing for the link.

Republican Party of Southampton, New York, Abandons Two Nominees who were Cross-Nominated by Democratic Party

September 28th, 2011

Southampton, New York, has partisan town elections on November 8, 2011. This news story says that the town’s Republican Party is miffed at two Republican nominees, because they accepted the cross-nomination of the Democratic Party. So, the party is sending out campaign literature featuring a photo of all the party’s nominees, except that the original picture included the two Republicans who have angered the party, and the original picture has been altered to erase the images of those two candidates.

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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.