Virginia Investigating Possible Forged Signatures on Newt Gingrich’s Ballot Access Petition

January 31st, 2012

Brad Blog has this story, which says Virginia law enforcement officials are looking into the possibility that a petitioner for Newt Gingrich may have forged names on petitions. It seems somewhat likely that no such investigation would now be occurring if Gingrich himself had not told an Iowa voter in public that “one guy” who worked on his petition submitted 1,500 fraudulent signatures. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.

The Brad Blog story also talks about whether Mitt Romney was improperly registered to vote in Massachusetts in January 2010, when he voted in the special U.S. Senate election.



Illinois League of Women Voters Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hear its Case Against Gerrymandering

January 31st, 2012

On January 30, the Illinois League of Women Voters asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear League of Women Voters of Illinois v Quinn. The issue is whether partisan gerrymandering violates the free speech portion of the First Amendment. Here is the League’s filing with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to rule that partisan gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection part of the Fourteenth amendment, but this is the first case to argue that putting voters in a particular district based on their party membership violates the First Amendment. The League says that putting voters into certain districts based on their party membership makes it less likely that voters will hear certain kinds of speech. The First Amendment protects the ability to hear speech as well as the ability to speak.

The case doesn’t have a docket number in the U.S. Supreme Court yet. A 3-judge U.S. District Court in Illinois had rejected the case last year. The League had then asked for reconsideration on November 10, 2011, but the 3-judge court rejected that only six days later. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

West Virginia Secretary of State Puts Republican on Primary Ballot After he Threatened to Sue

January 31st, 2012

The West Virginia Secretary of State has put Frank Deem on the Republican primary ballot, for State Senate, 3rd district, after first having told him he could not appear on that ballot. See this story, which was written before the Secretary of State put him on the ballot. The primary is May 8.

West Virginia has multi-member State Senate districts. When a Senate district has two Senators, one is up for election in presidential years, and the other is up in mid-term years. The West Virginia Constitution says when a Senate district is composed of several counties, no more than one resident of any particular county may serve. The Secretary of State originally rejected Deem because the 3rd State Senate district already has one Senator from the county that Deem lives in. Deem argues that the state Constitution violates the U.S. Constitution, and apparently his argument was convincing enough to persuade the Secretary of State to let him run. No Democrat filed in the 3rd district, so if Deem wins his primary, he is virtually certain to be elected, and then the issue may go to court. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.

Virginia Hires an Outside Attorney to Fight the Attorney General in Redistricting Lawsuit

January 31st, 2012

According to this story, the Virginia Attorney General has hired an outside attorney to defend a lower state court ruling that invalidated the legislature’s redistricting plan. The Virginia Attorney General has asked the Virginia Supreme Court to reverse the lower court. But because the Virginia Constitution requires the state to defend decisions of the state courts, at least in some instances, the state felt obliged to provide legal representation for both sides. The lawsuit involves the U.S. House district boundaries.

New York Times Story on Ballot Access for Presidential Candidates in France

January 31st, 2012

The New York Times of January 31 has this story about the requirement that presidential candidates in France need 500 signatures of mayors or other local officials in order to get on the ballot. France has tens of thousands of places that have their own mayor. However, the requirement is proving difficult to meet ever since the law was changed, to make the petition signatures available to the public. In the past, many small-town mayors have taken the position that they would sign for any presidential candidate, whether they agree with the candidate or not, because they favor inclusive ballot access. But, with the petitions now public, some presidential candidates are having a tougher time gathering the signatures.

The petition is due March 16. Presidential elections in France commonly have between ten and fifteen candidates on the ballot. Thanks to Jerry Kunz for the link.

Americans Elect Begins Holding Regional Meetings

January 31st, 2012

Americans Elect has started holding regional meetings for people who have signed up to be leaders and activists in the organization. Here is an account of the Omaha meeting. Here is a link to a video of part of the San Ramon, California meeting.

California Legislature Passes Bill Eliminating Write-in Space from General Election Ballot for Congress and Partisan State Office

January 31st, 2012

On January 30, the California Assembly unanimously passed AB 1413, which eliminates write-in space on general election ballots for Congress and partisan state office. The bill is now on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. Assuming this bill is signed into law, California and Louisiana will be the only states that have ever had write-in space on general election ballots that no longer do have such space.

Most California legislators were, and are, under the impression that they were forced to pass this bill. These legislators erroneously believe that Proposition 14 (passed by the voters in June 2010, and part of the California Constitution) says that write-ins should not be allowed. Actually, Proposition 14 not only says nothing about write-ins, it puts language in the Constitution which strongly implies that write-ins must be permitted.

The California Constitution says, “All registered voters otherwise qualified to vote shall be guaranteed the unrestricted right to vote for the candidate of their choice in all state and congressional elections.”

The only possible argument that the California Constitution could tolerate the elimination of write-in space would be an argument that the June and November elections are the same election, but that is a weak argument. Federal law tells the states to hold congressional elections in November of even-numbered years, so the November event “is” the “election”; the election is not in June. Another reason the June and November events are not the “same” election is that the electorate is comprised of different individuals. Many voters are on the rolls in November in a particular district who were not on the rolls in June…voters who attained the age of 18, voters who moved into the district between June and November, voters who became naturalized between June and November, and individuals who hadn’t bothered to register in time for the June primary but who were registered for the November election.

Grist Interviews Rocky Anderson

January 31st, 2012

Grist is a on-line magazine that has existed since 1999. It is headquartered in Seattle and has won many awards and plaudits. See here for more about the publication. Grist has this interview with former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, exploring why he founded the Justice Party and how he plans to campaign for President in 2012.

Roanoke Times Op-Ed Advocates Ballot Access Reform for Virginia

January 31st, 2012

Marc Montoni has this op-ed in the Roanoke Times, making the point that Virginia badly needs ballot access reform.

Ballot Access News January 2012 Print Edition

January 30th, 2012

Ballot Access News
January 1, 2012 – Volume 27, Number 8


This issue was printed on pink paper.


Table of Contents

  1. TEXAS CHANGES PRIMARY DATE AND ACCIDENTALLY CREATES ABSURD RULES FOR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES
  2. VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN BALLOT ACCESS WOES
  3. MINOR PARTIES SUE ALABAMA OVER BALLOT ACCESS
  4. PENNSYLVANIA PETITION NOW KNOWN
  5. GAIN FOR MASSACHUSETTS LIBERTARIAN LAWSUIT
  6. ARIZONA MINOR PARTIES SUE OVER DISCRIMINATORY VOTER REGISTRATION
  7. OHIO MOVES PRIMARY
  8. OTHER LAWSUIT NEWS
  9. BOOK REVIEW: NO HOLDING BACK
  10. BOOK REVIEW: CALIFORNIA CRACKUP
  11. BOOK REVIEW: DUOPOLY
  12. 2012 PETITIONING FOR PRESIDENT
  13. GARY JOHNSON
  14. AMERICANS ELECT EASES ITS OWN BALLOT ACCESS RULES
  15. DONALD TRUMP
  16. JUSTICE PARTY
  17. PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION
  18. SUBSCRIBING TO BAN WITH PAYPAL
« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »

 

  

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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.