On March 1, the 3-judge U.S. District Court in San Antonio, Texas, confirmed new rules for the 2012 election, for ballot access for independent candidates and newly-qualifying parties. The Court, as expected, rubber-stamped the rules proposed yesterday by the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Who needs any mere State legislatures in the nearly dead sovereign States when Fed courts can order whatever ???
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I don’t see why you think that the rules are more lenient for minor parties or independent candidates.
#3
No primary screen out which is much more lenient. Albeit only for this petition cycle.
#4 Why do you think there is no primary screen out?
There is absolutely nothing that indicates that the cross-affiliation restrictions do not apply to parties seeking to ballot qualify. The court order regarding the county conventions of the major party has deliberate provisions that would block someone from participating in a convention, then voting in the primary or participating in the convention, or signing a petition of another party.
Ordinarily, convention rosters must be kept by the parties, but they are never filed, except for parties attempting to ballot qualify. But the court ordered that the convention rosters be sent to the SOS so that they can be used to prevent cross-over voting in the primary.
For independent candidates, the procedures are not the same for presidential candidates and candidates for other offices (See Election Code 142.001). The primary screen out for other offices is in 142.009, and the court order says it is waived *to the extent* it conflicts with other parts of the order.
142.009 says that if an office is on the runoff ballot, signatures can not be collected until after the runoff. Since the court order sets the date of the runoff to July 31, and the filing deadline for independent candidates to June 29, that is a *conflict*. Therefore voters may sign a petition before the runoff, even if the office is on the runoff ballot.
But 142.009 also says that voters who vote in a primary where their party nominates a candidate may not sign a petition, and that signatures collected before or on the day of the primary are not valid.
The order sets the date of the primary to May 29. Since the deadline for petitioning is June 29, there is no conflict (i.e. signing may not begin until the day after the primary, and primary voters for the office sought may not sign the petition).
And of course there is no issue regarding independent presidential candidates since 142.009 does not apply to them.
#5, the Texas Secretary of State has told Americans Elect in writing that there is no primary screenout in 2012.
#6 Is there anything in the SA Court Order that would lead you to the conclusion that there were “more lenient” rules for ballot access for minor parties?
Did the SOS tell Americans Elect that their petitions did not have to include the following?
“I know that the purpose of this petition is to entitle the _______ Party to have its nominees placed on the ballot in the general election for state and county officers. I have not voted in a primary election or participated in a convention of another party during this voting year, and I understand that I become ineligible to do so by signing this petition. I understand that signing more than one petition to entitle a party to have its nominees placed on the general election ballot in the same election is prohibited.”
#6, Richard can you provide a link regarding the SOS advising Americans Elect re: no primary screenout.
#8 Primary screenout is a misnomer with regard to minor and major parties. A voter may only affiliate with one party during an election year. Affiliation does not occur until you participate in a nominating event. Though it lasts throughout December 31, it really has no consequence, unless you wanted to become a precinct chair. There is no party affiliation in odd-numbered years.
You affiliate with a party by voting in its primary, its conventions, or taking an oath of affiliation. Once that occurs, you can’t affiliate with another party.
New parties qualify based on attendance at their precinct conventions, which they may supplement by petition. A voter affiliated with another party may not sign the petition, and someone who signs a supplementary petition may not affiliate with another party, nor sign another party’s supplementary petition.
Ordinarily, the first affiliating event is the primary. Precinct conventions for all parties are conducted after that, on the night of the primary for major parties, a week after for minor parties.
So in most election years, most voters will first become affiliated by voting in a primary. There will be relatively few voters who participate in conventions of minor parties, or in the conventions of a major party after skipping the primary, or signing a supplementary petition of another party.
So there will be a lot more voters who may be eligible to sign the supplementary petitions. But signing a petition will make the voter ineligible to vote in a primary, and a circulator would be required to point that out to a potential signer. It is also possible to withdraw a signature, which would make a voter eligible to vote in a primary.
About half of voters vote in early voting, so they would become ineligible as soon as they voted, and the petitioning deadline is after the primary.
There will also be county conventions for the major parties during April. Because the state conventions are now just after the primary, the Republicans will choose national convention delegates without regard to the primary results (they will have to vote in a first ballot based on the primary results). So there may be more of an effort put in selecting delegates favorable to the candidates.
There are parts of the court orders that require the parties to turn over lists of county convention participants to county election officials (just as they do for primaries). This then gets indicates on the voter rolls, and would be available when checking a petition.
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